Alex Pietrangelo Withdrawing From 4 Nations Face-Off Could Set a Troubling Precedent

Unfortunately, injuries are an inevitable part of the sport and are bound to increase around the midway point of an 82-game schedule. It was unreasonable to expect every player named to a team in early December would be available on Feb. 12. Even now, Team USA is still awaiting news on Charlie McAvoy, just as Finland will be monitoring the situation with Erik Haula and Team Sweden is seeking more information on the availability of Jonas Brodin and William Karlsson.

That being said, the Pietrangelo news must be at least somewhat concerning for 4 Nations Face-Off organizers. Having recently turned 35 and still being relied upon for roughly 23 minutes per night, the blueliner is the type of player that the Vegas Golden Knights would be just as happy to have a couple of weeks off to rest. That’s not to suggest he isn’t battling some ailment at this point in the season, but the news of his withdrawal also came on the same night as he saw 24:22 of ice time in a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

Is Pietrangelo Setting a Precedent?

As exciting as the 4 Nations Face-Off is set up to be, NHL clubs won’t stop them from focusing on the rest of the season, not to mention the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nor should they. So, if you catch most club executives in a moment of transparency, they’d probably just as soon have their players rest up at home ahead of the final stretch rather than wade into an intense battle for international supremacy.

Pietrangelo’s decision to opt-out was one of proactive self-preservation. For a player who has already won gold with Team Canada at the Olympics, the World Cup and the World Junior Championships, it makes sense that the 4 Nations Face-Off didn’t feel like an event that he needed to be a part of. The concern, however, is whether other players will follow his lead.

Given his age, ice time and Stanley Cup aspirations, Pietrangelo is far from the only player in that boat. Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson (Team Sweden) are also defensemen born in 1990 who continue to log major minutes for their team. Pietrangelo’s teammates, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, have spotty injury histories and must also anticipate a lengthy playoff run. Fellow Canadians Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand are older than Pietrangelo, although good luck getting Crosby to back out. Finally, the 11 players from the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers invited to participate could probably use some rest after going the distance in the postseason last season.

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Importance of the 4 Nations Face-Off to Players and Teams

Ever since the 4 Nations Face-Off teams were named, the players selected have said all the right things regarding their excitement for this proximity to best-on-best international competition. But as we near the Feb. 12 start date, we will see if they continue to treat it like a major competition. While it seems unlikely that Pietrangelo’s exit will open up any floodgates of players backing out, some might begin to consider the opportunity for a couple of weeks off to recharge.

The last best-on-best hockey competition, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, faced no such challenges. While its September schedule did interfere with training camp, it didn’t impact the start of the 2016-17 season and, thus, didn’t see any withdrawals that weren’t related to a pre-existing injury (sorry, Pietrangelo, but blaming an ‘ailment’ that will affect you three weeks down the road after playing that very night doesn’t hold up). In this case, participants will need to be dedicated to the event despite its significant disruption to their season.

After all, the Face-Off will leave some imbalance in its wake. The Panthers are poised to send a league-high eight players to the event, while the Golden Knights are still set to send six in light of Pietrangelo’s absence. At the other end of the spectrum, the Washington Capitals, sporting an NHL-best 33-11-5 record, are somehow the only team without a single representative at the event. Suffice it to say, their big guns will be well-rested when regular season competition resumes on Feb. 22.

While Pietrangelo’s explanation for his withdrawal may seem dubious, his motivations for doing so are understandable. But that is a potentially problematic reality for 4 Nations Face-Off organizers as the event approaches: can players be expected to fully buy in to an event with no history, particularly when it interferes with preparation for their stretch run? The first domino has now dropped; we’ll see if more will follow.