50 OHL Players Invited to Canada’s Program of Excellence Summer Camps

50 OHL Players Invited to Canada’s Program of Excellence Summer Camps

CALGARY, Alberta – Hockey Canada has invited 119 players to participate in two of its Program of Excellence summer camps, including Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp and Canada’s national under-17 development camp.

“We are excited to kick off a new season by announcing the 119 players that will attend camps in Oakville this month,” said Alan Millar (Tottenham, ON), general manager of the Program of Excellence. “Our under-18 selection camp provides us with an opportunity to evaluate players and select a roster that we believe will give us the best chance to defend our gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Our under-17 camp is an opportunity to introduce athletes to the Program of Excellence and allow them to compete against other top players in Canada while we begin evaluating and preparing for the U17 World Challenge this fall.”

As part of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp, 40 players—four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 24 forwards—have been invited to compete for a chance to represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, set for Aug. 11-16 in Brno, Czechia, and Trencin, Slovakia. The camp roster includes six players who won gold at the 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship (Carels, Di Iorio, Edwards, Lin, Rudolph, Verhoeff), while 34 played for Canada Red or Canada White at the 2024 U17 World Challenge.

The selection camp, set for July 29-Aug. 1 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ontario, will include a pair of Red-White games on July 31 and Aug. 1. Following camp, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will practice at MET Arena in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, from Aug. 3-6. It will take on Hungary’s national under-20 team on Aug. 7 in Budapest and Slovakia on Aug. 9 at Easton Arena in Piestany as part of its pre-tournament schedule.

OHL Players – National Men’s Under-18 Team Selection Camp (20):

Goaltenders (3) :
Gavin Betts (Kingston Frontenacs)
Colin Ellsworth (Guelph Storm)
Jason Schaubel (Kitchener Rangers)

Defencemen (5) :
Lucas Ambrosio (Erie Otters)
Callum Croskery (Soo Greyhounds)
Kohyn Eshkawkogan (Ottawa 67’s)
Carter Hicks (Windsor Spitfires)
Jacob Xu (Kitchener Rangers)

Forwards (12) :
Ethan Belchetz (Windsor Spitfires)
Alessandro Di Iorio (Sarnia Sting)
Beckham Edwards (Sarnia Sting)
Colin Fitzgerald (Peterborough Petes)
Jean-Christoph Lemieux (Windsor Spitfires)
Pierce Mbuyi (Owen Sound Attack)
Alex McLean (Guelph Storm)
Adam Valentini (Kitchener Rangers)
Parker Vaughan (North Bay Battalion)
Braidy Wassilyn (Niagara IceDogs)
Dimian Zhilkin (Saginaw Spirit)
Cole Zurawski (Owen Sound Attack)

Hockey Operations:
Management Group Advisor – Dave Brown (Erie Otters)
Assistant Coach – Rick Steadman (London Knights)
Guest Equipment Manager – Trevor Castonguay (Owen Sound Attack)
Team Physician – Dr. Danielle Kelton (London Knights)
Guest Physician – Dr. Catherine Lott (London Knights)

The player selection process was led by Millar, with support from Yanick Lemay (Drummondville QMJHL), who serves as the U18 lead with the Program of Excellence management group, head scout Byron Bonora (Brooks, AB), Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), director of hockey operations, and Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations.

On the under-17 side, 79 players—eight goaltenders, 23 defencemen and 48 forwards—will take the ice at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex as part of Canada’s national under-17 development camp, set for July 19-23. All 79 players have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League (CHL) teams (30 from the OHL, 27 from the WHL and 22 from the QMJHL).

OHL Prospects – National Under-17 Development Camp (30):

Goaltenders (3) :
Cruz Reznik (Guelph’s 3rd Rd.)
Cole Vreugdenhil (North Bay’s 5th Rd.)
Charlie Weiss (London’s 5th Rd.)

Defencemen (8) :
David Buchman (Brantford’s 1st Rd.)
Alexander Forrest (Kitchener’s 2nd Rd.)
Peter Green (Brampton’s 1st Rd.)
Matt Henderson (Kingston’s 1st Rd.)
Carter Kunopaski (North Bay’s 2nd Rd.)
Cooper McAslan (London’s 2nd Rd.)
Blake Munnings (Owen Sound’s 2nd Rd.)
Lucas Nutting (Flint’s 2nd Rd.)

Forwards (19) :
Keaton Ardagh (Brampton’s 1st Rd.)
Brayden Bennett (Sudbury’s 1st Rd.)
Alex Campeau (London’s 1st Rd.)
Brock Chitaroni (Ottawa’s 1st Rd.)
Max Delisle (Owen Sound’s 1st Rd.)
Eamon Edgar (Barrie’s 2nd Rd.)
Ryerson Edgar (Niagara’s 1st Rd.)
Ryan Hanrahan (Saginaw’s 1st Rd.)
Aleks Kulemin (Kingston’s 1st Rd.)
Brenner Lammens (Sarnia’s 1st Rd.)
Noah Laus (Soo’s 1st Rd.)
Kaden McGregor (Peterborough’s 1st Rd.)
John McLaughlin (Windsor’s 1st Rd.)
Charlie Murata (Flint’s 1st Rd.)
Jake Murray (Erie’s 1st Rd.)
Kieran Raynor (Peterborough’s 2nd Rd.)
Sam Roberts (Oshawa’s 1st Rd.)
Camryn Warren (North Bay’s 1st Rd.)
Jaakko Wycisk (Guelph’s 1st Rd.)

Hockey Operations:
Management Group Advisor – Dave Brown (Erie Otters)
Director of Operations – Dave Drinkill (Saginaw Spirit)
Director of Operations – Dylan Seca (Sarnia Sting)
Head Coach – Scott Barney (Sudbury)
Assistant Coach – Brendan Taylor (Soo Greyhounds)
Video Coach – Alex Darling (Peterborough Petes)
Guest Coach – Paul Stoykewych (Ottawa 67’s)
Equipment Manager – J.R. Grant (Windsor Spitfires)
Guest Equipment Manager – Andrew Latin (North Bay Battalion)
Guest Equipment Manager – Justin Vanderlaan (Sarnia Sting)
Strength & Conditioning Coach – Sean Young (Ottawa 67’s)
Athletic Therapist – Dave Pandolfi (Niagara IceDogs) (OHL)
Guest Athletic Therapist – Nick Lichiti (Kitchener Rangers)

The selection process was led by Millar and Bonora, with assistance from Mike Johnston (Portland, WHL), who guides the U17 program as part of the POE management group. Roy and Salmond also supported the process. Players will continue to be evaluated through the beginning of the 2025-26 season in preparation for the 2025 U17 World Challenge, scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 8 in Truro, Nova Scotia.

For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team and Canada’s national under-17 program, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.