WJC: 2026 Team USA Roster Talk

[William H Bonney]

A 3-peat would be asking for too much, right?

Click to read more...

 

[The Crypto Guy]

A 3-peat would be asking for too much, right?

BC boys are gone. So it’s unlikely.

 

[William H Bonney]

BC boys are gone. So it’s unlikely.

The BC boys will be a huge loss, but goalie is the biggest issue right now for 2026.

 

[AmericanDream]

Carle for coach. All I f***ing know lol

 

[Jaykay]

Severe lack of goalies, and a bit of a shortage of centers. I put Hagens in there but I'm guessing he won't be around for this one. The defense should be the strength figuratively and literally; it's Hutson and a bunch of huge guys. Should be a solid team, and definitely a contender on home ice.

Trevor Connelly-James Hagens-Brodie Ziemer
Teddy Stiga-Kamil Bednarik-Cole Eiserman
Cullen Potter-AJ Spellacy-Max Plante
William Zellers-William Moore-Shane Vansaghi
Ex. Mac Swanson, Cole McKinney

Others: LJ Mooney, Jack Murtagh, Conrad Fondrk, Benjamin Kevan, Lucas Van Vliet, Christian Humphreys

Cole Hutson-Logan Hensler
WIll Skahan-EJ Emery
Elliott Groenewold-Adam Kleber
Ex: Lukas Fischer, Blake Fiddler

Others: Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, Charlie Tretheway, Tory Pitner, Tanner Henricks, Luke Osburn, John Whipple

Nick Kempf
John Parsons
Joseph Slavick

 

[mphmiles]

A medal next year would be a great accomplishment.

 

[SI90]

Would be nice to get Hagens back next year.

 

[MTU34]

Stiga-Hagens-Ziemer
Connelly-Bednarik-Eiserman
Potter-Plante-Murtagh
Mcmorrow-McKinney-Spellacy
Vansaghi, Epperson

Hutson-Emery
DRM-Hensler
Skahan-Fiddler
Groenewald-Kleber

Kempf
Hendrickson
Boettinger

With Hagens this group can compete for another gold. Without him we have major problems

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Canada and Sweden in our group. At least we’ll know right away

 

[WarriorofTime]

Open tryouts at the goalie spot?

Seriously though, with college hockey opening up to aged out CHL players that don't have NHL contracts, the proposed rules that everyone will have 5 years of eligibility and unlimited transfers, I worry it's going to be a scenario pretty soon where it'll be very rare for 18 and 19 year old goalies to be starting goalies on top NCAA teams.

That could make it tricky to have good options to pick from. Kempf ('06 born) plays less often at Notre Dame than an '01 born transfer goalie that's in his third year, so he has at least one year of eligibility and maybe two depending on what the NCAA decides.

Older ex-CHL guys coming in as 21 year old freshmen are only going to expand the options for older goaltenders that will make all but the best teenagers remaining in junior or siting on a bench. Obviously you'd rather not go with a Junior Goalie if you don't have to. But realistically there's a high chance in future years, you're going to be looking at an NCAA backup.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I was going to troll @William H Bonney with a "where's the 2026 team thread?" and he beat me to the punch.

LMAO.

 

[JiggsNY]

yeah it could be a couple of down years now sadly. the 04s and 05s were loaded with first rounders and 06 (if we remove Hagens), 07 and 08 just dont have the same firepower

I do find it cool how our best birthyears get the job done

97s in 2016
01s in 2021
04s in 2024
05s in 2025

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Defense will be good but looks sketchy up front and in goal. Need some guys to step up.

 

[Holtbyisms]

The BC boys will be a huge loss, but goalie is the biggest issue right now for 2026.

Kempf is the guy.

 

[William H Bonney]

What have you got right now?

Forwards (x14):

Cole Eiserman - James Hagens - Brodie Ziemer
Trevor Connelly - Kamil Bednarik - Teddy Stiga
Max Plante - Cullen Potter - LJ Mooney
Jack Murtagh - Cole McKinney - Will Zellers
AJ Spellacy
Extra: Mac Swanson

Defense (x8):

Cole Hutson - Logan Hensler
Elliott Groenewold - EJ Emery
Will Skahan - Blake Fiddler
Adam Kleber
Extra: Lukas Fischer

Goalies (x3):

Nick Kempf
Kam Hendrickson
Umm, hopefully, a current NTDP goalie steps up

​

Notes:

