CALGARY, Alberta – Hockey Canada has announced the first 23 players who have been named to Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team pre-tournament camp roster ahead of the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia. Three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards 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). The coaching staff also provided input. The roster features three players who won a gold medal at the 2025 U18 Men’s Worlds (Di Iorio, Lin, Verhoeff) and 13 players who won bronze at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (Betts, Chartrand, Di Iorio, Esler, Lawrence, Lemieux, Lin, Pantelas, Preston, Rousseau, Valentini, Verhoeff, Zhilkin). It also includes 19 players who have represented Canada at the U17 World Challenge; 12 who won gold (Betts, England, Joseph, Lawrence, Lemieux, Lin, Mitchell, Oaten, Pantelas, Preston, Valentini, Verhoeff) and seven who took home silver (Ambrosio, Chartrand, Di Iorio, Esler, Hicks, Jacobson, Wycisk). "We are pleased to announce the roster that will participate in the pre-tournament camp in Slovakia,” Millar said. “Our group will continue to monitor the Canadian Hockey League playoffs, and we expect to add players prior to the start of the world championship. At this time, we are pleased with the level of talent and international experience we have on our projected roster and are excited to gather in Slovakia in preparation to defend our gold medal." Roster additions will be announced in the coming weeks following the conclusion of the second round of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) playoffs, while the final roster for the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship will be announced prior to the start of the tournament. Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team will play two pre-tournament games, taking on Sweden at Ondrej Nepala Arena in Bratislava on April 17 and Czechia at the Pavol Demitra Ice Hockey Arena in Trencin on April 19. The 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship kicks off on April 22, with Canada taking on Slovakia, 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.