Canada’s 4 Nations goaltending options, while not perfect, are battle tested

With a tough deadline looming, no Canadian goalie has disrupted the national team goalmouth discussion in a way that simply cannot be ignored. So in the absence of any real shiny stats, Team Canada’s best course of action is to appoint pressured goaltenders and call it a day.

The full squads for the four-nation face-off, taking place in Boston and Montreal from February 12-20, will be announced on Wednesday. At this point, the shortage of quality Canadian goaltenders will evolve from an abstract concept to a concrete reality, as three goaltenders with barely a Vezina Trophy between them will have to fill the spots previously occupied by players like Carey Price, Martin Brodeur and Grant Fuhr were occupied.

Suffice it to say that the names Jordan Binnington, Stuart Skinner and Adin Hill are nowhere near as apt as the previous three. Still, with Binnington and Hill you’re talking about two Stanley Cup winners, and with Skinner you’re talking about a man who, just six months ago, supported a Canadian NHL club through Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

They may not be perfect, but all three goalkeepers performed well and held up well under the intense heat of the infrared waves.

As for the here and now, Hill and Skinner both put in winning performances over the weekend. Hill’s Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Friday and he is actually 4-1-1 with a .924 save percentage in his last half dozen games. Skinner, however, was strong in Edmonton’s 4-1 win over Colorado that same night, making 27 saves against an Avs lineup that featured two of Canada’s best skaters, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

Binnington, for his part, took an L overtime against the Flyers. The only goalie who would likely always be on this team hasn’t been spectacular this year, but his .901 save percentage in his last 11 appearances is not insignificant in a league where goalie SPs have declined as much as they have in recent years other worldly shooters take them apart.

Unfortunately for Canada, no goalkeeper from this country – experienced or not – has stood up to these snipers hard enough to secure their way into the 4 Nations.

Left-hander Logan Thompson, who has had a few injury-plagued years, probably comes closest. The 27-year-old Washington Capital first-year prospect has a .911 save percentage this season and ranks sixth in Moneypuck goals saved above expected/60 minutes. The only Canadian ahead of him in both categories is Red Wing Cam Talbot, who has a .915 save percentage and is third in goals saved with 60 points behind only Karel Vejmelka and Lukas Dostal.

These are certainly strong performances, but probably not the two months of heat needed to break into the national team. Thompson has only played a total of 115 NHL games in his career and has only four other postseason appearances to his name. As for Talbot, he had to miss Sunday’s loss to Vancouver with a lower-body injury. Even without knowing the severity of the condition, the warning signs are easy to recognize for a 37-year-old puck stopper who suddenly finds himself struggling with injury concerns.

No one is here to ensure that Binnington, Hill and Skinner are untouchable. Far from it. But no one – not Sam Montembeault in Montreal or Mackenzie Blackwood in San Jose – blocked the competition so much that they absolutely had to have a spot. Marc-André Fleury – the only Canadian in the league to own a Vezina – couldn’t write a funny comeback story about the 40-year-old.

As boring as it may be, if you’re on Team Canada, play it safe, rely on three battle-tested bids and hope that two of them come through in the next few months leading up to the tournament. Whatever happens, worst-case scenario, the moment shouldn’t be too big for either of them.

• As mentioned, it wasn’t a great weekend for Talbot and the Red Wings, who are back under .500 after a pair of 5-4 home losses on Friday (against New Jersey) and Sunday (against the Canucks in overtime). Now that Alex Lyon is also out, the Wings will have to turn to Ville Husso, and that could be a difficult situation considering Detroit is ranked 28th^Th in expected goals percentage (45.7) in the NHL.

• No further burden on the Wings, but Detroit’s decision to trade defenseman Jake Walman last summer – ostensibly to free up space for the Wings – is looking worse and worse with each game. Only seven defensemen scored more goals per game than Walman last year, so it’s easy to see why San Jose was happy to retain the d-man – along with a second-round pick – for future consideration just before the draft. After a 2-2-4 weekend with two wins for the young Sharks, Walman – who plays over 22 minutes a night in San Jose – is up to 19 points in 22 contests, just two shy of his previous career high of 21 last year Detroit. Only seven blueliners in the league have a better points per game than Walman’s 0.86.

• The Flyers, who have rattled off three straight wins to at least temporarily clinch a playoff spot, are working overtime to get results. After defeating Binnington and the Blues 3-2 with rookie Matvei Michkov’s OT winner, Philly has now played more than 60 minutes in eight of its last 12 games.

• If the puck dropped on the 4 Nations today, the NHL’s top two point scorers would not be at the event. They are the Russian Kirill Kaprizov (38 points) and the Czech Martin Necas (37).

• Connor Bedard, who has now started two of his last three games, will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, while Auston Matthews will play his first home game since Halloween.

• Two-time Cup winner Trevor Lewis looks set to make his 1,000th^Th game on Wednesday night when the Kings host the Dallas Stars. Few men have established themselves more as a reliable role player over the last 15 years than Lewis. The 37-year-old American essentially scores five to nine goals per year and plays around 13 strong minutes. Stay with yourself, Trevor.

• Also on Wednesday, the US Hockey Hall of Fame will induct two players who won a total of four Cups with the Penguins – Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen – as well as 2018 Olympic gold medalist Brianna Decker.

• On Thursday, Sabers bench boss Lindy Ruff will practice his 1,800^Th NHL game when the Jets visit Buffalo. By early 2025, Ruff will overtake Barry Despite for third place on the all-time coaches list, behind only Paul Maurice (1,873) and Scotty Bowman (2,141).

• Escaped RFAs – Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway – visit their old team, the Oilers, on Saturday as members of the St. Louis Blues. Broberg played 24:08 in his return to action Saturday after missing virtually all of November with a knee injury. Holloway, meanwhile, is on a serious high with five points in his last three games while playing in the second row.

Red and white power rankings

1. Toronto Maple Leafs (14-7-2) Joseph Woll’s last five games: 5-0-0 with a sparkling .938 save percentage.

2. Winnipeg Jets (18-7-0) After Sunday’s 3-1 loss in Dallas, the Jets have held one goal or fewer in five of their last 10 games.

3. Edmonton Oilers (13-9-2) Can the Oilers, who have now won three straight after Saturday’s triumph in Colorado, use December to move forward? After Tuesday’s duel in Las Vegas, Edmonton will play eight of nine home games.

4. Vancouver Canucks (13-7-3) Elias Pettersson’s first dozen games this year: 2-3-5. Elias Pettersson’s last 11: 5-11-16.

5. Calgary Flames (12.9.4) The Flames are currently riding their second four-game losing streak of the season, going 11-4 in their last two games.

6. Ottawa Senators (10-12-2) Ottawa’s unsatisfactory results contrast with the great work of captain Brady Tkachuk. After a two-goal performance in Sunday’s shootout loss to the Ducks, Tkachuk is basically playing at a 45-goal, 95-point pace.

7. Montreal Canadiens (8-13-3) After another ugly loss Sunday night in Boston, Cayden Primeau’s .844 save percentage is the worst mark in the league among the 41 goaltenders with at least 10 appearances this season.