Breaking down USA’s 2026 World Junior Championship selection camp roster
The pressure is on for the United States.
USA Hockey announced its 28-man training camp roster on Monday, with the team set to make three cuts before the start of the main event. The final roster will consist of 25 players – 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies. USA Hockey is expected to finalize its roster by Dec. 24 – hosting the tournament means they won’t have to bring players far away before issuing cuts.
The Americans are looking to win World Junior gold for the third straight year. We’ve only seen that happen three times by any country, ever: the Soviet Union did it from 1977-80, and Canada has pulled it off twice; first from 1993-97, and again from 2005-09.
With no current U-20 NHLers to worry about, the Americans have a chance to bring back nine players from the 2025 team. That includes Boston’s James Hagens and Washington’s Cole Hutson, with the ladder looking to challenge for another tournament scoring title.
USA Hockey will conduct training camp from Dec. 15-23 at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota. Germany and Finland will also take part, with the Americans facing Germany on Dec. 21 and Finland on Dec. 23. The Americans will host Germany in the first preliminary-round game at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota on Dec. 26.
Let’s break down USA’s preliminary roster, led by legendary college coach Bob Motzko:
USA's #WorldJuniors selection camp roster: pic.twitter.com/WSSaRKO6k8
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) December 1, 2025Forward Group Has Plenty of Weapons
The star up front will be Hagens, who served as the team’s No. 1 center a year ago. He won’t have Ryan Leonard or Gabe Perreault at his side, but he has plenty of chemistry with Teddy Stiga (Nashville Predators) and Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo Sabres) from their days at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (and with Stiga at Boston University). Hagens will be counted on to be a leader, both on the bench and offensively. Ziemer will bring the hockey sense and energy, while Stiga will bring a can’t-lose-by-any-cost mentality that allowed him to score the golden goal last January.
On the wing, I really like Cole Eiserman (New York Islanders) and Trevor Connelly (Vegas Golden Knights). Eiserman was a menace both with and without the puck last year (nobody outchirped him in Ottawa), and he’s producing well in the NCAA as a sophomore at Boston University. Connelly was injured during the World Junior Summer Showcase and has just six AHL games to his credit this year – he’s still producing at a 60-point rate.
Two of the best players in the NCAA this season have been Will Horcoff (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Max Plante (Detroit Red Wings). I could see both of them pushing themselves higher in the lineup – but if they’re on the third, as our projection below has them, they’ll be a matchup nightmare. Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators) was a dynamo back in August and his creativity and raw talent should allow him to be a big-time contributor.
Beyond that, they’ll have size with Shane Vansaghi (Philadelphia Flyers), two-way reliability with Kamil Bednarik (New York Islanders), and all-out tenacity in AJ Spellacy (Chicago Blackhawks). It’s a strong group, all things considered.
How Good is the Defensive Depth?
Hutson is expected to be one of the best defensemen in this tournament after leading the 2025 event in points. He’ll be everything for the Americans – don’t be surprised if he plays upwards of half a game when the games start to really matter. I also expect EJ Emery (New York Rangers) to eat a lot of minutes while serving as more of a shutdown option. I hope he gets to skate alongside Hutson and re-ignite the magic we saw during their U-18 days.
Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, who was passed over at the 2025 NHL Draft, has been tremendous in college this year, so it’ll be interesting to see what role he gets. Luke Osburn (Buffalo Sabres), meanwhile, was USA’s most noticeable defender at the World Junior Summer Showcase, and I’ve liked him in college. Logan Hensler (Ottawa Senators) has shown a bit more offensive proficiency than I was expecting. He hasn’t been as productive as Osburn at Wisconsin this year, but I love his defensive stability.
The big question mark for me in camp will be Chase Reid. Reid has a real chance of going in the top five of the NHL Draft this year, but I wonder if USA Hockey would bring him over some of their homegrown talents instead (especially after getting cut from the U-18 team ahead of the World Championship in April). I could see USA Hockey electing to go with Henry Brzustewicz (Los Angeles Kings) or Blake Fiddler (Seattle Kraken) in his place, but you can’t go wrong with either.
