Detroit goaltender Cam Talbot was injured on Sunday, and he had been having an excellent season for the Red Wings. This may have implications for the Four Nations Cup – more on that later – but it clearly has implications for Detroit. As a result of the injury, and the one to Alex Lyon, the Wings called up prospect goalie Sebastian Cossa:

UPDATE: The #RedWings have recalled goaltender Sebastian Cossa from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. pic.twitter.com/qsuuGJNTXN

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 2, 2024

Cossa had a .913 save percentage in 40 AHL games last year and has a .925 in 14 games this year. It is just an emergency recall, and he's not starting on Tuesday, but something to monitor.

*

An update on some injured Maple Leafs:

Domi and Pacioretty at practice, wearing outlier grey sweaters.

— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) December 2, 2024

They are still working their way back, so nothing is imminent, but it's notable Max Domi and Max Pacioretty are back on the ice. 

*

An update on Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson:

More good news on #Flyers goalie Sam Ersson. He is on the ice at practice and they are rotating him through.

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) December 2, 2024

No firm timeline yet but it seems he should be back later this week.

*

It appears as though Patrik Laine's return will indeed be Tuesday night as Montreal sent Joshua Roy back to the AHL:

Joshua Roy est cédé à Laval @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) December 2, 2024

Laine has yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury in the preseason. Montreal needs all the offensive help they can get.  

*

After that scary crash with teammate Sean Walker a few games ago, Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov was back at practice:

Canes on the ice for practice and Kochetkov is back.

— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) December 2, 2024

We will see where this goes.

*

Mark Stone appears to be nearing a return to the lineup:

Bruce Cassidy ruled Mark Stone out for tomorrow's game against Edmonton.

Wouldn't rule him out for Wednesday in Anaheim. Said they're not expecting to have him, but aren't sure.

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 2, 2024

More as we get it, but that will be a huge boost for fantasy managers.

*

New Jersey absolutely put the wood to the New York Rangers by a 5-1 margin on Monday night. They got a great game in goal from Jacob Markstrom, who stopped 39 of 40 shots for his 12^th win of the season. It pushes him up to a .907 save percentage on the season, which is perfectly fine in a league where the average save percentage is about .900.

The Devils' top line had a big game as Jack Hughes had two goals (one PP) and an assist with eight shots. Jesper Bratt, meanwhile, posted a goal and three assists (two PP) along with four blocks and a hit.

Dougie Hamilton had a great night on the back end with a goal and an assist (both PP), two shots, two blocks, two PIMs, and a hit. After going pointless in six games to start the year, Hamilton now has 21 points in his last 22 games.

Dawson Mercer had the other Devils tally.

Chris Kreider scored the lone goal for the Rangers, a second-period power play marker. Igor Shesterkin allowed five goals on 27 shots.

Going back six weeks, here are the Rangers' ranks across the league at 5-on-5:

• 30^th by shot share
• 29^th by expected goal share
• 29^th by goal share

At 5-on-5, the Rangers are in legitimate Chicago/Anaheim/San Jose territory. It is a wonder how much longer the coach lasts. This is untenable.

*

Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, John Tavares, and Fraser Minten all got in the goal column as Toronto took a 4-1 win at home to Chicago. Matthews finished with three shots, a block, two PIMs, and three hits. He has yet to have a hot streak this season, whether due to injury or otherwise. Is this the start of one?

Mitch Marner had a pair of assists and two blocks. He now has 24 assists in 24 games. That seems alright.

Anthony Stolarz was great in net again, stopping 27 of 28 shots for the win. His save percentage is up to .924 on the season as he's been one of the best stories in the league to start the year.

Lukas Reichel managed the only goal for Chicago. Arvid Soderblom allowed three goals on 21 shots.

*

Dallas managed to hang on for a 2-1 win in Utah on Monday night. Notably, Tyler Seguin was sent to the injured reserve, so he'll be out this week, while Logan Stankoven was back in the lineup.

Evgenii Dadonov (PP) and Jamie Benn got the goals for the Stars. Miro Heiskanen had an assist on Dadonov's power play goal, and added three blocks and a hit. Heiskanen's little heater continues as he has seven points in his last six games. He had a slow start similar to Hamilton's and now has 13 points in his last 17 appearances.

Casey DeSmith stopped 34 of 35 shots for the win.

Nick Schmaltz scored his third goal of the season, and his third goal in two games, in the loss. Karel Vejmelka allowed just two goals on 21 shots but took the loss.

