Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco proposed a compelling idea this week, entertaining what would an all-Quebec roster look like if it were to enter the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. It’s a clever exercise, which requires you to ignore any separatist ideas, to say nothing of the hell that would encircle the House of Commons an hourly basis, it’s just hockey after all!

Here is our all-Ontario roster, which we were more than tempted to call Worst Case Ontario, but it’s an assembly of some of the world’s best talent. Ontario would probably do quite well by itself if it entered as a fifth nation, but let’s not give Doug Ford any ideas.

Management group

General manager: Doug Armstrong 

Assistant general managers: Rob Blake, Ron Francis

Armstrong is Team Canada’s actual general manager, so perhaps an all-Ontario roster won’t be too dissimilar to the team that will take the ice in February. There were other candidates in the running, including Kyle Dubas, but ultimately this is a veteran-laden group with two Hall of Famers among the selection committee.

Blake was Canada’s GM for the 2014 IIHF World Championship, which has been forgotten about in the national conscience as the team slumped to a fifth-place finish, but veteran pedigree as a player and executive counts for something. Francis has been the leader of the Seattle Kraken since their inception and previously worked as the director of hockey operations for the Carolina Hurricanes. This is an experienced group that ought to generate the respect of their players and under Armstrong’s supervision, it’s the closest thing to a real national team we can imagine.

Coaching staff

Head coach: Paul Maurice 

Assistant coaches: Bruce Cassidy, Pete DeBoer, Sheldon Keefe

This is an absolutely loaded group but Maurice won the job over Cassidy as the Panthers are the current champions and the clear team to beat in the Eastern Conference until proven otherwise. Maurice’s hard-line style will go over well with his players, he’s coaching several Panthers on this roster, he’s an absolute gem with the media, and has earned the respect of his peers in the coaching fraternity.

Cassidy could be the head coach on any given day, but he’ll operate as the lead assistant here. DeBoer and Keefe also have plenty of experience at the NHL level, and this is arguably the strongest part of the roster. Team Ontario will certainly be asked to retain possession and track back defensively and it’s hard to argue with any instruction given by this quartet.

The roster

Forwards

Sam Bennett	Connor McDavid	Mitch Marner
Carter Verhaeghe	John Tavares	Mark Scheifele
Dylan Strome	Anthony Cirelli	Travis Konecny
Nick Suzuki	Robert Thomas	Tom Wilson
	Wyatt Johnston

Ontario could send this group to the 4 Nations Face-Off and few would take issue with the collection of world-class talent assembled. There are several Team Canada picks on this roster and the Bennett-McDavid-Marner line could be a real option in February. It was a tough choice for the final forward spots but Tom Wilson makes the team due to his physicality and secondary scoring punch, while Wyatt Johnston won out over Connor McMichael, Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene due to his upside — and in a short tournament, we believe in his ability to catch fire.

These combinations are flexible, malleable, there are Selke-level defenders, world-class scoring punch and a great mix of experience and youth. We’d happily send this roster to compete against any country in the world, let alone another Canadian province.

Defence

Evan Bouchard	Brandon Montour
Dougie Hamilton	Alex Pietrangelo
MacKenzie Weegar	Chris Tanev
Owen Power

This is another stellar group, although it’s heavily right-handed, as Owen Power is the only left-handed shot among this group. We simply do not care! It’s an excellent collection of talent, and all of these players should easily be able to adapt to playing their weaker side. Brandt Clarke was strongly considered, but ultimately, it would feel superfluous to add another right-handed offensive-minded player, regardless of his breathtaking improvisational ability. Tanev is an elite shot blocker with some of the best individual defensive metrics in the league, while there’s real veteran pedigree coming from Pietrangelo, who will likely wear a letter for Team Ontario.

Goaltenders

Jordan Binnington

Cam Talbot

Mackenzie Blackwood

It’s not an amazing group but then again, Binnington projects to be Canada’s starter, Cam Talbot was excellent last season while Blackwood projects to be a decent third starter against the rest of the provinces. Binnington is a streaky goalie who could catch fire in a short tournament and is well-liked by the management group assembled. Canada hasn’t generated many NHL goalies over the past decade, but this is the best Ontario has to offer and will be riding the Binnington-Talbot tandem heavily — although it’s likely we’d just start Binnington for every game, barring injury.

The verdict

Ontario’s collection of forwards is better than any other province, the defence corps provided a solid mix of veteran experience and offensive-minded talent, while the goaltenders are the clear weak point of the group. In many ways, this is a microcosm of Team Canada’s roster overall. We’re confident Ontario would defeat the other provinces, but the real important question: what do you think of Ontario’s chances, if it were to submit this group to the 4 Nations Face-Off?