With less than two weeks until the puck drops at the 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship, Hockey Canada has announced the first 18 CHL players (see complete list below) who have been invited to attend Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team pre-tournament camp, set for April 12-15 in Oakville, Ontario.
Three goaltenders, six defencemen, and nine forwards from the CHL were selected by the team’s General Manager Scott Walker (Guelph Storm / OHL) and head scout Byron Bonora, with support from Kyle Turris, Benoit Roy, and goaltending consultant Dan DePalma (Kamloops Blazers / WHL). Among the 18 players chosen, there are 11 players from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), five players from the Western Hockey League (WHL), and two from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Within the U18 camp roster, there are a total of eight players eligible for this summer’s 2025 NHL Draft, including five (Ivankovic, Beauchesne, Smith, Cootes, Martin) who helped Team CHL defeat the U.S. National Under-18 Team last November at the inaugural 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada.
Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team will gather at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville before travelling to Texas.
The 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship kicks off on April 23, with Canada taking on Slovakia, Latvia, Finland, and Norway in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 3. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 16 tournament games, including all Team Canada preliminary-round games, as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals, and medal games