*

Rosters for the Four Nations Cup are finalized and will be announced tomorrow. With a light night of action in the NHL, I wanted to take my shot at filling out the roster for Team Canada. We are going with a 23-man roster with 12 forwards, six defencemen, two goalies, and a spare at each position, along with an assumption that the players selected will be healthy when February rolls around. These are my preferences, and not who I think the management group will take.

To start with, six players have already been named: Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand, and Cale Makar. It gives us five forwards and a defenceman:

LW	C	RW
Brad Marchand	Connor McDavid
	Nathan MacKinnon
	Sidney Crosby
	Brayden Point

Let's move on to the locks, or the forwards that should absolutely be on the roster if they are healthy.

Starting on right wing, three players immediately come to mind: Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, and Sam Reinhart. All three are elite two-way players at 5-on-5, all three can play both the power play and penalty kill, so all three are getting the nod.

On left wing, two locks for the team seem to be Edmonton's Zach Hyman and Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel. Hyman has had a tough start to the 2024-25 season, but he clearly has a lot of chemistry with McDavid and can be a crucial net-front presence on the power play that the team may not have elsewhere.

Hagel has been an elite even strength producer for years now, even without Nikita Kucherov on the opposite wing. He has a lot of familiarity with Point, is a very good penalty killer, can hop on the power play, and is a great two-way winger at even strength. He checks a lot of boxes.

We can quibble about other forwards who should be locks for the roster, and maybe there is a quibble with Hyman given his start to the season, but that's who I have, and it gives us this:  

LW	C	RW
Zach Hyman	Connor McDavid	Mitch Marner
Brad Marchand	Sidney Crosby	Sam Reinhart
	Nathan MacKinnon	Mark Stone
Brandon Hagel	Brayden Point

It might be a lot to put on a young player, but Connor Bedard belongs here. We just need to look at the Chicago roster to see he really hasn't had much help from his teammates since being drafted, and he is tremendous through the neutral zone and has a great shot. It gives them an additional right-shot centre they can use in all offensive situations, too.

A number of wingers can make a case, but one sticks out, and that is Travis Konecny. He isn't to the level defensively that Hagel is, but he is a tremendous offensive talent that has had to carry a bad Flyers roster for years. He can also play in all three phases and despite being a right shot, he can play both wings.

If we want additional centres on the roster, there are seven that should be given consideration.

All of Mark Scheifele, Mathew Barzal, Nick Suzuki, Robert Thomas, and Wyatt Johnston should get a look, but they are all right-shot centres. We have five centres already named, three are right-handed, and we have Marner/Reinhart/Stone on right wing. At best, if we select one of these centres, they'll be on the fourth line, but that would likely leave one of Bedard or Konecny off the starting lineup.

John Tavares was injured early in Canada's Olympic gold medal run back in 2014. After a down year in 2023-24, he has rebounded well in 2024-25. My one concern is that he's 34 years old and with guys like Marchand, Crosby, and Stone on the roster, it's a wonder how many mid-to-late-30s players the team needs.  

Anthony Cirelli is better offensively than he gets credit for, but his value largely comes from his defence. He does have a lot of chemistry with Hagel, and that might work in his favour, but that would mean Cirelli as the C4, perhaps moving Crosby to the wing.

Then there are three players that are a bit further down the list but should be given consideration.

Steven Stamkos would be a boon on the power play but his even strength game has fallen so far that he would likely be a liability on the team. Father Time comes for us all, and it seems to be knocking on Stamkos's door.

Alexis Lafreniere has really pushed himself up the hierarchy over the last 14 months. What works against him is that we don't know if he's a power play asset simply because he doesn't get a lot of time – though I suspect he could be useful in a net-front role similar to Hyman – and he doesn't kill penalties. Having him on the roster when he can't take faceoffs, doesn't penalty kill, and is a question mark on the power play is a big leap of faith.

Carter Verhaeghe has really emerged as a premiere scorer in the NHL over the last few years. However, he has had a tough start to the 2024-25 season, and he doesn't kill penalties. He could be on the roster as the LW4 in a Stamkos-like role, just at a younger age.

