Tavares, Scheifele among players set to join Canada’s 2026 World Championship team
With the NHL regular season done and dusted, 16 teams are set to move on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But for players on the other 16 teams, there will be plenty of free time this spring. And for some, that means more hockey.
According to reports from insiders Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun, John Tavares, Mark Scheifele, Robert Thomas and Ryan O’Reilly are among those set to join Canada’s men’s hockey roster for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, set to take place in Switzerland from May 15-31.
Notably, Tavares, Scheifele and Thomas were all considered to be serious options to make Canada’s Olympic roster earlier this year.
Hockey Canada doesn’t typically name its full roster until early May, around the end of first-round playoff matchups. New York Islanders’ Mat Barzal and Matthew Schaefer, as well as Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, have also expressed interest in joining Canada.
Three of the players have World Championship experience. Tavares, in particular, had two goals and 11 points as captain in 2024, with the Canadians falling short of a medal. Tavares has 36 points in 31 games over four World Championships, and has also won gold at the 2014 Olympics, the 2008 and 2009 World Juniors and the 2012 Spengler Cup. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward is coming off a 31-goal, 71-point season, falling just short of the 74 points he registered a year ago.
Scheifele is set to partake in his fourth World Championship. He won gold at the 2016 event, then silver a year later. He last represented Canada internationally at the 2017 World Championship, where he had eight points in 10 games. The 33-year-old set a new personal best of 67 assists and 103 points with the Winnipeg Jets this year.
Thomas is the lone player without men’s national team experience. He was part of the 2018 World Junior team that won gold in Buffalo before becoming a consistent threat for the St. Louis Blues. Thomas helped win the Stanley Cup in his first NHL season, lifting the greatest trophy in hockey in 2019. Thomas won gold the only other time he represented Canada internationally, taking home the prize at the 2015 U-17 World Hockey Challenge while a member of the London Knights.
O’Reilly has had a decorated career with Canada, winning gold twice at the World Championship, and silver once. He also helped Canada take home the top prize at the 2007 U-17 World Challenge and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The 35-year-old had 74 points in 81 games with the Nashville Predators this year, which was his best output since putting up 77 points during the Blues’ 2018-19 Stanley Cup-winning season.
Canada will kick off the tournament on May 15 against Sweden, then take on Italy, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Czechia in round-robin action. The team owns the record for both gold (28) and total medals (53), but has failed to medal in the past two tournaments. Canada won gold in 2021 and 2023, and silver in 2019 and 2022.