Three Flyers Selected to Four Nations

Three Flyers players will participate in the 2025 Four Nations Face-Off Tournament from February 12 to 20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston. National Hockey League players representing Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland will compete in a round-robin preliminary round and then a one-game final between the top two teams from the first phase.

Travis Konecny (RW, Team Canada): The Flyers leading scorer posted 20 points in November and has produced at least one point in 11 of his last 12 games. If he maintains his current production pace for the duration of the 2024-25 regular season, the 27-year-old Konecny would post single-season career highs in goals (43), assists (56) and points (99).

The two-time NHL All-Star Game participant is also one of the NHL's top penalty killers and shorthanded scoring threats. The ability to play in a variety of manpower situations is an important component of Konecny earning a spot on Canada's squad.

The Four Nations tournament will be the fourth major international competition at which Konecny has represented Team Canada. At the junior level, he played for Canada at the 2014 Under-18 World Championship and the 2016 World Juniors. Later, at the men's level, he played at the 2017 IIHF World Championships (compiling eight points).

Rasmus Ristolainen (D, Team Finland): Now in his fourth season with the Flyers, the 30-year-old Finnish defenseman is fully healthy after dealing with injuries the previous two seasons. Working with assistant coach Brad Shaw has done wonders for Ristolainen's game when healthy the last couple seasons.

The constants in this 6-foot-4, 208-pound defenseman's game have always been his physicality and on-ice mean streak. He's always been a very well-conditioned athlete capable of absorbing heavy on-ice minutes when asked to do so.

For much of his early career, Ristolainen was also a power play regular who produced 40-plus points in four straight years. Into his first season with Philly, Ristolainen was perennially at or near the top of the leaguewide leaders for credited hits. However, these desirable traits came at the cost of Ristolainen too frequently taking himself out of position defensively.

Under Shaw, Ristolainen has become a more disciplined player. He's still physically aggressive and intimidating but he is much more reliable positionally then he ever was as a teenage NHL or player in his early-to-mid 20s. As a result, he's parlayed a strong 2024-25 season to date into a spot on Team Finland for the Four Nations.

Ristolainen, who was originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the eighth overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft and immediately came over from Finland to the pro ranks in North America, played regularly for the Finnish national team at the junior level (2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 World Junior Championships). However, at the mens' level the Four Nations represents the first time since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey that Ristolainen will don Team Finland's white and blue jersey with the lion crest.

Travis Sanheim (D, Team Canada): Far and away the favorite to win his third Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers' top defenseman, Sanheim has earned well-deserved leaguewide recognition this season. He's played the most sustained stretch of excellent two-way hockey in his career (including five goals and 15 points in 25 games) while absorbing massive ice time responsibilities.

The 28-year-old Manitoba native has represented Team Canada before, but the Four Nations tourney represents the toughest competition he's had to beat out for a national team roster spot. Previously, Sanheim represented Team Canada at the 2014 Under-18 World Championships, the 2016 World Juniors and the 2022 IIHF World Championships.