Five OHL Players Named to Czechia’s National Junior Team Camp Roster

Czechia has released its preliminary roster for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, and it carries a strong CHL presence. Seventeen of the 26 players invited are skating in Canadian major junior this season, including five from the Ontario Hockey League.

Among the headliners is NHL Draft first round candidate Adam Novotny of the Peterborough Petes, along with St. Louis Blues prospect Adam Jiricek of the Brantford Bulldogs. Jiricek is joined by two Brantford teammates in Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak, who sits near the top of the OHL scoring list, and 2026 NHL Draft hopeful Vladimir Dravecky.

Brampton Steelheads defenceman Jakub Fibigir rounds out the OHL group.

Czechia will carry three goalies, nine defencemen and fourteen forwards into a long prep camp in Bemidji, Minnesota from Dec. 12 to 23. The team meets Latvia on Dec. 20 and Slovakia on Dec. 23 before shifting to Minneapolis for the start of the tournament.

Czechia has earned medals in each of the past three World Juniors, taking bronze in 2024 and 2025 after claiming silver in 2022. The Czechs open this year’s event on Dec. 27 against Canada, followed by games with Denmark, Finland and Latvia in Group B.

Czechia will need to release one player to get down to the 25-man limit before its first game.

Five OHL players have been invited to camp:

For more information on Czechia’s national teams and the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit hokej.cz and iihf.com.