Don Sweeney and Jim Nill will join forces to form the one-two punch in charge of Team Canada’s 4 Nations entry into the NHL’s best-versus-best event in 2025, it was announced Friday.
Sweeney as general manager and Nill as associate general manager bring a wealth of experience to their roles, with both of their NHL clubs currently at the top of their respective divisions.
Doug Armstrong was named Olympic general manager for Team Canada last month. Sweeney and Nill have also been named to Armstrong’s Olympic leadership team, which is in line with the original plan to have a cohesive collaboration between the 4 Nations and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Olympic leadership group also includes player relations advisor Ryan Getzlaf and Hockey Canada director Scott Salmond. There will be a constant flow of communication between the 4 Nations and the Olympic leadership group.
“The thought process was to gain as much knowledge from as many people as possible,” Armstrong said. Athleticism on Friday after Sweeney and Nill were announced as the 4 Nations management team.
Armstrong has also been in touch with Canadian men’s world championship general manager Rick Nash as he works to put together the roster for next month’s championships. Armstrong, for example, said he gave Nash a ghost list of players he thought could be Olympians or 4 Nations players who are on non-playoff teams with a view to being considered for the Worlds male. Again, this is a collaborative management effort, with the 2026 Olympics serving as the backdrop for many of these decisions.
“It’s Rick’s responsibility to build the team for the world championships,” Armstrong said. “If he said to me, ‘Is player X on your list?’ I would say yes or no, and then he would put that into the equation. But you know, with the non-playoff teams, we pretty much shared the same list of players that have a chance (for the Olympics).
Player performances at the World Championships in Czechia and, of course, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will impact how Sweeney and Nill begin to think about Team Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations. With the Olympics also in mind from a broader perspective.
“Donnie and Jimmy can debrief with Rick and his team on what they saw at the world championships, do their own work on what they see in the playoffs, and we all collaborate overall because that we are all going to work on the Olympics. , like we’re going to put together shadow lists,” Armstrong said.
However, Armstrong made it clear that Sweeney’s top priority was to build a team capable of winning the 4 Nations.
“Donnie has the final say on the 4 Nations roster,” Armstrong said. “We work together for the Olympic team, but the Olympic team is so far from the selection process. Canada wants to win the Four Nations alone. This is not a dress rehearsal for the Olympics.
The 4 Nations faceoff event, as the NHL has dubbed it, will feature Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States in a best-on-best event featuring seven games in total, taking place from February 12 to 20. is expected to take place in Boston and Montreal, while the championship game will take place in Boston, although the NHL has not yet officially confirmed this.
All four teams must name their first six players in June.
Armstrong said that as a group, they have not yet had any discussions regarding training.
“None,” Armstrong said. “There have been no discussions yet, even about the coaches of the 4 Nations.”
But the coaching announcements for the 4 Nations and the Olympics will be two separate decisions, not one decision that covers everything.
“Two separate decisions, two separate missions,” Armstrong confirmed of training for both events. “Why not use the time we have? Why not use the Stanley Cup Playoffs, why not use the 4 Nations, why not use next season?
Therefore, we can expect Team Canada to name its 4 Nations coaching staff sometime in June, but still wait approximately 12 months in 2025 to name its Olympic coaching staff. There is no emergency.
Which means the head coach could be two different people between the Four Nations and the Olympics, depending on what happens over the next year and a half in the NHL. Or the 4 Nations head coach might deserve the Olympic job, but that decision will wait either way.
“My philosophy is: If you have time, use it,” Armstrong said. “So many things can happen.”
Two-time Stanley Cup winner Jon Cooper was named Team Canada’s Olympic coach for China 2022 before the NHL pulled out. He obviously remains a strong contender for the 4 Nations or the Olympics, but again, Armstrong and his management group have yet to discuss training.
Other candidates include Bruce Cassidy, Jared Bednar, Paul Maurice, Peter DeBoer and Rod Brind’Amour. Let’s see how the Stanley Cup Playoffs will go this year (before the 4 Nations) and how next season will go (before the ’26 Olympics) and how that might affect the coaching appointment process.
(Don Sweeney Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)