Last year's U18 World Hockey Championship saw the Americans win their first gold medal at the tournament since 2017 in a 3-2 overtime thriller over Sweden.

Getting back to those heights may be a tall task for this year's group though, as they'll have to do it without Will Smith, Oliver Moore, Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, and Zeev Buium. They've all aged out of the tournament, which means the Americans will be looking to a cast of mostly fresh faces to carry them to the promised land.

Returnees Cole Eiserman and James Hagens will be leaned on to build on last year's tournament and lead the way up front. Cole Hutson was instrumental in last year's gold medal push and is sure to log heavy minutes for this year's team. 

As for the newcomers, Teddy Stiga and Brodie Ziemer will be key offensive pl