Coming off a rare bronze medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last year, this year\u2019s squad will look to get Team Canada back to the top of the podium.<\/p>\n
Canada has historically dominated this summer tournament with 25 titles and had a recent run of three straight gold medals from 2022 through 2024.<\/p>\n
Defenceman Landon DuPont is the only returning player from last year\u2019s bronze-medal winning team and is a candidate to go first overall in the 2027 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n
He will also wear the \u2018C\u2019 for Canada at this year\u2019s tournament, with forwards Alexis Joseph and Maddox Schultz serving as alternate captains. <\/p>\n
Here are seven players to watch for Canada as tournament gets underway tonight on TSN.<\/p>\n
D Landon DuPont \u2013 University of Michigan<\/p>\n
DuPont is coming off a big season with the Western Hockey League\u2019s Everett Silvertips in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
He scored 18 goals with 73 points in 63 regular-season games and added 23 points in 18 playoff games as he helped Everett capture the WHL title and make it to the Memorial Cup Final before losing to the OHL\u2019s Kitchener Rangers.<\/p>\n
Now the Calgary native is taking his talents to the University of Michigan for his draft season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got an exploit mentality,\u201d said TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button of DuPont. \u201cHe\u2019s always probing for where he can exploit opportunities. It\u2019s such a hallmark of elite defencemen. Defencemen used to just sit back and defend and wait to join the rush. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not aware of where Landon is on the ice, you\u2019re vulnerable. He makes you pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wolverines made it to the Frozen Four last season before losing to eventual NCAA champion Denver in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
The ninth player and third defenceman to receive exceptional status to enter the CHL a year early, DuPont delivered on the hype right away, winning CHL and WHL rookie of the year honours after netting 60 points in his first season.<\/p>\n
F Alexis Joseph \u2013 Saint John Sea Dogs<\/p>\n
Another candidate to go first overall in 2027 is Saint John Sea Dogs centre Alexis Joseph, who stands at 6-foot-5 and 201 pounds.<\/p>\n
Joseph, 17, scored 24 goals with 60 points in 54 games last season as a rookie in the QMJHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy reminds me of Evgeni Malkin at the same age,\u201d said Button. \u201cAnd like Malkin, he can make plays and score equally well. The elite centres do that, and he\u2019s an elite centre. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a presence, high skill level and impact determination in his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
He represented Canada twice last season. At the U17s, he scored six goals with 13 points in five games to lead Canada Red to gold. He also skated in two games at the U18s as Canada fell in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Sweden.<\/p>\n
F Brock England \u2013 Seattle Thunderbirds<\/p>\n
Seattle Thunderbirds forward Brock England is coming off a strong WHL rookie season.<\/p>\n
The Red Deer, Alta., native scored 21 goals with 51 points in 64 games in 2025-26 and had three points in five postseason contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got that back-you-up speed,\u201d said Button of England. \u201cOne step and watch out. He opens up, and he attacks the net.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a dangerous player, not only at five-on-five and the power play, but as a penalty killer, he\u2019s the type of player that if you\u2019re out against him and he\u2019s penalty killing, watch out because he\u2019s quick and fast. His speed is dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also played alongside Joseph on the Canada Red team that won U17 gold, scoring two goals with seven points in five games.<\/p>\n
F Maddox Schultz \u2013 Regina Pats<\/p>\n
Schultz is one of two underage players on the roster, alongside Pats teammate Liam Pue, who are not eligible for the NHL Draft until 2028.<\/p>\n
The 16-year-old, who was drafted first overall in the 2025 WHL Draft by Regina, skated in 34 games with the Pats last season, scoring 15 goals with 29 points.<\/p>\n
He also suited up for Canada White at the U17s, leading the tournament in goals (six) en route to a silver medal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just an all-round, two-way complete player,\u201d said Button of Schultz. \u201cThere\u2019s no area in the game where he\u2019s not a factor. Simple as that. He\u2019s young, and he\u2019s a leader, and he\u2019s dialled into the details.\u201d<\/p>\n
D Brock Cripps \u2013 Prince Albert Raiders<\/p>\n
Cripps is coming off a big rookie season in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders.<\/p>\n
The 17-year-old had six goals with 37 points in 62 regular-season games. He took it up a notch in the playoffs, scoring four goals with 21 points in 20 games to help the Raiders reach the WHL Championship Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrock is steady, even, just makes all the plays defensively and offensively,\u201d said Button. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of flash to his game. There\u2019s tremendous confidence in his game. He\u2019s really poised and smart. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not an end-end [defenceman]. He\u2019s not going to pull drag. He\u2019s not going to blast a lot of shots with a big booming blast. He\u2019s just steady, even good.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also was a member of the gold-medal-winning Canada Red team at the U17s, scoring one goal with six points in five games, the most points by a defenceman in the tournament.<\/p>\n
F Liam Pue \u2013 Regina Pats<\/p>\n
Taken third overall in the 2025 WHL Draft, Pue joins Schultz as one of the two 2010-born players on the Canadian roster.<\/p>\n
In 34 games last season with Regina, Pue scored six goals with 16 points in 34 games.<\/p>\n
He also suited up for Canada White at the U17s, recording four goals with eight points in five games to earn a silver medal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking elite, elite skill, and he\u2019s got an ease to his skill,\u201d said Button of Pue. \u201cThe skating, puck skills, shot and the thinking. Him and Schultz are two of the very best players on this team. Full stop. He makes the game look so incredibly easy because he\u2019s so highly skilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
F Ryerson Edgar \u2013 Niagara IceDogs<\/p>\n
Centre Ryerson Edgar is coming off a big rookie season with the OHL\u2019s Niagara IceDogs.<\/p>\n
Edgar scored 23 goals with 49 points in 64 games last season, finishing sixth among OHL rookies.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyerson is a player that it\u2019s not going to get you with a whole lot of wow, but every time you pick up your head, you go, \u2018who made that play?\u2019\u201d, said Button of Edgar. \u201cHe\u2019s so smart, but he\u2019s subtle, and he doesn\u2019t have this overwhelming skill set, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another member of the Canada Red team that earned U17 gold, Edgar scored one goal with three points in five games.<\/p>\n
He is committed to the University of Michigan but will return to the IceDogs for the 2026-27 season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coming off a rare bronze medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last year, this year\u2019s squad will look…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[712,49,48,132644,44],"class_list":["post-844561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-hockey-canada-sports-hockey-hockey-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}