- Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov and Juuse Saros headline NHL.com’s first projected Team Finland roster for the 2027 All-Star Game
- Barkov is back in the picture after missing all of last season following ACL and MCL surgery
- Read below for the full projected Finland lineup and how the new five-team format works
The NHL’s projected All-Star rosters have reached Finland, and the names at the top are the ones you’d guess. NHL.com released its first crack at Team Finland for the 2027 All-Star Game on Sunday, with Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov and Juuse Saros leading the way.
Here’s how the league’s account laid out the projected group:
Aho paced all Finnish-born players last season with 80 points (27 goals, 53 assists) in 79 games for Carolina. Mikko Rantanen sat right behind him at 77 points in his first full year with Dallas, and Miro Heiskanen, the only defenseman on the projected roster, added 63.
The bigger storyline might be Barkov. Florida’s captain missed all of 2025-26 after ACL and MCL surgery back in September, so seeing his name on a projected All-Star roster is a welcome sign for the Panthers.
Most of the forward group leans heavily Panthers and Stars. Florida’s Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen line up alongside Barkov, while Dallas counters with Rantanen, Heiskanen and Roope Hintz, who makes it if he’s recovered from the torn hamstring he suffered in March. Artturi Lehkonen and Mikael Granlund fill out the skaters.
In net, Saros and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the nod. Saros put up a 1.66 goals-against average and .940 save percentage across six Olympic games and has won at least 20 regular-season games in six straight years. Luukkonen is coming off a 22-win breakout in Buffalo.
The 2027 game runs Feb. 5-6 at UBS Arena on Long Island. Five teams take part this time around, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and a World squad, in a three-on-three round-robin tournament. Each roster carries 11 players, with fan voting set to open in December.
Finland’s projection follows the ones NHL.com already rolled out for Sweden and the United States. Here’s the Swedish group that dropped a day earlier:
Every skater on the Finnish list except Barkov suited up at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where the country took home bronze. The Canada projection is the only one left to come.
