North Raleigh Today

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association announced today that Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has been selected as one of the first six players named to Finland’s roster for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament will be held in Montreal and Boston from February 12-20, 2025. Teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States will compete in a round-robin format, with the two teams holding the best overall records advancing to the championship game at TD Garden.

Aho, 26, registered a career-high 89 points (36 goals, 53 assists) in 78 games with Carolina during the 2023-24 season. He led the team in goals, assists, and points for the third time in his NHL/Hurricanes career. The center also topped various other categories including even-strength goals (21), even-strength assists (34), even-strength points (55), power-play assists (21), power-play points (32), game-winning goals (10), multi-point games (23), multi-assist games (12), three-point games (11), and four-point games (2). His ten game-winning goals set a new single-season franchise record. Additionally, Aho was selected to the All-Star Game for the third time, becoming only the fifth Whalers/Hurricanes skater to receive this honor in three or more seasons. He added a team-high 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in 11 games during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This achievement placed him alongside Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as just the third player in NHL history to finish at least tied for his team’s scoring lead in each of his first six postseasons.

The Rauma, Finland native has represented his country at numerous international tournaments including two IIHF World Junior Championships (2015-16), three IIHF World Championships (2016-18), and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Aho posted 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists) in seven games at the 2016 World Junior Championship, finishing second in scoring among all tournament skaters and helping Finland win gold in Helsinki. He was named Best Forward at the 2018 World Championship after leading all skaters in goals (9) and ranking second in points (18) over eight contests.

Finland’s roster for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off is also set to include Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, Dallas Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, and Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros. Full tournament rosters will be announced at a later date.