26 Past & Present CHL Players on Canada's 2026 World Juniors Camp Roster
Published on December 8, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL) News Release
TORONTO, ON - The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is proud to announce that 26 of the 27 players named Monday to Canada's National Junior Team training camp roster are past or present CHL players (see complete list below). These 26 CHL-developed players will take part in camp at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., ahead of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, set for December 26 - January 5 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Of the 27 players invited, the group includes 14 developed in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), 11 from the Western Hockey League (WHL), and one from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Among those invited are six returnees from last year's team: goaltender Carter George (Owen Sound Attack / OHL), goaltender Jack Ivankovic (Brampton Steelheads / OHL), forward Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts / OHL), forward Jett Luchanko (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL), forward Porter Martone (Brampton Steelheads / OHL), and forward Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers / WHL).
The group of 15 forwards is headlined by 2024-25 CHL Player of the Year McKenna, who became the third-youngest winner of the award after a 129-point season (41G-88A in 56 GP) that helped lift the Tigers to a WHL championship. He's joined up front by QMJHL standout Caleb Desnoyers (Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL), who has 22 points in 16 games this season after capturing the 2025 Guy Lafleur Trophy as QMJHL Playoffs MVP with 30 points (9G-21A in 19 GP) during Moncton's third league title run. The forward group also features current OHL scoring leader Jake O'Brien (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL), who paces the league with 45 points (11G-34A) to sit second in CHL scoring, as well as 2024-25 CHL Top Scorer Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit / OHL), who recorded 134 points (62G-72A in 65 GP) last season.
In addition to McKenna, 2026 NHL Draft-eligible skaters Carson Carels (Prince George Cougars / WHL) and Keaton Verhoeff (Victoria Royals / WHL) were also named to the roster. Carels, considered one of the top blueliners in his class, has 29 points (8G-21A) in 28 games this season and was one of just three WHL defencemen who recently represented Team CHL at the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge in Calgary and Lethbridge. Verhoeff is coming off a standout 2024-25 campaign with 45 points (21G-24A) as a 16-year-old, becoming one of only a handful of 16-year-old defencemen in WHL history to score 20 or more goals.
In addition to Carels and Verhoeff on the blueline, Canada's defence corps features several high-end CHL standouts, including Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts / OHL), who leads all OHL defencemen with 19 goals (second in the CHL) and sits tied for second with 32 points in 26 games while already sitting atop the Colts' all-time goals list for blueliners. He's joined by Zayne Parekh (Saginaw Spirit / OHL), a 2024-25 CHL First All-Star after a 33-goal, 107-point season that capped back-to-back 30-goal, 90-plus-point campaigns from the back end, placing him in rare company with the likes of Bobby Orr. Rounding out the group is Harrison Brunicke (Kamloops Blazers / WHL), the first South African-born skater to score in the NHL, coming off a career 2024-25 season with 25 assists and 30 points in just 41 games.
In goal, Canada will turn to a trio of George, Ivankovic, and Joshua Ravensbergen (Prince George Cougars / WHL). George led the OHL in both saves (1,514) and shots faced (1,665) for the second straight season in 2024-25 en route to OHL Second All-Star Team honours, while Ivankovic finished top 10 in goals-against average (3.05, 8th) and save percentage (.903, 9th). Ravensbergen, a 2025 first-round pick of the San Jose Sharks (30th overall) and the first CHL goalie taken in Round 1 in four years, enters the tournament among WHL leaders in wins (16, 1st), shutouts (2, T-1st), goals-against average (2.50, 4th), and save percentage (.921, 4th) in 2025-26.
In total, 19 CHL clubs are represented on Canada's National Junior Team training camp roster, led by the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) with three players, followed by the Prince George Cougars (WHL), Brampton Steelheads (OHL), Barrie Colts (OHL), Saginaw Spirit (OHL), and Victoria Royals (WHL), who each feature two past or present players.
The initial roster, which includes three goaltenders, nine defencemen, and 15 forwards, was selected by National Junior Team general manager Alan Millar, head scout Byron Bonora, and Mark Hunter (London Knights / OHL), U20 lead with the Program of Excellence management group, with input from Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, and Benoit Roy, director of hockey operations.
Team Canada will be led behind the bench by head coach Dale Hunter (London Knights / OHL) - a three-time Memorial Cup champion (2005, 2016, 2025) and 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship gold-medal-winning coach - along with associate coach Misha Donskov, assistant coaches Brad Lauer (Spokane Chiefs / WHL) and Gardiner MacDougall (Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL), and goaltending consultant Dan De Palma (Kamloops Blazers / WHL), all of whom also contributed to the player selection process.
QUICK FACTS
With 26 past and present CHL players among the 27 invited to Canada's National Junior Team training camp for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, the league accounts for more than 95 per cent of the Canadian roster.
Of the 26 past and present CHL players invited to Canada's National Junior Team training camp, 19 are NHL first-round picks - including Ravensbergen, Aitcheson, Reid, Smith, Bear, Cootes, Desnoyers, Martin, Martone, Misa, O'Brien, and Reschny, who were among the near-record 21 CHL players selected in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Five CHL-developed players who have already made their NHL debuts - Cootes, Luchanko, Martin, Misa, and Parekh - are among those invited to camp.
