By Hockey Canada

TRENCIN, Slovakia – Twenty-five players will begin the tournament with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team as it looks for its third-consecutive gold medal at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship, April 22-May 2 in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia.

Three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards – representing eight Members – were selected by general manager Alan Millar (Tottenham, ON) and head scout Byron Bonora (Brooks, AB), with support from Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), director of hockey operations, Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, and coordinator of hockey operations Jared Power (Calgary, AB).

Head coach Drew Bannister (Sudbury, ON), assistant coaches Matt Anholt (Prince Albert, SK/Lethbridge, WHL) and Mark O’Leary (Owen Sound, ON/Moose Jaw, WHL), and goaltending coach Dan De Palma (Kamloops, BC/ Kamloops, WHL) also provided input.

The roster includes three players who won a gold medal at the 2025 U18 Men’s Worlds (Di Iorio, Lin, Verhoeff) and 12 who won bronze at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (Betts, Chartrand, Di Iorio, Esler, Lawrence, Lemieux, Lin, Preston, Rousseau, Valentini, Verhoeff, Zhilkin). It also includes 19 players who have represented Canada at the U17 World Challenge—nine who won gold (Betts, Croskery, Joseph, Lawrence, Lemieux, Lin, Preston, Valentini, Verhoeff) and 10 who took home silver (Ambrosio, Chartrand, Dagenais, Di Iorio, Eshkawkogan, Esler, Hicks, Jacobson, Olson, Wycisk)—and six players making their Program of Excellence debuts (Cali, Déniger, Hamilton, MacBeath, Olsen, Vandenberg).

“Following a competitive camp, we are pleased to announce this group of 25 players who will begin the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship for Canada,” said Millar. “We are excited about our group’s competitiveness, talent and character as we prepare to open the tournament tomorrow against the host Slovaks. This team will represent Canada and their respective hometowns with pride and humility." 

Canada opens the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship on Wednesday, April 22, facing Slovakia at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. Canada will also play Latvia, Norway and Finland in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 2.

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 16 and 10 tournament games, respectively. TSN will broadcast all Team Canada preliminary-round games, as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games, while RDS will broadcast all Team Canada preliminary-round games, two quarterfinals, the semifinals and medal games.

For more information on the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship, please visit the official tournament website at IIHF.com.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.