TAMPERE, Finland – According to general manager Jere Lehtinen, Patrik Laine remains in contention for a spot with Team Finland for the 4-nation duel in 2025.

The Montreal Canadiens forward has yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury during a preseason game on September 28th. He was expected to be out for two to three months.

The tournament, whose roster consists entirely of NHL players, will take place February 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The United States, Canada and Sweden join Finland in this area. The 23-player rosters for each team will be announced in early December. It’s unlikely that Laine will see a game until the squad closes, but that doesn’t concern Lehtinen.

“At this point it’s still a month away and we’ll see where we are, for everyone,” Lehtinen told NHL.com during the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal. “It’s about health and how the players look and how they play. When the time comes, we will know. At the moment we have not made any decisions yet.”

Laine is an interesting case. He is one of the most talented players in the league and could give the Finnish team the impact it needs, but he has not yet made his debut with the Canadiens. Laine has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 regular-season NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 Stanley Cup playoff games for Winnipeg.

The 26-year-old was traded from Columbus to Montreal along with a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on August 19 for defenseman Jordan Harris.

He has not played in a regular season game since December 14, 2023, when he broke his collarbone while with the Blue Jackets against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The next month, he joined the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and said in an Instagram post that he needed to prioritize his mental health and well-being so he could perform at his best.

“It’s obviously a shame for him how last season went and it would have been nice to see how he would have played in Montreal this season,” said Lehtinen. “Hopefully he comes back soon. Everyone wants to see him.”

Laine has been an integral part of Team Finland since his youth.

He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2015 IIHF U-18 World Championship as Finland took home the silver medal. The next season, he won gold at the 2016 World Junior Championships, where he scored 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in seven games. Laine, then 18, also took part in the World Championships that season, making her the youngest Finnish woman to ever take part in the World Championships. He also played at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

In 13 games at the senior level with the national team, Laine has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 13 games.

Laine was selected by the Jets with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and began his NHL career with four consecutive seasons of at least 28 goals, including 44 for Winnipeg in the 2017–18 season.

It’s hard to write off a production like this, so Lehtinen won’t do it until the deadline is reached.

“Let’s wait a month and we’ll see,” he said.

Laine isn’t the only decision Lehtinen and his staff have to make.

Florda Panthers center Aleksander Barkov and Dallas Stars defensemen Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen, who played in the Global Series here, have already been named to the team, as have Carolina Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche goaltender Juuse Saros from the Nashville Predators. Fifteen field players and two goalkeepers still need to be added to the squad.

Lehtinen says the pace has picked up in recent weeks and it was nice to see prospects play in person during the two Global Series games. Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and defender Niko Mikkola are strong candidates, as is Stars forward Roope Hintz.

“With these guys here, a few of them are already on the team, but everyone knows how good the other players on these two teams are, so we’ll see when we pick the team,” he said. “But it is clear that they are close to making the team.”

The tournament is racing toward executives, demanding more and more time and mental bandwidth.

But Lehtinen, who has competed in five Olympic tournaments and 16 tournaments overall in his 20-year international career, is excited about it. During his playing days, the 51-year-old was a striker, scored 514 points (243 goals, 271 assists) in 875 regular season games from 1995 to 2010 and won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999. He had 49 points (27). goals, 22 assists) in 108 playoff games.

He always loved challenges.

“Time flies,” he said. “Maybe no pressure, but we know it’s going to happen pretty quickly. It’s another month and we have to choose the team. At the same time, it’s a little pressure, but it’s also fun and it’s fun too.

“They are difficult decisions, but at the same time it is good because you have good players.”

The Finns have perhaps the most skilled team they have had in a long time, and they have an elite goalkeeper in Saros.

According to Lehtinen, however, it is the chemistry and familiarity that define Finland. They have the smallest pool of players to choose from, so most have played together in multiple tournaments.

“We have good players, but at the same time it’s scary when you look at the other countries and what kind of players they can get,” Lehtinen said. “As a team we look at what we have done so far and we have a chance. But at the same time, on paper we have the best players, but the other teams have a little bit more when you look at their names on paper.

“Many of our players have played together at some point. The national team, the junior national team. There are good connections with the NHL teams. We usually rely on it. When they come to the national team, they really accept it, respect it and have fun there. I think having fun is a big part of it.”