In 2016, hockey fans saw their last best on best International hockey tournament for the next eight years (even though it felt a little cheap including a “Team North America” to the event but WHATEVER).
Since 2016, the Olympics in both 2018 and 2022 were not played by NHL players, and there has not been another World Cup of Hockey since then either.
All of this has been leading up to yet another best on best tournament (minus Russia for really really dumb geopolitical reasons I will not get into) that hockey fans not just in North America, but across the world have been waiting for.
The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off on February 12th and will continue all the way to February 20th. In that time frame Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States will be battling it out to see who is the best hockey country in the world (again besides Russia (Matvei, we WILL get you into another best on best soon)).
Even though the tournament will not start for another two months, the rosters for this event has been announced, and some familiar faces from your Philadelphia Flyers will be making the trip up to Montreal and/or Boston to take part in this tournament.
Players (and coaches) selected from the Flyers are as follows:
Team Canada: Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim
Team Finland: Rasmus Ristolainen
Team USA: John Tortorella
In a season where the Philadelphia Flyers are once again fighting for the final Wild Card spot in the East, these three players have had major contributions to the team and absolutely should be a part of their respective 4 Nations teams.
Team Canada
Travis Konecny
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
After signing an eight-year extension with the Flyers this summer, Konecny has kicked his game into another gear. Currently Konecny has 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points in 26 games this season, putting him on pace for 41 goals and 54 assists for 95 points this season.
Konecny has by far had his best season in the Orange and Black, and he’s doing it without consistent linemates. Konecny has been moved all around as well. He’s been put on both left and right wing this season, but even with the rotating lines and lack of chemistry development, he has been able to produce at an extremely high rate not just on offense, but on the penalty kill as well.
Konecny absolutely deserves his spot on team Canada this year and will most likely be on one of the first two lines due to his level of play this season. I can’t wait to see what he does with Connor McDavid as his center, he might lead the team in points.
Travis Sanheim
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
For the past couple of seasons, Travis Sanheim has shown his incredible potential in bursts. He also has had some moments the past couple seasons that made Flyers fans wonder why Chuck Fletcher gave him that contract. This season it looks like Sanheim has finally put everything together.
One of the biggest jumps in Sanheim’s game is his willingness to turn off his brain and turn on the jets this year. I think in years past he was always worried about making the perfect play while also worrying about the things he couldn’t control around him, which ironically caused him to make more mistakes.
This season it’s a completely different story. Sanheim has taken a major leap on both ends of the ice. He has been FLYING around the ice this season and his confidence has never seemed higher. He is playing almost 30 minutes a night, contributing on both ends of the ice at a high level, and has been so steady back there it doesn’t matter who his partner has been in this season of revolving d-pairs.
For all NHL defensemen, Sanheim currently is in the 90th percentile in top skate speed, the 98th percentile in bursts of over 20mph, and the 98th percentile in skating distance. This just shows how he’s taken his skating to the next level.
“But Drew, skating doesn’t always translate to being a successful hockey player! There are so many instances where fast skaters don’t produce! Look at Ilya Mikheyev!”
Correct! But he is also producing at a very high level this season. He currently is in the 92nd percentile for shots on goal from a defenseman, the 94th percentile for goals from a defenseman, and the 80th percentile for shooting percentage from a defenseman. All of this comes with him spending 59.2% of his time on ice in his own defensive zone!
All of these fancy stats are great, but what people really care about are the meat and potatoes stats. Well, Sanheim has 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 26 games with a plus/minus of +2 on a team with a goal differential of -12… seems pretty good if you ask me!
Now I know people are upset Sanheim made it over players like Evan Bouchard or Chris Tanev, but I counter with what our boy Joel Farabee told Twitter Famous Stat Boy JFresh Hockey:
Watch a game https://t.co/phInRAoCOE
— Joel Farabee (@FarabeeJoel) December 5, 2024
Team Finland
Rasmus Ristolainen
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Don’t look now, but Rasmus Ristolainen might be the third-best player on the Flyers this season (sorry Matvei).
Fletcher messed up a lot in his time in Philadelphia, but somehow getting Rasmus Ristolainen in a situation where he would be developed by John Tortorella and Brad Shaw might have been the best move of his career.
If I told you in that summer of 2021 that analytical nightmare Rasmus Ristolainen would all of a sudden be the analytical darling of the Flyers, would you have believed me? Probably not, but it’s true.
I mean, just look in that cliff Ristolainen went UP. His wins above replacement skyrocketed. His defense went from the worst in the league to the top 25% of the league. He also only sacrificed offense for one season to truly develop that defensive game.
Yes I understand that he hasn’t been playing first pair minutes like Fletcher hoped he would, but the production he’s been giving as a member of the 2nd and 3rd pair the past 3 seasons has been nothing short of fantastic.
A couple years ago, Ristolainen was projected to miss Team Finland entirely. Now he’s the second pair RD on the team only behind Miro Heiskanen.
I look forward to see if his game on the Flyers translates over to team Finland.
BONUS: Team USA
John Tortorella
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
I know Torts is a coach, but he will be a great assistant for a stacked US coaching staff. Torts has been in the league for decades, and where ever he’s gone he’s been a fantastic coach (besides Vancouver).
Torts is one of the greatest US born coaches of all time. Can’t wait to see how many pucks team USA eats this year.
Now as an American, I will be bleeding red, white, and blue for the 4 Nations Face-Off, but deep down if any of the guys from the Flyers ends up winning the whole thing, I won’t be upset.
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