Canada

Canada is trying to do something it has bever done before—repeat as U18 gold medallists. If you look at this year’s roster, you can understand why they’ve never won back-to-back. Faced with having to create a new roster every year based on what players are not playing in the CHL and Memorial Cup playoffs, Canada has exactly zero returning players from 2024. The only name on the roster from last year is goalie Jack Ivankovic, who was the third goalie and didn’t play a year ago.

But Canada’s depth of talent is their undeniable strength, and this year they have three skaters in the lineup who are among the top 20 of NHL’s Central Scouting list for the upcoming draft— Brady Martin (#11), Jackson Smith (#13), Braeden Cootes (#20)—as well as two goalies, Ivankovic (#4) and Burke Hood (#15). 

Coach Cory Stillman, who played for Canada at the 1999 Men’s Worlds, will have about half his roster from OHL teams, including three big forwards from the Niagara IceDogs: Ethan Czata, Ryan Roobroeck, and Braidy Wassilyn. 

Finland

Like Canada, Finland doesn’t have a single returning player but would certainly like to improve on its fifth-place finish a year ago, a tournament which ended with a 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Sweden in the quarter-finals.

Two players to watch for are defender Lasse Boelius, 18, and forward Atte Joki, 17. Boelius is a mobile defender who can move the puck, and Joki is a strong offensive presence. Both have been playing in the Finnish junior league, and Boelius even played a few games in the top Liiga as well. Jesper Kotajarvi is another top prospect who has made great strides this year. He has played in the Finnish U18 and U20 leagues as well as Liiga, and although he won’t turn 18 until the summer he is a player to watch for the Finns. 

At the other end, coach Mikael Kotkaniemi is also working two 16-year-old defenders into the lineup. Samu Alalauri and Juho Piiparinen have been developing in the junior league at home and have earned a roster spot for Frisco.

Latvia

The Latvians qualified for the quarter-finals last year for the third year running, and they come to Frisco with six returning players from 2024 and six who played at the World Juniors in Ottawa this past January. 

Martina Klaucans, Olivers Murnieks, Krisjanis Sarts, and Daniels Serkins all are appearing in their third junior-level tournament this year, and their experience can only help a nation that is very much on the rise in both junior and senior level. 

Rolands Naglis and Karlis Flugins also played at last year’s U18 while Rudolfs Berzkalns and Roberts Naudins were also in Ottawa at the World Juniors. All in all, this Latvia team has tons of experience and have put up good results the last few years. This is a group that might prove the bronze medal in 2023 at the senior Men’s Worlds was no fluke or one-off.

Norway

Norway returns to the top level of U18 play thanks to their crazy 6-5 shootout victory over Kazakhstan a year ago. The Norwegians had leads of 2-0, 3-1, and 5-3, only to see Kazakhstan rally and force overtime. The penalty-shot shootout was a record-setting 22 shots long, Norway prevailing on an Elias Vatne goal with that 22nd shot.

They have three returnees from 2024, notably Tinus Luc Koblar, Niklas Aaram Olsen, and Andreas Pettersen. Koblar, who turns 18 this summer, has been playing with Leksands in Sweden’s junior league the last couple of seasons, while Aaram Olsen has been with rivals Orebro. Pettersen opted to stay at home and play in the top division of the Norwegian league, with Lorenskog. 

The team has three 16-year-olds as well as 15-year-old goalie Maximilian Aas, who has shot up the depth chart with Stjernen in the Norwegian junior league. 

Slovakia

No team has more returnees than Slovakia, which has an incredible nine players from the 2024 team that lost the bronze-medal game to Sweden, 4-0. 

Jan Chovan, ranked 16 on Central Scouting’s list of European skaters, headlines the team. He has been developing in Finland’s junior league, with Tappara, and is a big and strong forward with lots of upside and, as they say, a good hockey IQ. Defender Luka Radivojevic, son of Branko, is playing in his fourth junior tournament in the last two years (two U18, two World Juniors). He started the year in Sweden but moved to the USHL, with Muskegon, to get more exposure heading to his draft season, where he is expected to be selected in the first round. 

Andreas Straka is playing in the QMJHL and is a versatile forward who can do many things well. He showed his all-round talent at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky tournament last August and has been improving ever since playing on a Quebec Remparts team that is re-building. 

Other returning players include Adam Nemec, Michal Svrecek, Tobias Tomik, Patryk Zubek, Tomas Chrenko, and Adam Kalman. Close to a medal last year, don’t be surprised if the Slovaks make the podium in Frisco.