"Rather have 3 best players in the world": NHL analyst names his pick between USA and Team Canada roster for 4 Nations Face-Off

The American side has been widely picked as a potential favorite in the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, one NHL insider believes that might be a faulty pick given the sort of talent that plays north of the USA.

James Duthie of First Up said on the podcast on Thursday (7:30):

"I think most of our panel yesterday maybe picked the Americans to have the edge, which seems to be the trendy thing to look at, and I get that as far as death all the way down the lineup, and particularly in that myself, I still give the Canadians the edge.

Duthie said that the three best players in the world, which are Connor McDavid, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, mean Canada should have the edge regardless of overall depth.

He continued:

"I don't think there's that much of a depth edge for the Americans besides the net. And, you know, the goalie might matter, might not matter in a game like that, but I would rather have the three single best players in the world, and I think that's what Canada has."

Duthie prefers star power to having a balanced lineup in this competition, but it remains to be seen what will play better in February.

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Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off roster revealed

The official rosters for all 4 Nations Face-Off teams have been revealed. Canada is packed with stars. These six players made it as the initial picks:

• F Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
• F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
• F Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
• F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
• F Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning
• D Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche

Canada has a top 4 Nations Face-Off roster (Imagn)

The following round out the roster with some of the best Canadian players in the NHL:

• F Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers
• F Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
• F Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Lightning
• F Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes
• F Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
• F Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
• F Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers
• F Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights
• D Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
• D Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues
• D Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas Golden Knights
• D Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
• D Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights
• D Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche
• G Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
• G Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights
• G Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens

They will have their work cut out for them, but it appears that offense will reign supreme with the amount of top scorers this team has on its roster.