Should Veteran Stars Tavares And Stamkos Be On Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off Team?

Team Canada must snub some elite players when submitting the 4 Nations Face-Off roster in three weeks. The Nashville Predators' Steven Stamkos and Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares are in the bubble, but both players are trending in different directions.

When this writer predicted Canada’s roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in September 2023, most picks felt like no-brainers. Many of them still are, but Tavares wasn't on the projection at the time, while Stamkos was. With the intense competition between players for a chance to represent Canada in February, the question becomes whether the team has enough room to fit in one or both players.

Stamkos had a slow start to the 2024-25 season, with four goals and eight points in 15 games this year. The fact that Stamkos has recorded at least a point per game for most of his career and joined a new club this summer makes the slower production more noticeable.

That said, the 34-year-old's play has improved slightly, with three goals and five points in his last five games. Stamkos also has plenty of international hockey experience, having played in three World Championships, the world juniors and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

While he’ll be 35 when the 4 Nations Face-Off begins, Stamkos has the pedigree and championship know-how from his two Stanley Cups and gold medals in the World Cup and world juniors to be a valuable part of the Canadian team. Improving his scoring with the Predators will ease any concerns about Stamkos' play this season. We're not ready to take him off the roster.

Tavares, meanwhile, has arguably earned a spot now on Team Canada. In 15 games, the 34-year-old has eight goals and 14 points, which is almost a point per game. That's closer to what he's had in 2022-23 and earlier, compared to his 65 points in 80 games last season. He's producing those results while averaging 16:52 of ice time, a minute less than last year.

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Tavares also has championship experience in international hockey, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2014 and a World Cup gold with Stamkos. Tavares may no longer be a true superstar, but he’s still got what it takes to be part of Canada’s team.

That means Tavares would have to take someone else's spot, but he may have to play a different position.

He wouldn’t replace any of the four centers we projected last year – Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Chicago's Connor Bedard. But Tavares is outperforming Edmonton’s Zach Hyman, who has just three goals and seven points in 15 games.

The other three left wingers on our Canadian roster are Stamkos, Brad Marchand and Jared McCann, so Tavares could play left wing and replace Hyman on Canada’s depth chart. That would leave Canada with Marchand, Stamkos, Tavares and McCann. That’s about as deep a group as it gets on the international stage.

Here's what Michael Traikos, Ryan Kennedy and Katie Gaus said:

(Don't see the video? Click here.)

Canada GM Don Sweeney should know the value of players accustomed to playing high-stakes international hockey, which makes Stamkos and Tavares so tempting on top of their play. But either way, these tough decisions indicate how elite Team Canada will be up front.

Injuries and slumps may result in a roster that looks significantly different than the one we drew up last fall, but if Stamkos and Tavares stay healthy and productive, they deserve to play at the 4 Nations Face-Off. It could be their final kick at the can for representing their homeland.

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