Who should be favored for the 2027 3-on-3 All-Star tournament?
Earlier this week, the NHL unveiled the format for its 2027 All-Star Game in Long Island. lncluded in the festivities: a 3-on-3 tournament that will feature five international teams: Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA and The World.
Factoring in that the World team will include Russian players…who is your early favorite to win the 3-on-3 event?
MATT LARKIN: I’m gonna throw The World a vote. The likes of Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak and Nikita Kucherov will bring the superstar-grade power. And perhaps for the Russian players, even someone notoriously lackadaisical at All-Star events like Kucherov, the 3-on-3 tournament will quench years of thirst for any type of international competition. Remember how much passion we got at the 4 Nations Face-off when players competed in their first best-on-best hockey in 11 years at the time? Maybe the stakes for 3-on-3 get a tiny spike for the Russian representatives. For an event in which everyone will ice a group of superstars, I may as well vote for the squad that will care the most.
STEVEN ELLIS: I’m also going to choose The World. It’ll be like Team Europe at the World Cup – they’ll have something to prove as one of the “fake” teams. I imagine a few players who make that roster won’t get a chance to play at the 2028 World Cup, either, so this should be extra motivation. But even as a diehard international hockey fan, I can’t imagine any team is going to care in the slightest, regardless. Sure, there’s money on the line, but the focus is still on staying healthy, and this format isn’t changing anything.
PAUL PIDUTTI: Team Canada, couldn’t possibly lose in a 3-on-3 format, right? Too soon, I know. But kidding aside, give me Team Finland. While the Suomi lack depth in events with full rosters, filling only two lines looks a lot better on the Finns. Alex Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, and Sebastian Aho anchor the forwards, Miro Heiskanen plays half the game, and the hottest among a handful of NHL goalies at the time handles the crease. Even if the team is light on paper, Finland thrives and routinely overachieves in international play by embracing their underdog status, frustrating opponents, protecting the puck (and the lead), and sticking to a selfless team game. Having a bunch of guys that wouldn’t get to play in an All-Star Game otherwise would surely crank the motivation further.
SCOTT MAXWELL: I think I’m also going to go with The World on this one. We praised Team USA’s goaltending depth at the Olympics, but the Russians might have three to four options better than the USA’s backup, not including other countries eligible for the World team. It is a 3-on-3 AND All-Star tournament, so goaltending could mean absolutely nothing in that dynamic, but it could also be a massive factor, especially compared to Canada. A forward group of Draisaitl, Kucherov, Pastrnak, Kaprizov and (if he doesn’t retire) Alex Ovechkin perfectly suits a 3-on-3 tournament, not to mention Moritz Seider and Roman Josi on the back end. Plus, perhaps the long denial of international hockey motivates the Russians to play well in this tournament.
MIKE GOULD: Y’all are being too cute — I’m picking Team Canada until I’m given an iron-clad reason not to. I can’t wait to see what Mack Celebrini can do as the true focal point for the national team, and Matthew Schaefer should be a total game-changer for that defensive group. I get it, I get it, they blew it at the Olympics, but that was a game they should’ve won. Even with the Russians involved, I think Canada is the team to beat.
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