Meet the Team: Canada's 2023 U18 World Hockey Championship roster
Tue, 18 Apr 23 15:00:02 +0000
For the most part, Canada’s the team to beat in international competition. That’s not the case at the U18s.
In the tournament’s 22-year history, Canada has medaled just eight times, capturing gold just four times.
In Canada’s last two Gold Medal tournaments, it’s been the underagers driving the bus. Connor Bedard stole the show in 2021 as a double underager, just as Connor McDavid had done eight years prior.
Perhaps there’s another superstar prospect poised to lead the way for Canada, 2024’s first-overall favourite Macklin Celebrini. The dynamic centre’s taking a quick break from thrashing the USHL. His 86 points and 1.72 points per game both lead the league outright and stand as the top marks for 16-year-old non-USNTDP players all-time.
Celebrini will be joined by two returnees from last year’s tournament, the dynamic Lukas Dragicevic and the complete Tanner Howe.
For many others, this is a tournament to bookend a season that started with the other marquee draft-eligible tournament, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It’ll be another opportunity to see how top names like Andrew Cristall, Matthew Wood, and others have progressed while giving an opportunity to see players in a different environment.
Let’s meet the team.
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