I think I have my 12 starting forwards, and it looks like this:

LW	C	RW
Zach Hyman	Connor McDavid	Sam Reinhart
Sidney Crosby	Nathan MacKinnon	Mitch Marner
Brandon Hagel	Brayden Point	Mark Stone
Brad Marchand	Connor Bedard	Travis Konecny

As for the spare forward, the thought process is this: there is more than enough offensive talent and we might want a left-handed forward in case Hagel isn't up to snuff, Hyman keeps struggling, Crosby doesn't want to move to the wing, or Marchand's age catches up with him. It might be a little unconventional, but my 13^th forward would be Anthony Cirelli. If we don't care about handedness, it would be Robert Thomas.

Defence

As for locks on the roster, Makar has already been named, so Devon Toews should be the first player we think of. He and Makar have been arguably the best defensive pair in the NHL for a few years now even if they have struggled a bit in 2024-25. It would be nice to see them dominate again in December/January, but the instant chemistry for a short tournament is hard to ignore.

Josh Morrissey is also be a lock. His ascent over the last few seasons has been meteoric, he can play in all three phases, and has been one of the top Canadian defencemen in the league for years now. He is on there without question.

This may seem a bit more controversial to some, but Evan Bouchard should be on this roster. He is one of the premiere puck movers in the league, can run a power play, and can be a difference-maker from the back end. 

That gives us our top two pairs:

LHD	RHD
Devon Toews	Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey	Evan Bouchard

Though I'm not sure he's as good defensively as he's made out to be, Alex Pietrangelo should probably be on this roster. He is solid at killing penalties, can move the puck at 5-on-5, and jumps into the play well. It may be his final time wearing a Team Canada jersey, but he should be here.

Noah Dobson is an interesting name. He can drive the play at both ends and can kill penalties. His problem is he's a right-handed shot, so he'd probably have to bump either Pietrangelo (which seems redundant) or Bouchard (they probably need him for the power play). Dobson might be the spare, but I'm not sure he's in the starting six.

The same goes for MacKenzie Weegar. He can kill penalties, but he's a right-handed shot, so which of Makar/Bouchard/Pietrangelo should he supplant? Maybe Pietrangelo?

Shea Theodore is an interesting name. He is a left-handed shot, which actually works in his favour, but if Makar and Bouchard are on the team, Theodore probably won't get to run a power play. He doesn't kill penalties, so he'd basically be on the team for his even strength play alone. Theodore is a great even strength defenceman, but it's kind of the same problem as Lafreniere up front: you're very good at even strength, but on an all-star team like this, what else can you do?

The same goes for Dougie Hamilton. With Makar/Bouchard on the team, Hamilton won't run a power play, and he typically doesn't kill penalties, so he'd be there for his even strength play. It isn't an awful thing, but he just doesn't bring a lot else.

Travis Sanheim and Thomas Chabot are two names to keep an eye on. Both are left-handed shots, both can penalty kill, both are having great seasons, and Chabot can run a power play.

Not going to lie, after Makar and Morrissey, I'm not sure there are easy answers here. There are a handful of right-hand shots that all belong, and that doesn't even consider Drew Doughty, who should return from his ankle fracture sometime in January. I wouldn't have Doughty, but I'm not in the management group.  

I am really at a loss as to what the defence corps should look like after the top two names, but let's give it a go:

LHD	RHD
Devon Toews	Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey	Evan Bouchard
Shea Theodore	MacKenzie Weegar

The spare would be Pietrangelo. I have no problem with Sanheim over Theodore, Chabot over Toews, or Dobson over Pietrangelo, but this is what I would go with.  

Goalies

As for goalies, well, I don't have real strong opinions about who the goalies should be; Canada does not have an Igor Shesterkin or Connor Hellebuyck to turn to. For me, there shouldn't be a whole lot more to it than, "Which three goalies have been playing well for a while now?" For me, those three goalies are Cam Talbot, Logan Thompson, and Samuel Montembeault. If someone wants to add Adin Hill, or Stuart Skinner, or Jordan Binnington instead of any of those three names, I will not argue. There is going to be a lot of ink spilled about this position, and given the lack of elite options, we're all guessing anyway.

Looking this over, it's not the forwards that are a concern; if Thomas or Scheifele make it over Bedard, or Verhaeghe or Lafrenière make it over Cirelli, it doesn't really move the needle much. Also, in a way, the goaltending isn't a concern. Again, there are no elite options so worrying about which non-elite goalie can play well for 10 days is just throwing darts.

For me, the real concern is on defence. Again, I think only two guys (Makar, Morrissey) have a track record of elite play and are also having a great 2024-25 season. After that, there are a lot of question marks. I have my picks, but there are probably 8-10 defencemen for five roster spots, and it'll be interesting to see which make the cut.