(Photo Credit: NHL Images)

By: Matthew Lemear | Follow Me on X @Mlemear331

One of the most anticipated tournaments in hockey history will get underway just over a week from now. The 4 Nations Face-Off will pit the best players from the United States, Sweden, Finland, and Canada against each other. Arguably, the USA has one of the best collections of goaltenders, but who starts and who sits? And will Bruins fan favorite Jeremy Swayman see any playing time?

Team USA’s roster includes reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets, Jake Oettinger from the Dallas Stars, and Jeremy Swayman from your Boston Bruins. With three players of this caliber, it presents a challenge for the coaching staff to decide who plays and who sits. However, it is certainly a good problem to have.

Bruins fans couldn’t be more excited as Jeremy Swayman takes his talent to Team USA as one of their three goalies! Since making his debut in the 2020-2021 season, he has captured hockey fans’ hearts in New England with an impressive record of 96 wins, 50 losses, and 19 overtime losses. Partnering with Linus Ullmark, they formed a phenomenal goalie duo over the previous three seasons and led the Bruins to the best regular season in NHL history during the 2022/2023 season.

(Photo Credit/Dean Woolley, Team USA)

Jeremy Swayman of the Bruins has had a challenging season, and it’s no secret. However, as I mentioned before, he has displayed moments of exceptional skill during his first few years in the league. If Swayman can recapture the brilliance he demonstrated during last year’s playoffs, he could become a significant asset in the 4 Nations tournament. At present, he would likely be the third-choice goalie for the roster.

Swayman has expressed what an honor it is to be chosen to represent his country in such a prestigious tournament. As Bruins fans, we would all love to see Swayman as the number-one goaltender for Team USA. However, his current statistics do not support this decision. Nonetheless, Swayman will likely have more opportunities to represent his country in future international tournaments. Despite the ups and downs this season, Swayman is eager to shine at the national level, and the future remains incredibly promising for this talented young man.

Jake Oettinger has been consistently featured in NHL highlight reels in recent seasons. As the Dallas Stars’ number one goaltender, he is becoming a strong contender for the Vezina Trophy annually. He will likely be the number two goaltender for Team USA in the Four Nations tournament. The third goalie on the roster is any other name besides Connor Hellebuyck, and Oettinger would most likely be Team USA’s starter.

Oettinger is thrilled to represent Team USA. In an interview with NHL on TNT reporter Jackie Redmond, he shared that as a child, he often imagined himself as Jim Craig, playing for Team USA in the Olympics. Oettinger also mentioned to Redmond that he hopes to honor former New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist by featuring a tribute to him on his mask for the tournament.

Next, we have Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets. Hellebuyck is the most recent winner of the NHL’s Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goaltender recognized as the best for that season. He has been a reliable workhorse for the Jets in recent years, collecting 107 victories since the start of the 2022-2023 season. It’s clear that few fans or experts have questioned who would be the number one starter for Team USA; there really isn’t another logical choice.

Hellebuyck’s story is quite remarkable. During his early hockey career, he wasn’t regarded as a top prospect. In fact, according to NHL.com, he didn’t even appear on Central Scouting’s list of the best draft-eligible goaltenders. Fortunately for Hellebuyck—and perhaps even luckier for the Winnipeg Jets—he was selected in the fifth round, 130th overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft. Today, Hellebuyck is considered one of the best goaltenders in the league. Given his impressive statistics, keeping him out of the crease would be criminal.

Even though Team Sweden originally had an extremely competitive goaltending trio in Filip Gustavsson, Linus Ullmark, and Jacob Markstrom, they lost Markstrom to injury. Samuel Ersson of the Philadelphia Flyers was named as Markstrom’s replacement. Ullmark is also just returning from an extended back injury and may not be able to handle the workload of such an intense and quick tournament.

With Team Sweden’s misfortunes, Team USA has the advantage in the goaltending department. The 4 Nations Face-Off is a three-game round-robin style tournament, with the top two teams playing in a one-game Championship. If I were the head coach of Team USA, I would ride Hellebuyck until the end, but it will be interesting to see if Mike Sullivan rotates Hellebuyck and Oettinger or decides to give each guy a go in the round-robin. Either way, this tournament is going to be a blast to watch!

Regardless of what happens or what goalies play (or don’t), Bruins fans should be excited about this tournament and having their number one goalie showcased in an international tournament. Besides the IIHF World Championships, this is the first international tournament featuring NHL players since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and comes a year before NHL players (hopefully) return to the Winter Olympics. The last time we saw NHL players compete in the Olympics was in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The 4 Nations Face-Off is a good way to get more exposure for the NHL and grow the game of hockey worldwide!