In all, seven players in camp have captured a Memorial Cup and/or a league title in the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL (Cootes, Desnoyers, Iginla, Parekh, McKenna, Misa, O'Reilly), including recent Memorial Cup champions Michael Misa (2024), Zayne Parekh (2024), and Sam O'Reilly (2025).
In all, 19 players on the roster have previously won gold for Team Canada, including seven who captured gold at the 2025 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship (Carels, Cootes, Ivankovic, Martin, Reschny, Smith, Verhoeff), 11 at the 2024 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship (Aitcheson, Beaudoin, Brunicke, Desnoyers, George, Greentree, Iginla, Ivankovic, Luchanko, Martone, McKenna), and seven at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (Desnoyers, Ivankovic, Martin, McKenna, O'Brien, Reid, Smith).
Desnoyers and Ivankovic are two of just seven players in history to win gold for Team Canada at the U17s, U18s, and Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. They'll now aim to become the first two players to ever win gold at those three events, along with the World Juniors.
Joshua Ravensbergen, Ethan MacKenzie, Carter Bear, and Sam O'Reilly will all be looking to represent Canada for the first time at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Canada's National Junior Team will host training camp from December 12-22 in Niagara Falls. It will also face off against Sweden on Dec. 17 and 20 in Kitchener and London, Ont., before taking on Denmark on December 23 in Mankato, Minnesota, in pre-tournament action.
The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship begins on Boxing Day with four games, including Canada taking on Czechia at the 3M Arena at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT, with pre-game coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will once again provide extensive coverage of the event, broadcasting all 29 tournament games and Team Canada's first two pre-tournament games.
At the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, 63 CHL players took part, making up more than 25 per cent of all participants - the most of any development league in the world. The CHL was also the only league to have at least one player from each of the 10 participating countries, underscoring its global reach and reputation for developing elite talent.
For more information on the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit the official tournament website at IIHF.com.
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada's National Junior Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
LIST OF PAST AND PRESENT CHL PLAYERS & STAFF ON CANADA'S 2026 NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM
Goalies (3)
(G) Carter George (Owen Sound Attack / OHL)
(G) Jack Ivankovic (Brampton Steelheads / OHL; University of Michigan / NCAA)
(G) Joshua Ravensbergen (Prince George Cougars / WHL)
Defencemen (9)
(D) Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts / OHL)
(D) Harrison Brunicke (Kamloops Blazers / WHL)
(D) Carson Carels (Prince George Cougars / WHL)
(D) Ben Danford (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL)
(D) Ethan MacKenzie (Edmonton Oil Kings / WHL)
(D) Zayne Parekh (Saginaw Spirit / OHL)
(D) Cameron Reid (Kitchener Rangers / OHL)
(D) Jackson Smith (Tri-City Americans / WHL)
(D) Keaton Verhoeff (Victoria Royals / WHL; University of North Dakota / NCAA)
Forwards (14)
(F) Carter Bear (Everett Silvertips / WHL)
(F) Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts / OHL)
(F) Braeden Cootes (Seattle Thunderbirds / WHL)
(F) Caleb Desnoyers (Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL)
(F) Liam Greentree (Windsor Spitfires / OHL)
(F) Tij Iginla (Kelowna Rockets / WHL)
(F) Jett Luchanko (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL)
(F) Brady Martin (Soo Greyhounds / OHL)
(F) Porter Martone (Brampton Steelheads / OHL; Michigan State University / NCAA)
(F) Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers / WHL; Penn State University / NCAA)
(F) Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit / OHL)
(F) Jake O'Brien (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL)
(F) Sam O'Reilly (London Knights / OHL)
(F) Cole Reschny (Victoria Royals / WHL; University of North Dakota / NCAA)
Head Coach - Dale Hunter (London Knights / OHL)
Assistant Coach - Brad Lauer (Spokane Chiefs / WHL)
Assistant Coach - Gardiner MacDougall (Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL)
Goaltending Consultant - Dan De Palma (Kamloops Blazers / WHL)
Video Coach - Ethan O'Rourke (Kingston Frontenacs / OHL)
Management Group - Mark Hunter (London Knights / OHL)
Athletic Therapist - Terence Robertson (Red Deer Rebels / WHL)
Team Physician - Michael Conrad (Victoria Royals / WHL)
Equipment Manager - Chris Cook (Brantford Bulldogs / OHL)
Equipment Manager - Chris Maton (London Knights / OHL)
Strength and Conditioning Coach - Sean Young (Ottawa 67's / OHL)
Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2025
- O'Reilly Named to Canada National Junior Team Training Camp Roster - London Knights
- Trio of Dogs Get Team Canada Call for World Juniors - Brantford Bulldogs
- 26 Past & Present CHL Players on Canada's 2026 World Juniors Camp Roster - OHL
- Michael Misa, Zayne Parekh Named to Hockey Canada's World Junior Camp Roster - Saginaw Spirit
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