With the final rosters for the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden in the NHL’s upcoming Four Nations Face-Off tournament set to be announced on two live broadcasts on Wednesday, the Rangers have a handful of players who are in the mix.
After the remaining players representing Finland and Sweden are revealed on NHL Network and ESPN’s “SportsCenter” at 2 p.m. ET, the complete rosters for Canada and the U.S. will be unveiled on Sportsnet and TNT at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Blueshirts already have two players – American defenseman Adam Fox and Swedish center Mika Zibanejad – slated to represent their respective countries in the NHL’s first taste of international competition in a decade.
Though the start to the 2023-24 season has surely been factored into each nation’s final roster decisions.
As a team, the Rangers haven’t had the kind of start that would catapult their players into contention for a Four Nations roster spot. But they were one of nine teams to have more than one player named in the first wave of selections in June.
It’s likely the Rangers had several players on each country’s radar, so it’ll be interesting to see how much individual starts to the season influences final roster decisions.
Kaapo Kakko has seemingly played his way into heavier consideration with the start he’s pieced together.
Maybe the Finnish wing was a candidate for a depth spot to begin with, but Kakko had been a notable contributor to one of the Rangers’ most successful lines this season.
After his game-winning power-play goal against the Canadiens, Kakko has collected four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 23 games.
His plus-11 rating is tied with Will Cuylle for the best on the Rangers, while his goals-for-per-60 rate of 3.71 is second to only Cuylle among Rangers regulars.
Kakko would presumably be in line for a bottom-six role with Team Finland, which will be equipped with the likes of the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, the Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen, the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, and the Stars’ Miro Hesikanen and Esa Lindell.
For Alexis Lafreniere, a seven-year extension with the Rangers came first. Will a Team Canada nod be next?
Canada isn’t projected to be short on star power, but Lafreniere can certainly bring more.
The 23-year-old got off to an eye-popping start this season, which carried over from the 2023-24 campaign and prompted president and general manager Chris Drury to lock the 2020 first-overall pick down to the tune of $52.15 million.
As the Rangers have struggled, however, Lafreniere has faded along with the team’s play.
But the Quebec native’s breakout over the last year and a half may be too notable to ignore.
Both Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck could also be in consideration to round out Team USA’s roster, which Drury will weigh in on as the team’s assistant general manager.
Kreider, the Rangers’ longest-tenured player, has become one of the NHL’s most consistent goal-scorers in recent years.
While his individual start to the season has mirrored the Rangers, by way of nine goals and zero assists in 20 games, Kreider just returned to the lineup after dealing with back spasms.
It’s possible that could be a deterrent for both Team USA and Kreider, who at 33 has served as one of the top net-front presences in the league.
Trocheck is coming off a career year last season playing alongside Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin, but he has also left much to be desired with his first 23 games of the season.
His versatility, special teams contributions and pest-like qualities still make Trocheck an intriguing option. Team USA can always use more of that with someone like Boston’s Brad Marchand suiting up for Team Canada.