While the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were officially announced on Wednesday night, a glimpse into Tuesday's practice told Flyers fans all they needed to know about who made the team.
Neither Travis Konecny nor Travis Sanheim would confirm but #Flyers appeared to be congratulating them & Rasmus Ristolainen before practice on 4 Nations.
— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) December 2, 2024
Konecny & Sanheim met playing for Canada at 2014 U18s. As Konecny said, it would be a "Full Circle" moment if they're named.
Those in attendance also added that Ristolainen was celebrated as well. The three will join head coach John Tortorella, who was named an assistant coach for the USA in August. The 4 Nations tournament will replace the NHL's All-Star game and featured the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland.
The tournament will be split between Boston and Montreal, with the former hosting the first four games and the latter hosting the last three, including the championship game. It will be held from Feb. 12-20. The first six players on each team were announced at an earlier date and already featured some of the best in the league.
"If I get fortunate enough to represent my country, it would be a huge honor, something that I've worked hard to get to," Sanheim said after Monday's practice. Even if they already knew when asked, he and Konecny did a nice job keeping quiet about it.
Three Flyers named to 4 Nations rosters
Starting with the obvious, Ristolainen was essentially a lock to make the Finland roster. The team isn't necessarily deep with 43 active players in the NHL. And there are only 10 Finnish defensemen. Of all active Finnish defensemen, Ristolainen has the most career games at 738 and points at 292.
Not to mention the Flyers' defenseman has been having one of his best seasons to date. It's only been 25 games, but Ristolainen's 46.21 CF% is currently the fourth-best of his career. He is not far off of Sanheim in that stat, with his sometimes partner holding a 47.51 CF%.
When Cam York was out with injury, Ristolainen was moved to the top pair and seemed to be involved in both the offense and defense. He is at his best when he is being physical and keeping his feet moving. Brad Shaw has worked wonders with Ristolainen's game.
For Sanheim, he was a no-move clause away from being traded to St. Louis back in 2023. Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don't end up being made. Sanheim and the Flyers can agree with that one. He has transformed himself into the team's clear-cut number-one defenseman.
He's more than holding his own in the defensive zone and is eating up hard minutes while doing it. He's averaging over 25 minutes a game, the most in his career, and has topped the 30-minute mark a few times this year. He's producing offensively as well. Sanheim already has five goals and 15 points in 25 games. If he continues at this pace, he could break his career offensive totals after already doing so a season ago.
Lastly, Konecny has easily been the Flyers' MVP for the second straight season. He finished the month of November with 20 points, becoming the sixth Flyer in the last 20 years to post that many points in a month. He leads the Flyers with 30 points.
Konecny is on a five-game point streak, posting seven points. He also has 20 points in his last 13 games. Prior to the five-game streak, he had a seven-game streak as well. He has not registered a point in only eight games so far this season, failing in only two November games.
We'll have to wait and see what each of their roles will be on their respective teams. But it will be a nice honor for the three of them, especially for Konecny and Sanheim. The two have become extremely close over the years.
"We haven't always been as close as we are now, so it has kind of been cool watching that happen. That would definitely be special and I know both of us would be rooting for the other to be on that team," Konecny said on Monday afternoon.