On Monday, Team Canada announced their selection for the 2025 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship.
Hockey Canada announces roster for Team Canada’s 2026 #WorldJuniors training camp.🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/rZdlHxtqAx
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 8, 2025
With the preliminary round starts on December 26it’s time for teams to fill out their rosters. The Canadians will likely do better than they did at last year’s tournament, where they reached the quarterfinals before losing 3-2 to Team Czech Republic.
Related: Guide to the 2026 World Junior Championships
There will be some cuts to the roster before it’s officially finalized, but here’s how this year’s team compares to the rest.
Canada ahead
Cole Beaudoin, Carter Bear, Braeden Cootes, Caleb Desnoyers, Liam Greentree, Michael Hage, Tij Iginla, Jett Luchanko, Brady Martin, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna, Michael Misa, Jake O’Brien, Sam O’Reilly, Cole Reschny
No Team Canada roster this year would have been complete without the star power of Gavin McKenna, Tij Iginla, Cole Beaudoin and Caleb Desnoyers. Not to mention Sam O’Reilly. Overall, the forward group alone will make this Canadian team difficult to stack against.
In his first season with the Penn State Nittany Lions, McKenna scored 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 16 games. McKenna has vacillated between being projected first overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft and all the way to third. He will still try to become the first pick, but his performance at the World Juniors will open scouts’ eyes to where they appear to be heading in the draft.
Iginla is also a potent scoring threat for Team Canada, as in 17 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), he has scored 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists).
Canadian defenders
Kashawn Aitcheson, Harrison Brunicke, Carson Carels, Ben Danford, Ethan MacKenzie, Zayne Parekh, Cameron Reid, Jackson Smith, Keaton Vehoeff
A big key addition is Ethan MacKenzie. MacKenzie, for some strange reason, wasn’t drafted in two different cycles of going through the process. Despite his commitment to play at the University of North Dakota in the 2026-2027 season, if MacKenzie enters the draft a third time, a third time would be nice for the 19-year-old from West Kelowna, British Columbia.
In 30 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings, MacKenzie scored 10 goals and also collected 21 assists. It’s possible he could be paired with Harrison Brunicke, who played nine games at the NHL level this season and also recorded 30 points in his previous season with the Kamloops Blazers.
The Canadians’ defensemen look to be an important part of this team and will complement the attack very well. After all, as they say, defense wins championships.
Canadian goaltenders
Carter George, Jack Ivankovic, Joshua Ravensbergen
Carter George returns to Team Canada after being named the country’s starting goaltender at the 2025 World Juniors, but it will likely be a battle between him and University of Michigan netminder Jack Ivankovic for the starting spot this year.
In 22 games with the Owen Sound Attack, George’s record stands at 10-9-2 with a 3.12 goals against average (GAA) and a .899 save percentage (SV%). Ivankovic, on the other hand, in 20 games with the top-ranked Wolverines, has posted a 16-4-0 record with a GAA of 1.90 and an SV% of 0.927.
Ravensbergen’s record is nothing to sneeze about either, as after 22 games they are 16-6-0 with a GAA of 2.50 and an SV% of .921 (a career-high). While unlikely, it is possible that the Canadians could use all three goaltenders at some point during the tournament.
Canada could be the favorite to win the tournament
In tournaments like these it’s easy to fall back on the home advantage cliché. However, the host country is not Team Canada, but Team USA. But with Minnesota being so close to Canada, the two countries might as well share their home field advantage.
With plenty of talent on the Canadian roster, they will be a formidable opponent for anyone who sees fit to take them on. See if they are a favorite to go for the gold.
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