4 Nations Face-Off Spectacle Gives Way to NHL Injury Carnage

The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off exceeded the league’s—and ESPN’s—hopes and expectations. The international best-on-best tournament, which replaced the 2025 All-Star Game, drew record ratings as an average of 9.3 million viewers in the U.S. alone tuned in for the USA-Canada final. It was ESPN’s most-watched NHL game ever in the U.S.

Players promised intense play and delivered. But some of their NHL teams have paid the price. On Monday, the Panthers put alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve, and the forward is expected to be out for the remainder of the regular season. Panthers GM Bill Zito said he “hopes” to get Tkachuk back for the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin April 19.

Tkachuk was one of 4 Nations Face-Off’s biggest stars and key players, and even appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after the tournament, a rarity for a current NHL player. But Tkachuk sustained a lower-body injury that will sideline him during the playoff push for the Panthers. Tkachuk is the second-leading scorer for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who currently sit second in the Atlantic Division.

Other notable injuries include defenseman Charlie McAvoy of the Bruins, who served as an alternate captain for Team USA, as well as forward Chris Kreider of the Rangers. Both teams are seeking one of the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots. Shea Theodore, a defender for the Pacific-leading Vegas Golden Knights, broke his wrist while playing for Canada and is out indefinitely.

There may also be undisclosed injuries either sustained or exacerbated during the tournament. 

Before 4 Nations Face-Off, which marks a return to biannual international best-on-best play that will begin with NHL players in the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, the biggest concern that lingered over the tournament was the potential for injuries that would affect franchises. 

There’s precedent for injuries to major stars in these types of tournaments. In the 2014 Sochi games, the last time NHL players were permitted to play in the Olympics, Islanders captain John Tavares ended his season with an MCL tear during Team Canada’s gold medal run. Unlike many of the 4 Nations Face-Off injuries, the Islanders were not in a playoff position when Tavares was hurt. 

Still, it shows these fears were not unfounded—and for both fans and franchises, their worst nightmares have come true in the NHL season’s home stretch.