If 4 Nations Face-Off Was Expanded, 3 More Blackhawks Would Be Representing

The 4 Nations Face-Off has been some fun hockey to watch after just two games, but many wished there were more nations involved. Given that every player in the tournament is playing in the NHL and the tournament was put on by the NHL, it did limit options for most rosters.

That being said, if more nations were represented, such as teams like Czechia, Germany, and Switzerland, the Chicago Blackhawks would easily have three more players on their roster representing their countries. Teuvo Teravainen is the lone representative and is playing for Finland in this format.

The would-be representative from the Blackhawks for Czechia would be Petr Mrazek, for Germany would be Lukas Reichel, and for Switzerland would be Philipp Kurashev. For Reichel and Kurashev, they would have the advantage of being some of the few players from their countries and have less competition to make the rosters. This will no doubt help both for the 2026 Olympics though.

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There are eight total Czech goalies who have played a game in the NHL this season, so some good competition and more than what would be expected. Mrazek would be a top-3 selection for Czechia given his experience, career numbers, and current season.

There is a huge gap in career games played, wins, and shutouts between Mrazek and any of the other seven goalies that include David Rittich, Vitek Vanecek, Karel Vejmelka, Lukas Dostal, Dan Vladar, Jakub Dobes, and Jakob Skarek.

Mrazek is fourth in games played, fourth in SV%, and fourth in wins this season among these goalies, but he was injured and is on a very bad Blackhawks team which hurts his numbers no matter what. Dobes,one of the top performers, has also played just nine games, so he wouldn’t be selected over Mrazek, especially given the rookie has declined since his first five starts. Mrazek, Vejmelka, and Dostal would be the trio for Czechia.

Moving on to Reichel, unfortunately there are only five forwards of German descent playing in the NHL. This doesn’t create a lot of competition and Reichel would easily be on the team, but it also makes the team less competitive and a lower option for the NHL to select to play. Reichel has the least games played and points of the five German forwards, but I would rank him fourth in terms of skill level behind Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, and JJ Peterka.

Kurashev is in a similar situation to Reichel and Germany as he would make the Switzerland roster due to lack of actual NHL talent. There are a few more players to choose from in this case, but Kurashev, who can barely crack the Blackhawks roster this season due to his struggles, would be a top-6 forward.

Kurashev is the least experienced and has the fewest goals and points among the six Swiss players that include Nino Niederreiter, Kevin Fiala, Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Pius Suter.

Given that the World Cup of Hockey is expected to return in 2028 with eight teams that doesn’t include Team Europe or Team North America, all three of these nations will likely be involved and all of these players playing. They may not all be Blackhawks by that time, but that remains to be seen.

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