75 CHL players past and present expected to compete in World Juniors
75 Canadian Hockey League players past and present are set to represent their home countries in the 2021 World Junior Championship.
Among the 10 competing countries, the CHL is represented on nine rosters, headlined by 22 players with Canada. The list then includes 16 with Czech Republic, 10 with Switzerland, nine with Slovakia, five with Russia, four with Germany, and three each with Austria, Finland, and the United States.
Among active players, the OHL and WHL are represented by 23 players each and the QMJHL by 19 players. In all, 43 CHL clubs are represented by at least one player with the Halifax Mooseheads atop the list with four players.
The 2021 World Junior Championship will be played from a protected environment in Edmonton, with tournament action beginning December 25 and the gold-medal game scheduled for January 5. This year, Austria joins the group of 10 competing teams, replacing the relegated Kazakhstan.
Winners of the 2020 World Juniors, Canada begins its gold-medal defence with a showdown against Germany on December 26. In all, Canada has won a tournament-record 18 gold medals, while a win in 2021 would mark its first back-to-back championships since 2009.
This year, Canada’s roster counts 20 players who are first-round NHL draft selections, six of whom helped the Great White North to a first-place finish a year ago. That list includes Quinton Byfield (Sudbury Wolves/Los Angeles Kings), Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants/Colorado Avalanche), Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes/Buffalo Sabres), Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters/Anaheim Ducks), Connor McMichael (London Knights/Washington Capitals), and Dawson Mercer (Chicoutimi Sagueneens/New Jersey Devils). Also returning is Ottawa 67’s head coach Andre Tourigny, who is elevated to the top job this year after serving as an assistant to Dale Hunter of the London Knights in the 2020 tournament.
75 CHL players past and present set to compete in 2021 World Juniors
Austria
Fabian Hochegger (Drummondville Voltigeurs)
Senna Peeters (Halifax Mooseheads)
Marco Rossi (Ottawa 67’s)
Canada
Justin Barron (Halifax Mooseheads)
Quinton Byfield (Sudbury Wolves)
Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants)
Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Kirby Dach* (Saskatoon Blades)
Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters)
Dylan Garand (Kamloops Blazers)
Taylor Gauthier (Prince George Cougars)
Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders)
Thomas Harley (Mississauga Steelheads)
Peyton Krebs (Winnipeg ICE)
Kaedan Korczak (Kelowna Rockets)
Connor McMichael (London Knights)
Dawson Mercer (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
Jakob Pelletier (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Cole Perfetti (Saginaw Spirit)
Jack Quinn (Ottawa 67’s)
Braden Schneider (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Jordan Spence (Moncton Wildcats)
Ryan Suzuki (Saginaw Spirit)
Philip Tomasino (Oshawa Generals)
Connor Zary (Kamloops Blazers)
Czech Republic
Jan Bednar (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Michal Gut (Everett Silvertips)
Martin Has (Guelph Storm)
Filip Koffer (Prince George Cougars)
Simon Kubicek (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Radek Kucerik (Saskatoon Blades)
Martin Lang (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Nick Malik (Soo Greyhounds)
Jan Mysak (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Pavel Novak (Kelowna Rockets)
Lukas Parik (Spokane Chiefs)
Filip Prikryl* (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Jaromir Pytlik (Soo Greyhounds)
Adam Raska (Rimouski Oceanic)
Michal Teply (Winnipeg ICE)
Matej Toman (Swift Current Broncos)
Finland
Kari Piiroinen* (Windsor Spitfires)
Kasper Puutio* (Everett Silvertips)
Ruben Rafkin* (Windsor Spitfires)
Germany
Manuel Alberg* (Moncton Wildcats)
Samuel Dube (Halifax Mooseheads)
Filip Reisnecker* (Mississauga Steelheads)
Joshua Samanski (Owen Sound Attack)
Russia
Mikhail Abramov (Victoriaville Tigres)
Egor Afanasyev (Windsor Spitfires)
Daniil Chayka (Guelph Storm)
Artemi Kniazev (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
Vasily Ponomarev (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Slovakia
Martin Chromiak (Kingston Frontenacs)
Andrej Golian (Tri-City Americans)
Samuel Hlavaj (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Dominik Jendek (Sudbury Wolves)
Matej Kaslik (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
David Mudrak (Oshawa Generals)
Oleksii Myklukha (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Marko Stacha (Vancouver Giants)
Oliver Turan* (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Switzerland
Inaki Baragano* (Kamloops Blazers)
Attilio Biasca (Halifax Mooseheads)
Lorenzo Canonica (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Giancarlo Chanton (Niagara IceDogs)
Noah Delemont (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Keanu Derungs* (Victoria Royals)
Gaetan Jobin* (Charlottetown Islanders)
Simon Knak (Portland Winterhawks)
Noah Patenaude (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Brian Zanetti (Peterborough Petes)
United States
Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Hunter Skinner (London Knights)
Dustin Wolf (Everett Silvertips)
* indicates player who previously played in the CHL