The road to the 2027 NHL All-Star Weekend has started, and Finland's first projected roster includes many of the country's top players. The new five-team tournament will take place at UBS Arena on Long Island next February, and fans could see a team filled with stars from recent Stanley Cup contenders and Olympic teams.

NHL.com projects Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, and Juuse Saros to lead Finland's first roster for the 2027 Honda NHL All-Star Game. The tournament will feature teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States, and the World in a new three-on-three round-robin format.

Finland's roster includes forwards Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Mikael G, Roope Hintz, Artturi Lehkonen, Anton L, Eetu Luostarinen, and Mikko Rantanen.

Miro Heiskanen is the projected defenseman, while Juuse Saros and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are the projected goaltenders.

As per the report by NHL Media, the early projected roster includes three players each from the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers. Barkov is expected to return after missing the entire 2025-26 season because of ACL and MCL injuries he suffered during training camp.

Every projected skater except Barkov played for Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where the team won the bronze medal.

Aho leads Finland's active NHL players after scoring 80 points (27 goals and 53 assists) in 79 games last season. Rantanen finished with 77 points, while Heiskanen had 63 points, the third-most among Finland-born NHL players.

Lehkonen scored a career-high 48 points, Lundell finished with 44 points, and Mikael gave the Anaheim Ducks solid veteran play.

Saros is Finland's top projected goalie after posting a 1.66 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage at the Olympics. Luukkonen is also expected to keep improving after becoming the Buffalo Sabres' No. 1 goalie last season.

NHL's new All-Star format brings major changes

Another NHL Media report also explained the new format for the 2027 NHL All-Star Weekend, which will look very different from past events.

Instead of the usual divisional format, five national teams will play in a three-on-three round-robin tournament. Each team will have 11 players, including nine skaters and two goalies.

Fans will vote for eight players from a list of 30 nominees for each team starting in December. The NHL and NHLPA will choose the final forward, defenseman, and goalie.

Each team will play four round-robin games, and every game will last five minutes. The top two teams will move on to a 10-minute championship game. The winning team will earn a $2 million prize.

The weekend will also include a new All-Star Skills competition. Ten players aged 25 or younger will compete in different skill events, and the overall winner will receive a $1 million prize.

What do you think? Will Finland's projected roster stay unchanged, or will new stars earn their place before the 2027 All-Star Game? Let us know in the comments. 

Read more at the NHL Fan Central.

Written by

Kapil Manghnani

Kapil Manghnani brings over 4.5 years of experience in sports journalism, covering a wide range of sports, including Soccer, NHL, Tennis, Gymnastics, NASCAR, Swimming, and more. He has written for leading sports platforms, producing everything from breaking news and features to in-depth analysis, opinion pieces, long-form stories, and short-form content. Beyond articles, he has also scripted long-form storytelling videos for YouTube channels. His work focuses on delivering well-researched, engaging, and reader-first sports content across multiple formats.

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