NHL stars from four nations will fight for their flags in the 2025 Ice Hockey Four Nations Face-Off. Read our tips for Ice-hockey 4 Nations Face-Off 2025 and analysis to find out what to expect from the new NHL mid-season event.
The Four Nations Face-Off is a new event that will replace the 2025 NHL All-Star game. Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner, announced the tournament during the 2024 All-Star game. As things stand, it’s a temporary event, but the reception of the tournament might prompt the organizers to think otherwise.
The tournament will open on February 12; the final is scheduled for February 20. Organizers have picked the TD Garden in Boston, USA, and the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, as the venues.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | Ice Hockey 2025 4 Nations Face-Off |
| 🏒 Venues: | Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada, and TD Garden, Boston, USA |
| 🗓️ Dates: | Wednesday, February 12 to Thursday, February 20, 2025 |
The original plan was to invite the top six teams in the IIHF rankings. The NHL, however, could not invite third-placed Russia because of sanctions. Germany and Switzerland could not make it since they did not have enough NHL players to form a tournament roster. Czechia declined since the Czech Ice Hockey Federation felt it did not have enough time to prepare a team.
So, now we will see four teams playing in a round-robin format to compete for a place in the final. A regulation win will be rewarded with three points, two for an overtime win and one for an overtime loss. The top two teams in the points table will qualify for the championship game on February 20 at TD Garden in Boston.
Ice hockey online bet sites have published the early 2025 4 Nations Face-Off outright winner odds. Here’s how they look at the moment:
With so many Hall of Fame names in the squad, it’s no surprise that Canada has the most favorable 4 Nations Face-Off 2025 betting odds. Having said that, a closer examination of the Canadian roster reveals some worrying flaws. Though head coach Jon Cooper has amazing firepower up front, he has some defensive concerns.
Between them, the offensive trio of Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Nathan MacKinnon have six Hart Trophies, seven Art Ross Trophies, and three Rocket Richard Trophies. The D-Corps and goaltending fade significantly to the shine of the Canadian frontline, but overall, Canada should be the favorites in 2025 Ice Hockey Four Nations Face-Off predictions.
The National Team Development Program has worked wonders for the USA in recent years. On paper, Mike Sullivan’s team is as impressive as hot-favorite Canada’s, if not more. IIHF, NHL, and NCAA hockey sportsbooks echo this sentiment with their Ice-hockey Face-Off 2025 predictions.
Toronto Maple Leafs ace Auston Matthews is the crown jewel in a star-studded offense. Team USA also has a balanced defense, even though Quinn Hughes failed to recover in time to make the cut. At goal, USA has the star power of Connor Hellebuyck. Team USA has all the pieces for a great Four Nations campaign, but they need to put them together.
Sweden has a well-rounded forward lineup, combining offensive potency, defensive duty, and physicality. Elias Pettersson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Elias Lindholm, and Adrian Kempe are all accomplished two-way NHL forwards. So, Sweden boss Sam Hallam can expect them to provide both offensive firepower and defensive solidity.
Given they were two of the top defensemen in the NHL over the 2010s decade, Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson stand out in defense. While Karlsson is among the best pure offensive defensemen in the contemporary NHL’s history, Hedman is a very versatile player with passion and physicality.
It’s tough to be optimistic about Finland in 2025 Ice Hockey Four Nations Face-Off predictions because they are far behind the other three teams in terms of stardust and squad chemistry. Finland does have some good players in its roster, but there is a clear lack of an X-factor man.
This might sound odd since we are talking about the 2022 Winter Olympics champions here, but we must remind you that there were no NHL players in that squad. Although head coach Antti Pennanen should aim to take advantage of the underdog reputation and surprise the top guns, it will be challenging for him to establish the perfect team chemistry.
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Bet sites for NHL believe this is going to be a coin flip between Canada and the US, and our 2025 hockey Face-Off preview vote goes for the latter. Canada is a perennial contender in ice hockey competitions, but this time, we think the USA has the quality to outshine its neighbors in the rink.
As we explained above, Canada’s offense is brimming with superstar talent, but the same can’t be said for its defense and goaltending departments. The USA, on the other hand, has a perfectly balanced side that leads us to believe they can win the race to become the first-ever Four Nations champions.
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Canada will start its Four Nations mission against a formidable Swedish unit at the Bell Centre. This will be a mouthwatering clash for ice hockey lovers as it will arguably pit the best attack in the competition against the best defense. Our ice hockey 2025 4 Nations Face-Off betting tips for this match say that Canada can break the resilience of the Swedes.
Sweden will hope that the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Petterson, and Elias Lindholm will shrug off their poor NHL form to return to their best in national team colors. On the other hand, the Canadian frontline is firing on all cylinders. So, the home side should be able to win this match by at least two goals.
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Jack Eichel is an elite NHL forward, but he had to survive injuries and poor runs of form in recent years. The Vegas Golden Knights center has been in red-hot form lately. He has already racked up 67 points and seems set to break his career-best haul of 82 points. So, we think he is an excellent pick for the top point scorer market.
The US has often lived in the shadows of Canada in the international ice hockey scene but have a wonderful opportunity to beat that trend in the Four Nations.
