© Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images // Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

On Wednesday, Bruce Cassidy, Rick Tocchet, and Pete DeBoer were appointed as assistant coaches for Canada in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

The tournament, featuring teams of NHL players from Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the United States, will be a round-robin competition. This will be the first best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.

Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning), who was named coach on June 25, will be joined by Cassidy, DeBoer, and Tocchet.

Cassidy is heading into his third season as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, leading them to their inaugural Stanley Cup championship in 2023. DeBoer, who was appointed as the Dallas Stars coach on June 21, 2022, has successfully guided them to the Western Conference Final in both of his initial two seasons. He has also coached two teams, the New Jersey Devils in 2012 and the San Jose Sharks in 2016, to the Stanley Cup Final.

Last season, Tocchet was honored with the Jack Adams Award, recognizing him as the NHL’s coach of the year. This accolade was earned after he led the Vancouver Canucks to their second Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2014-15 season. The Canucks had an impressive season, winning 50 games, the third highest in the team’s history. They also climbed from sixth to first place in the Pacific Division before being defeated in the Western Conference Second Round by the Edmonton Oilers, after seven games.

Tocchet won the Stanley Cup twice as a Pittsburgh Penguins assistant in 2016 and 2017, and also won it as a Penguins forward in 1992.

“It was truly a privilege,” Tocchet conveyed to the Canucks website. “Coaching creates the same sense of pride as playing for your country does. It’s clear there’s a massive amount of national pride and the entire country will be supporting us. I’ll have to remove the Vancouver jersey and focus entirely on Team Canada, assisting the players in any way I can.”

Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Connor McDavid (Oilers) and Brayden Point (Lightning) were named to Canada’s roster in June.

On Wednesday, Misha Donskov, assistant to the Stars, and James Emery, the video coach, were also appointed to the staff of Canada.

“Cooper expressed his enthusiasm to welcome Bruce, Peter, Misha, Rick, and James to the 4 Nations Face-Off coaching staff. He highlighted their impressive accomplishments and extensive experience in all game levels. Cooper is confident that the players will significantly benefit from this world-class coaching team. He is eager to collaborate with them and represent Canada in the international competition in February,” said Cooper.