USA Hockey announced the final roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship that gets underway Saturday in Helsinki, Finland, against Canada.
The 22-man roster contains 11 current NCAA players and one recruit.
“We’re looking forward to getting the tournament underway,” said U.S. National Junior Team general manager and USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations Jim Johannson in a statement. “Because of the depth we have now, getting to a final roster is always difficult. We’re excited about the team we’ll put on the ice in Finland and believe in every one of these individuals to not only play the style our coaching staff expects, but to also represent our nation proudly.”
| Player's Name | Position | School |
|---|---|---|
| Anders Bjork | F | Notre Dame |
| Brock Boeser | F | North Dakota |
| Ryan Donato | F | Harvard |
| Ryan Hitchcock | F | Yale |
| Nick Schmaltz | F | North Dakota |
| Colin White | F | Boston College |
| Louie Belpedio | D | Miami |
| Will Borgen | D | St. Cloud State |
| Brandon Fortunato | D | Boston University |
| Chad Krys | D | Boston University (2016) |
| Charlie McAvoy | D | Boston University |
| Zach Werenski | D | Michigan |
Of the 22 players named to the roster, 15 have previously represented the United States, including seven who skated for the 2015 U.S. National Junior Team. Additionally, 10 members of the squad have earned a gold medal as a member of the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team.
The U.S. will compete in a group with Canada, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. All U.S. games will be broadcast live on NHL Network, including Saturday’s opener at 1 p.m. EDT.
As for other teams at the event, Boston University defenseman Brandon Hickey will play for Canada and defenseman William Lagesson (Massachusetts) and forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (BU) will skate for Sweden.
