Two More Leafs May Yet Earn Unique Honour, While John Tavares Remains Out in the Cold
The Maple Leafs already have multiple representatives taking part in the 4 Nations Faceoff and could yet see 2 names added, though, shockingly, John Tavares is not one of them.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will reportedly have at least 1 representative on each National Team in the first ever 4 Nations Face-Off if all goes according to plan.
Auston Matthews will represent the United States, Mitch Marner will wear the red and white Maple Leaf for Canada, William Nylander will don the Swedish Tre Kronor jersey he loves so much once again, and Jani Hakanapaa remains a strong hopeful for Finland.
However, in a recent piece for The Athletic, NHL Insider Chris Johnston revealed that we could yet see some additional Leafs representing their country, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson leading the way as the "next man up" for Sweden.
Naturally, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Mattias Ekholm, Gustav Forsling, Rasmus Dahlin, Jonas Brodin, and Rasmus Andersson were the ones selected to man the blueline from the onset, but Ekman-Larsson could be the first back-up should the injury bug bite before the tournament next month, per Johnston.
Similarly, Joseph Woll has been listed as a dark horse to receive a call from Team USA, should something happen to Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger or Jeremy Swayman -- though Johnston did toss out John Gibson's name as the likely first man up, with Woll right behind him.
After Woll's most recent 6-3 loss in Carolina, his stock may have taken a bit of a hit, but Leafs head coach Craig Berube was quick to defend his goaltender after the loss and was equally quick to point out just how well Woll has played for the Leafs of late.
Surprisingly, even as one of the NHL's leading goal scorers since the inaugural tournament rosters were announced, John Tavares remains on the outside looking in for Canada.
Tavares' 10 goals since the rosters were announced is 3rd in the entire league, behind only Mark Scheifele (11) and Jordan Kyrou (12). Unfortunately, both happen to also be Canadian, putting Tavares behind them in the pecking order if anyone on the current roster should suffer an unfortunate injury. Scheifele remains the favourite to receive the first call-up in that event.
There's still a month to go before the tournament, so it's entirely possible that Tavares can play his way into consideration for a reserve spot, but as it stands at the moment, he's just a little behind, despite his career resurgence this season in Toronto.
Tavares has produced an astonishing 20 goals and 42 points in 42 games as a 34-year-old this season. Just tremendous to see for the former Leafs captain.
