Canadiens: The Die Is Cast

According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, Team Canada made its final roster decisions on Saturday night and not a minute too soon as the deadline to submit their roster for the countries taking part in the 4 Nations Face Off is today.

At the start of the season, it was believed goaltender Samuel Montembeault might have a shot at making the team but after the Montreal Canadiens' underwhelming form and they way the've played in front of his, his stats have taken a hit. The masked men has a 6-10-2 record with a 3.12 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.

Those are not great numbers to say the least. Amongst Canadian goaltenders, he is fifth in wins, 13th in GAA and 11th in SP. According to the information that has leaked so far, Vegas Golden Knights' starter Adin Hill and St-Louis Blues' number one Jordan Binnington are in, but the identity of the third string goalie remains unknown. With all due respect to Canada's goaltenders, the days of Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Patrick Roy are long gone.

Related: Canadiens: Can Montembeault Crack Canada's Roster?

If Montembeault is hoping to make the roster in net, Canadiens' captain Nick Suzuki is probably hoping to make the cut up front. The center is having a good season even if his team is struggling, he's on pace for 82 points on the year with 24 in 24 games so far, but it might not be enough to make it.

If the pickings are slim in net, they aren't up front. Suzuki might have helped his case if he went to the World Championships last Spring, but he declined the country's invite. At this stage, it feels like Canada will prefer to take youngster Conor Bedard along for the ride to give him a taste of a best on best tournament at the professional level.

As for Team USA, it should be a very strong outfit as well and Canadiens' sniper Cole Caufield would probably love to play for his country, but his 16 goals in 24 games might not be enough to make it. That's saying something since the only players who have more goals than the sniper are Canadian Sam Reinhart and German Leon Draisaitl.

Some will say that goals are not the only criteria to make a team, and that is true, but they seem to forget how far he has come since first joining the Habs. He's a much more complete player than he was and he scores when it counts as well with three game-winning goals on the season.

Finally, Patrik Laine's situation is an interesting one. He's now practising in a normal jersey and his return seems imminent. Even though he has yet to make his season debut thanks to a serious knee injury, Team Finland GM Jere Lehtinen has said the sniper was still in contention at the start of November.

Related: Canadiens: Should Injured Laine Be A Lock For Finland?

Joel Armia has often taken part in the World Championships in the Spring, but in a best on best tournament, there's no room for the enigmatic forward who is inconsistent.

Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden will submit their rosters to the league today, but they will only be announced on Wednesday. The two European countries will unveil their final list at 2:00 PM ET wile their North American counter parts will do so at 6:30 PM ET. Both announcement will be announced live on the air in show produced by NHL Network and made available globally.

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