With the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off coming up quickly, let’s take a look at the teams involved and their chances at winning the competition. The international event is hosted by the NHL and will feature only NHL players. It will also temporarily replace the league’s annual All-Star Game for the season and will feature teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. Let's have a look at the BetOnline odds.
In this tournament, each team will play each other in a round-robin format, followed by a one-game final between the two top-placed nations. But before the puck drops, there is still time to wager on a winner. Let’s check out the four participating nations and who could win it all.
Canada +135
As the favorite to win the tournament, there is a lot of pressure on Canada. Even if they were the "underdogs," there would still be immense pressure. The red-and-white roster is very top-heavy, with a trio of the world’s very best in Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby, who have a combined six Hart Trophy wins between them.
They also bring the grit and snarl that comes with players like Sam Bennett and Travis Konecny. Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, who already play for Canada’s head coach Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning, can not only shut down the opposition’s best but also put the puck in the net on a regular basis.
Canada's defensive core is made up of effective duos. One of the best pairings in the NHL is Colorado’s Cale Makar and Devon Toews, backed up by Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore from Vegas to round out the top four.
The real concern for Canada is their weakness in goal. The trio of Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault doesn’t exactly scream a winning combination when matched up against the competition's crease combatants. Yes, two of them are Stanley Cup champions—Binnington with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 and Hill with the Golden Knights in 2023. That being said, Adin Hill is the only one of the three who entered the new year with a winning record and has played the best this season of the three goaltenders.
United States +170
USA Hockey is definitely in a great spot. The World Junior squad has been crushing it, and they’re sending what may be the best roster in the history of the organization to this event.
Let’s break it down. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, Matthew Tkachuk, and Kyle Connor are just five of the forwards going to the tournament. While there’s been debate that they may not have the same scoring ability as the Canadians, their center depth is out of this world.
On the back end, they have Norris Trophy winners like Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes leading the charge. Zach Werenski and NHL sophomore Brock Faber add another layer of mobility from the blue line.
The biggest advantage for the U.S. could be between the pipes. Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman make up the best goaltending force in the tournament. Hellebuyck has been electric this season and was the lone 20+ win goaltender in the NHL heading into 2025.
The battle between the pipes will likely be the difference for the Americans.
Sweden +450
While the forward group is nothing to sneeze at, the so-called “game-breakers” haven’t exactly been producing as advertised. Just to focus on two of their stars, Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson is a shell of himself, and Mika Zibanejad has been struggling this season. They’ll need players like Lucas Raymond, Adrian Kempe, and William Nylander to unlock their elite potential while representing Tre Kronor.
Sweden’s defense core is pretty typical for them, with a solid combination of tough shutdown blueliners and offensive-minded defensemen. They’re built around Victor Hedman, Gustav Forsling, Mattias Ekholm, and Rasmus Dahlin. The wild card is the aging Erik Karlsson and how he’ll be deployed. Seen as a bust by most of the Pittsburgh faithful, Karlsson needs to make an immediate impact in such a short tournament, and his best days in the blue and yellow may have come and gone.
In net, they’ll rely on Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markström, and Linus Ullmark. Markström and Gustavsson have turned in excellent first halves of the season, while Ullmark struggled early on but has since settled things down.
Unfortunately for Tre Kronor, they aren’t in the same conversation when it comes to offensive talent as the Americans and Canadians.
Finland +700
The Finnish lineup will clearly rely heavily on players like Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, and Mikko Rantanen, with the latter two being particularly important. They’ll be supported by teammates like Roope Hintz and the reformed Patrik Laine. The rest of the forward group has had solid seasons thus far and shouldn’t be taken lightly if they can maintain momentum.
On the back end, Finland has elected to go with a physical group to punish the opposition. Outside of Miro Heiskanen, they don’t have many offensive drivers from their own end, and the lack of talent on the defensive core could be their undoing.
Despite a season to forget in Nashville, Juuse Saros will likely be Finland’s goaltender of choice for this event. He’ll still face competition from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Kevin Lankinen, who have had solid seasons for Buffalo and Vancouver, respectively.
While many don’t expect much from the Finns, their game plan will likely involve smothering the opposition with their forward group, playing defensive hockey, and hoping their game-breakers can do their thing.