Attached are the projected rosters for both Team USA and Team Canada. Nineteen of the 23 players on Team USA’s projected roster are NCAA players, together with two CHL players (the WHL’s Harrison Boettiger of Kelowna & Blake Fiddler of Edmonton) and one AHL professional (forward Trevor Connelly of the Henderson Silver Knights). As a 2026 draft prospect, Boettiger also will compete for Team CHL later this month at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge in Alberta. 2025 Seattle draft pick Fiddler (2nd round 36th overall) competed for Team CHL at last season’s Prospects Challenge. Boettiger made the jump to the CHL after competing for two seasons for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
Team Canada’s projected roster is a bit more fluid at this point. As the second attachment indicates, there are nine players hailing from Canada who are in the NHL, and who have remaining eligibility for this event. With the exception of Matthew Schaefer and Macklin Celebrini, who are in the NHL to stay, whether or not some or all of them are loaned back for this championship remains to be seen. Fortunately for Team Canada, none of those players are goaltenders, which I believe is the main concern here.
Team Canada’s prospective starting goaltender is Nashville prospect Jack Ivankovic (2nd round pick in 2025, 58th overall). Having watched him live at the 2025 U18 WJC in April, he was virtually unbeatable en route to leading Team Canada to a second consecutive gold medal. For his efforts, Ivankovic was named the best goaltender in the tournament, posting a.961 save percentage and 1.05 goals against average. Ivankovic has taken his dominant play to the University of Michigan, where he has played every game in leading the second-ranked Wolverines to an 11-3-0 record. He has posted a .914 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average in those contests.
Team USA’s goaltending tandem of the aforementioned Boettiger and Notre Dame University’s Nicholas Kempf indeed is solid. Central scouting has given Boettiger a “B” rating (projected 2nd/3rd rounder) for the 2026 draft, and Kempf was the fourth round pick of Washington in 2024 (114th overall). However, perhaps the biggest reason why Team USA has won consecutive gold medals at this event is Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine (DET 2023 draft, 2nd round 41st overall). Like Ivankovic, Augustine’s talents have been on full display at the NCAA level as well, as the Spartans currently are college hockey’s top-ranked team. Setting aside the well-deserved accolades of Washington forward Ryan Leonard and other key performers at both the 2024 & 2025 world juniors, American fortunes ultimately rested on Augustine’s clutch performances.
Top-ranked Detroit Red Wings prospect Augustine is a 2005 birth year, and thus has aged out of this event. I’m sure 2024 and 2025 finalists Sweden and Finland would have something to say about this, but Augustine’s absence combined with Team Canada’s stellar potential between the pipes may be all the edge Team Canada needs in its quest for gold this season.