United States Reveals 4 Nations Face-Off Roster

The United States Team is ready to capture gold at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. After months of speculation regarding their roster makeup, the official rosters for all four countries have officially been revealed. Let's take a look at the American squad, some surprises and snubs, and an overall outlook on their team.

Goalies - Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman

Despite Swayman's struggles, the Boston Bruins puck-stopper makes the team and looks to be the third goalie in the rotation. Between Hellebuyck and Oettinger, the US has the top two goalies in the world right now, so there isn't a bad pick for starter between them.

Defensemen - Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Zach Werenski, Jaccob Slavin, Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin

Mobile, smart, and cerebral are all terms to describe these seven defenders for Team USA. A nice balance was struck on left and right-handed players, and they have the players to have three elite pairings on the ice at any given moment.

Forwards - Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, JT Miller, Jason Robertson, Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Chris Kreider, Dylan Larkin, Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck

Star power leads the top of the United States forward group. Their top-six is deadly, but it's the bottom-six group that will be the most crucial and biggest question marks.

Surprises/Snubs

The forward group features several surprises. The team opted for veteran depth in Kreider, Nelson, and Trocheck. In doing so, they leave out the electric goal scorer Cole Caufield and Tage Thompson. The roster may change between now and the official tournament beginning, but for now it's a surprising 13 forwards.

JT Miller was another surprise inclusion. He just left the Vancouver Canucks for a leave of absence due to personal reasons, but Team USA is confident he will be available come February.

Defensively, the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Noah Hanifin over a veteran defenseman like John Carlson. But, the choice of Hanifin shows that skating ability was the priority for the blue line.

Keys to Victory

The same question that's hung over the selection team hangs over this team for as long as the 4 Nations Face-Off lasts: can they put it all together? On paper, the United States might have the best group assembled. But are they the best team? That remains to be seen.