Calgary, Alta.- Five Western Hockey League players have been named to Canada’s preliminary roster ahead of the 2025 IIHF World U18 Championship.
One WHL goaltender, three defencemen and one forward are currently slated to participate in a Hockey Canada pre-tournament camp from April 12-15 in Oakville, Ont., ahead of the World Championship.
More skaters could be added to the roster after Round Two of the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien conclude.
The 2025 IIHF World U18 Championship will run from April 23 to May 3, 2025, in Frisco and Allen, Texas.
Canada’s Men’s National Under-18 Team – WHL Players
| Last Name | First Name | Team | Hometown | Height | Weight | Position |
| Hood | Burke | Vancouver | Brandon, Man. | 6’3 | 192 | G |
| Carels | Carson | Prince George | Cypress River, Man. | 6’1 | 174 | D |
| Lin | Ryan | Vancouver | Richmond, B.C. | 5’11 | 172 | D |
| Smith | Jackson | Tri-City | Calgary, Alta. | 6’3 | 195 | D |
| Cootes | Braeden | Seattle | Sherwood Park, Alta. | 5’11 | 183 | F |
In addition, Kamloops Blazers Goaltending Coach Dan De Palma will reprise his role as a goaltending consultant for Canada, while Terence Robertson (Red Deer Rebels) has come on board as an athletic therapist and Dr. Nolan Rau (Kelowna Rockets) will serve as the team physician.
Jackson Smith and Braeden Cootes are both projected to be top picks in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and helped Canada to gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The duo also impressed at the first-ever CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada in November of 2024.
Smith, who is ranked ninth among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s midterm player rankings, finished fourth on the Tri-City Americans in scoring in 2024-25 with 54 points (11G-43A), while bagging an impressive four game-winning goals- three of which came in overtime.
Cootes (NHLCSS: 21) was named Captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds and helped push the team to return to the WHL Playoffs for the first time since winning it all in 2022. The Sherwood Park, Alta. product had a team-leading 63 points (26G-37A) in the regular season and added another two goals and eight assists in six playoff games as the T-Birds pushed the regular-season champion Everett Silvertips to their limit.
Netminder Burke Hood is ranked 25th among all North American goaltenders heading into the draft after an impressive rookie season. The 17-year-old was named Pharmasave WHL Goaltender of the Week twice and posted back-to-back shutouts in early January.
The second Vancouver Giant to be named to the preliminary roster is 16-year-old blueliner Ryan Lin, who was recently named a finalist for the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy for WHL Rookie of the Year.
Lin was fifth in scoring among all rookies (5G-48A) and joined exceptional status defenceman Landon DuPont as the first defencemen to surpass 50 points in their rookie season since Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer in the 1989-90 season. Lin also won gold with Canada White at the 2024 World U17 Challenge with a goal and an assist in five games.
Carels is coming off a statement rookie season in Prince George with 35 points (6G-29A) in the regular season and another four points (1G-3A) in his first trip to the WHL Playoffs. He had four assists for Canada Red in a silver-medal effort at the 2024 World U17 Challenge.
Draft-eligible Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Blake Fiddler (NHLCSS: 24) will compete for the United States.
Fiddler was an alternate captain at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge and served as Captain for the United States at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
The tournament represents a special opportunity for Fiddler, with the 2025 IIHF World U18 Championship being held in his hometown of Frisco.
Canada will kick off the tournament against Slovakia on April 23, 2025, and will go on to face Latvia, Finland and Norway in the preliminary round before the medal round on May 3, 2025.
Canada is coming off a gold medal performance in 2024 that saw the canucks pot three goals on a single powerplay for a comeback 6-4 win against the United States in the title match.
Medicine Hat Tigers star Gavin McKenna also set a new record for points by a Canadian at the tournament with 10 goals and 10 assists in seven games.
About the Western Hockey League
Regarded as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL offers a world-class player experience featuring three key cornerstones: hockey development, education, and a safe and positive environment for all participants. A diverse and inclusive organization, the WHL consists of 22 member Clubs with 16 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for close to 60 years. The WHL is also a leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada’s National Junior Hockey Team.
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