Two in the Box

Of the four teams participating in the 4 Nations Face Off, Finland looks to be the weakest of the bunch. While they don’t lack high-end talent, they don’t boast the sort of depth that the Americans or Canadians have in bunches. Their goaltending is also fairly unproven once you get past Juuse Saros. Saros also has the skill to steal games, making the Finns a dangerous opponent. But on paper, this is the weakest of the four groups. 

There’s a lot of room for movement on the Finnish roster and I think all four teams will use their practice time together to shuffle through line permutations before the games begin. So don’t view all of the lines listed in these posts as firm, but a general scope of how I view each roster. From the top group of forwards down, I don’t think any single one of these groupings would be written in ink given where some of the weak points are with the players they can select from. 

Mikko Rantanen – Roope Hintz – Sebastian Aho

One thing I juggled with the Finns was how to spread their talent. Does Aho help them more at center or on a loaded top line? Does moving him or Hintz down the lineup blunt their impact if their wingers aren’t as potent as the players they skate with on their respective club teams? I opted to go with the top heavy approach, hoping that this line, combined with Sasha Barkov’s can keep this team afloat. 

Artturi Lehkonen – Aleksander Barkov – Kaapo Kakko

This line is a little unusual but given where the Finns are short, my hope is that a line made up of three players with good-to-great play driving metrics can help to eat some tough minutes and shelter other lines, as much as you can against three other all star teams. The alternative here is to put another offensive piece on the wing in place of Kakko, which is a fine alternative. Ideally, he finds some of the juice he had in the 2019 World Championships and flashes the offense that made him a lottery pick. 

Matias Maccelli – Anton Lundell – Eeli Tolvanen

This line pretty much lives and dies with Lundell’s impact. If he recaptures some of the magic from his rookie season, it’s much easier to slide Hintz or Aho to the wing. If that first season is an outlier, things look a lot tougher for the Finns and your hand might be forced into a center spine of Aho, Barkov and Hintz. As I have it here, the three non-Hintz lines are very interchangeable. You can bump Tolvanen up and down based on performance or need for more shooting talent throughout the lineup. Maccelli can go wherever his ability to feed scorers is best served. I don’t think any of the Finnish lines should be written in ink at the moment. 

Teuvo Teravainen – Erik Haula – Eetu Luostarinen

Extra: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

As with the group above, it will be very easy to mix and match this trio throughout the lineup as is necessary. Haula can easily flex to wing but offers a quality option at pivot down in the lineup. Both he and Teravainen could bump Kakko down to the fourth line if needed or if their respective play dictated such a decision. Kotkaniemi makes it as my extra to offer another option at center for a pretty malleable forward group. 

Miro Heiskanen – Henri Jokiharju

Heiskanen is one of the few Finns in this lineup in pen. Top pair, top PP, top PK, he’s going to play a ton of minutes. I’m giving Jokiharju the privilege of the top pairing given a quality season here in Buffalo, despite some questionable scratches, and the general lack of another really strong right handed option. 

Esa Lindell – Jani Hakanpaa

These two play together in Dallas and given a fairly limited selection of Finnish defensemen to select from, it’s an easy solution on a roster that isn’t overflowing with the same depth of talent that a country like Canada has to pull from. Keeping these two as a pair would also provide more flexibility with the rest of the group. 

Niko Mikkola – Rasmus Ristolainen

Extra: Juuso Valimaki

This should be a solid if not unspectacular third pair for the Finns. I would reserve some option to bump Ristolainen up and down the pairs depending on his play. He’s had a tendency to play like an absolute stud with Suomi on his chest, so if he turns into the Finnish Bobby Orr again this time around, there should be some latitude to get him more ice time. Short of that, I think the realization that Ristolainen is better suited for 18 minutes a night vs. 23 has been a benefit to him. Mikkola and Ristolainen are two hefty bodies who should pair well on a pair with slightly limited usage. As an extra, Valimaki is adequate, though, barring injury, I wonder if he’d get out of the press box. 

Juuse Saros, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Antti Raanta

As it stands today, the only goaltending position on the roster that is up for grabs is the third spot. Saros will start for the Finns and may be the great equalizer for a team that’s probably the weakest on paper at this tournament. The Finns will be hoping this year’s performance is an aberration, so that does bear watching. Beyond that, Luukkonen has been stellar over the last six weeks and has given the Sabres steady goaltending this year. He’ll be a strong backup to Saros and whether or not Raanta is the third goaltender is the lone question mark at this position. 

Names to Watch

Patrik Laine – I left Laine off my roster as he is receiving treatment from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and there are more pressing matters at hand than whether or not he will have a roster spot in this tournament. At full health and scoring goals, Laine is a lock for this roster. His production over the last two years would be a valuable addition to this team and he’d be an ideal fit on Barkov’s wing. We’ll see what comes next for him once he returns from the treatment he is receiving. 

Ville Husso – The Finnish goaltending stable isn’t brimming with talent, but Husso is probably the most likely to supplant Raanta as the third goalie in this group. I suppose Joona Korpisalo will have a look at the spot too, but Husso would be the most likely to slide into the three goalies the Finns bring to the 4 Nations. Kaapo Kahkonen is another goalie who will get a look at that third spot.

Mikael Granlund – Granlund was the last forward off my roster and I suspect his NHL resume will get him onto this team. He’s been massively underwhelming the last few years and while the potential of more offensive pop will be attractive to the Finnish braintrust, I’m not sure he can offer what they’d need from him. 

Joel Armia – A consideration for a wing spot down in the Finnish lineup. Depending on availability come next winter, he could be a viable replacement if called upon. 

Urho Vaakanainen – The Finns have a very limited pool of defensemen to choose from in the NHL. Vaakanainen and Olli Maatta are pretty much the only other viable choices beyond the group of seven listed above. Should something change, Vaakanainen and Maatta would be the names to watch.