BUFFALO — One day after capping one of the best comebacks in Colorado Avalanche history with the game-winning goal, Artturi Lehkonen learned he’ll have the opportunity to play for his country in the first best-on-best men’s international event in nine years.
Lehkonen joined Mikko Rantanen on Finland’s roster Wednesday for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held in February in Montreal and Boston. Devon Toews was also selected for Canada’s roster, where he will join Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen were part of the six original players named to each country’s rosters back in June ahead of the 2024 NHL draft.
The rest of the rosters for Finland and Sweden were announced Wednesday afternoon, while the finalized squads for Canada and the United States were announced later in the day. Lehkonen has been one of Colorado’s best players since arriving in a trade from Montreal ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.
The two-way Finnish wing has five goals and 10 points in 14 games this season. He missed the start of the year while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Lehkonen captained Finland’s gold-medal winning entry in the 2015 world junior championships, but hasn’t played for his country since breaking into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 2016.
Toews has been one of the best two-way defensemen in the NHL since Colorado traded for him from the New York Islanders in October 2020. He finished in the top 15 of the Norris Trophy voting in each of his first three seasons with the Avs. This will be the first time Toews has played for Canada at any level.
The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off is the first best-on-best hockey tournament featuring NHL players since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. MacKinnon played in that event for Team North America, which consisted of the best young American and Canadian players. Avs captain Gabe Landeskog also played for Sweden.
This event starts with two round-robin games for each country in Montreal before the third opening-round matchups and championship game are played in Boston. Canada-Finland, which should feature five members of the Avalanche, will be Feb. 17 at TD Garden with the title match three days later. It is considered an appetizer for the NHL’s return to the Winter Olympics the following year in Italy.