USA’s D corps might not have multiple high-end offensive defenders like last year (Zeev Buium, anyone?). But with plenty of size to work with, it’s a solid group.
Goaltending is the Biggest Question Mark
Detroit’s Trey Augustine held the fort as the team’s No. 1 goalie for three years – marking one of the most successful runs ever seen in tournament history from a goaltender. During that time, we also saw Montreal’s Jacob Fowler (2024) and Los Angeles’ Hampton Slukynsky (2025) serve as backups, despite both looking like potential NHLers.
This year? It’s bleak in comparison. It’s their weakest position, for sure. Nick Kempf (Washington Capitals) should be the team’s No. 1 after impressing in previous national team events, but he’s been just OK in college this year. He’s capable of heavy workloads and can steal the odd game. I really liked him at the 2024 U-18s in Finland, although he was outdueled by Canada’s Carter George in the gold-medal game.
As for the backups, Caleb Heil (Tampa Bay Lightning) is already an NHL-drafted goalie and USA Hockey has liked what they’ve seen from him internationally before. I expect him to get the backup gig over AJ Reyelts, who made the team after a great run with the upstart Pentictons Vees. The Minnesota-Duluth commit has never represented USA Hockey beforehand, but the 19-year-old has been solid in his first year in the WHL.
Notable Omissions
2026 NHL Draft standout J.P. Hurlbert is the CHL’s leading scorer with 48 points in 27 games. By all accounts, he’s the best player in major junior. But it always felt like he was going to be an odd man out after leaving the USNTDP with another year of eligibility left. For what it’s worth Horcoff (who left the program early last season) made this roster after getting drafted to the NHL, so look for Hurlbert to be in the same boat next winter.
The hottest player in the NCAA as of late has been Calgary Flames prospect Ethan Wyttenbach. He has 14 points in his past eight college games, including a four-point effort just last Wednesday with Quinnipiac. His numbers are great – but was the hot run just a little too late? He has never been part of USA Hockey’s junior programs, so it’s not entirely surprising that he didn’t make this group.
Cullen Potter, another Flames prospect, had a strong U-18 World Championship and was great as a college freshman. His inconsistent college season, though, might have played against him. I expect Potter to make USA next year – potentially in a top-six role – but it always felt unlikely they’d bring him in a checking role.
I was less surprised that Will Zellers (Boston Bruins) wasn’t on the camp roster. I had him as someone to consider in previous roster projections, but he always felt like a fringe option from the get-go. There just wasn’t a clear roster spot for him.
Pre-Camp Projected Roster
Teddy Stiga (NSH) – James Hagens (BOS) – Brodie Ziemer (BUF)
Cole Eiserman (NYI) – Kamil Bednarik (NYI) – Trevor Connelly (VGK)
Ryker Lee (NSH) – Will Horcoff (PIT) – Max Plante (DET)
Shane Vansaghi (PHI) – Cole McKinney (SJS) – AJ Spellacy (CHI)
Jacob Kvasnicka (NYI), LJ Mooney (MTL)
Projected Cut: Brendan McMorrow (LAK)
Cole Hutson (WSH) – EJ Emery (NYR)
Luke Osburn (BUF) – Logan Hensler (OTT)
Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen (Undrafted) – Adam Kleber (BUF)
Blake Fiddler (SEA) – Henry Brzustewicz (LAK)
Projected Cuts: Chase Reid (2026), Asher Barnett (EDM)
Nick Kempf (WSH)
Caleb Heil (TBL)
AJ Reyelts (Undrafted)
Schedule
Dec. 21 vs. Germany, 5:00 PM ET (Pre-Tournament)
Dec. 23 vs. Finland, 7:00 PM ET (Pre-Tournament)
Dec. 26 vs. Germany, 6:00 PM ET
Dec. 27 vs. Switzerland, 6:00 PM ET
Dec. 29 vs. Slovakia, 6:00 PM ET
Dec. 31 vs. Sweden, 6:00 PM ET
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