• We probably lose Hagens and we don't have the depth to replace him if we do. We'd have a very lunch pail-forward group without him since the U18s won't likely be a big help for this team.​
• Who will take the reins as the 2nd offensive defenseman on the team behind Hutson? Can Schock or Tretheway make a jump in the 2nd half of this season to get in contention? What about a more unheralded guy like Lukas Peterson?​
• Goalies are very concerning. Kempf is the guy right now.​
• Head Coach is Carle's if he wants it, although even if he doesn't take an NHL job, I'm not sure he'd step away so much from Denver for a 3rd year in a row. If it's not Carle, I think the coach will be Adam Nightingale. Ben Barr would be my other choice.​

 

[AmericanDream]

I'm not so sure Hagens won't be here next year. If he goes #1 then probably a strong chance he won't be available but anything outside of #1 and I think we have a solid shot of getting him again.

 

[WarriorofTime]

The U18 team from eight or nine months ago is usually a good starting block when projecting out the U20 team a year out.

8 Teddy Stiga 10 James Hagens 2 Brodie Ziemer
34 Cole Eiserman 11 Kamil Bednarik 26 Max Plante
17 Trevor Connelly 24 Christian Humphreys 25 L.J. Mooney
21 Brendan McMorrow 9 Austin Baker 29 Shane Vansaghi
19 Lucas Van Vliet

23 Cole Hutson 6 EJ Emery
27 Will Skahan 16 Logan Hensler
13 Sam Laurila 7 Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen
4 John Whipple

31 Nicholas Kempf

Bold are players from the 2025 U20 team. Hagens is a big NHL risk as he will be picked high and since he's already done the year of college hockey, could easily decide to go Pro.

Since Kleber was already added to the U20 team this year, he's safely someone you can project back to one of the RHD spot.

Then you can look at who went deep into the process for the U20 team. AJ Spellacy, EJ Emery and Blake Fiddler were late cuts. So Emery and Fiddler are likely present. Spellacy is likely a guy you bring from the outside who can play with some bite.

Look at the U18 players that weren't on the U20 team and see who is doing well

Doing well: Kamil Bednarik, Shane Vansaghi, John Whipple, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen

Probably gonna need some 07s as well like Cullen Potter, William Moore, Cole McKinney, JAck Murtagh, Charlie Tretheway.

Maybe Mac Swanson? You can see a team taking shape...

Side note: anyone know what John Mustard (06) is? His eliteprospect page says born in Newmarket, ON and a Canadian flag, but then all U.S. youth teams followed by USHL and currently at Providence College where he has 14 points in 19 games, and was a third round pick in '24 draft. His quanthockey page has a U.S. flag by his name. Never played in any international competition (including the Hockey Canada ones that don't count for IIHF selection purposes). Could be a nice guy to add if they have a choice and he'll have a better chance of making USA than Canada if there's a choice involved.

 

[William H Bonney]

The U18 team from eight or nine months ago is usually a good starting block when projecting out the U20 team a year out.

8 Teddy Stiga 10 James Hagens 2 Brodie Ziemer
34 Cole Eiserman 11 Kamil Bednarik 26 Max Plante
17 Trevor Connelly 24 Christian Humphreys 25 L.J. Mooney
21 Brendan McMorrow 9 Austin Baker 29 Shane Vansaghi
19 Lucas Van Vliet

23 Cole Hutson 6 EJ Emery
27 Will Skahan 16 Logan Hensler
13 Sam Laurila 7 Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen
4 John Whipple

31 Nicholas Kempf

Bold are players from the 2025 U20 team. Hagens is a big NHL risk as he will be picked high and since he's already done the year of college hockey, could easily decide to go Pro.

Since Kleber was already added to the U20 team this year, he's safely someone you can project back to one of the RHD spot.

Then you can look at who went deep into the process for the U20 team. AJ Spellacy, EJ Emery and Blake Fiddler were late cuts. So Emery and Fiddler are likely present. Spellacy is likely a guy you bring from the outside who can play with some bite.

Look at the U18 players that weren't on the U20 team and see who is doing well

Doing well: Kamil Bednarik, Shane Vansaghi, John Whipple, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen

Probably gonna need some 07s as well like Cullen Potter, William Moore, Cole McKinney, Charlie Tretheway.

Maybe Mac Swanson? You can see a team taking shape...

Side note: anyone know what John Mustard (06) is? His eliteprospect page says born in Newmarket, ON and a Canadian flag, but then all U.S. youth teams followed by USHL and currently at Providence College where he has 14 points in 19 games, and was a third round pick in '24 draft. His quanthockey page has a U.S. flag by his name. Never played in any international competition (including the Hockey Canada ones that don't count for IIHF selection purposes). Could be a nice guy to add if they have a choice and he'll have a better chance of making USA than Canada if there's a choice involved.

AFAIK Mustard only has Canadian citizenship as of now.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I'm not so sure Hagens won't be here next year. If he goes #1 then probably a strong chance he won't be available but anything outside of #1 and I think we have a solid shot of getting him again.

Unfortunately for Hagens, it's an unwritten rule that 1OA makes the opening night roster with his NHL team, and I'd guess at this point he's the favorite.

Like many 1OA picks (most recent USA example being Jack Hughes), he probably shouldn't.

We could sure use him in 2026.

 

[WarriorofTime]

AFAIK Mustard only has Canadian citizenship as of now.

Final wrinkle is his Providence College bio page lists his hometown as Oradell, NJ. Wonder if he's eligible to apply for U.S. Citizenship.

 

[William H Bonney]

Canada could have a powerful team for this one, assuming their management staff don't try to outsmart themselves. The other variable for them is that because so many of their players are CHL guys, they always have far more risks for guys who make the NHL that otherwise wouldn't if they were NCAA players.

But for now, I'd put Canada down as a comfortable favorite for 2026.

Final wrinkle is his Providence College bio page lists his hometown as Oradell, NJ. Wonder if he's eligible to apply for U.S. Citizenship.

I'm pretty sure he's been in the US long enough to be pursuing citizenship if he wants it. But his family is originally from Ontario.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I'm going to pencil in Hagens for the NHL. If we get him, it'll help, but I think the chances are even higher for him to be in the NHL next season than they were for Smith a year ago. Everyone else that can return likely isn't in the NHL.

Eiserman-Stiga-Ziemer
Conelly-Bednarik-Swanson
Murtagh-Potter-Plante
Spellacy-McKinney-Vansaghi
Moore

Others: Mooney, Kevan, Simpson, Van Vliet, Baker, O'Neill, Belle, Fondrk

Hutson-Emery
Skahan-Hensler
Rombach-Reid
DRM-Fiddler

Others: Kleber, Fischer, Pitner, Osburn, Stout, Groenewold, Amico, Trethewey, Barnett

Kempf
Hendrickson
Quinlan

Others: Parsons, Heil

I think our goaltending and center depth are going to be the biggest areas of concern. I don't think they are outright bad, but very unproven. Defense looks very good to me. Probably our deepest defense in years.

We'll be one of the best teams. Given we are going for three in a row and are playing at home, we'll probably be the favorite, but truthfully I think Canada will probably bring a better team. Again though, most talented team doesn't win every year. We should be able to field one of the better teams and should be in with a chance towards the end to 3-peat.

 

[William H Bonney]

I'm going to pencil in Hagens for the NHL. If we get him, it'll help, but I think the chances are even higher for him to be in the NHL next season than they were for Smith a year ago. Everyone else that can return likely isn't in the NHL.

Eiserman-Stiga-Ziemer
Conelly-Bednarik-Swanson
Murtagh-Potter-Plante
Spellacy-McKinney-Vansaghi
Moore

Others: Mooney, Kevan, Simpson, Van Vliet, Baker, O'Neill, Belle, Fondrk

Hutson-Emery
Skahan-Hensler
Rombach-Reid
DRM-Fiddler

Others: Kleber, Fischer, Pitner, Osburn, Stout, Amico, Trethewey, Barnett

Kempf
Hendrickson
Quinlan

Others: Parsons, Heil

I think our goaltending and center depth are going to be the biggest areas of concern. I don't think they are outright bad, but very unproven. Defense looks very good to me. Probably our deepest defense in years.

We'll be one of the best teams. Given we are going for three in a row and are playing at home, we'll probably be the favorite, but truthfully I think Canada will probably bring a better team. Again though, most talented team doesn't win every year. We should be able to field one of the better teams and should be in with a chance towards the end to 3-peat.

Rombach and Reid (especially if he keeps up his torrid play to start his OHL career) might be the two most intriguing names to watch for this team.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Holy shit! We're all over this.

Can we savor the historic 2nd Gold in row for a moment?!?!

 

[FinPanda]

Looks like other teams may have a chance against you guys next year, still a very strong US team.