Team USA’s World Junior gold medal defense is starting to take shape. USA Hockey announced Monday the 28-player preliminary roster for the U.S. National Junior Team that will compete at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

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The squad is highlighted by 10 returnees led by Ryan Leonard (WSH), Gabe Perreault (NYR), Zeev Buium (MIN) and Trey Augustine (DET). Also among the returning players looking for another shot at gold is Drew Fortescue (NYR), Aram Minnetian (DAL), Carey Terrance (ANA), Oliver Moore (CHI), Danny Nelson (NYI) and Sam Hillebrandt.

The American side will be led by two-time NCAA national champion head coach David Carle, who returns his entire staff from the gold-medal winning team in 2024.

Also highlighting Team USA’s roster is 2025 NHL Draft top prospect James Hagens. The Boston College freshman who has 17 points through his first 13 NCAA games. Hagens was a late cut for last year’s team, but is expected to play an outsized role on the squad this time around.

One player not named to the preliminary roster was San Jose Sharks rookie Will Smith. This was not a surprise, by any means, but he is the only age-eligible returnee that will not be competing at the World Juniors this year. The young forward has ramped up his production after a slow start and seemingly is starting to get the hang of things in the NHL.

Team USA’s training camp is expected to begin Dec. 16 in Plymouth, Mich. The team will spend a few days in the U.S. before heading north to Ottawa for the remainder of camp. The Americans will play two pre-tournament games in the leadup to the 2025 WJC, going up against Slovakia on Dec. 21 in Kingston, and Finland on Dec. 23 in Cornwall.

The final roster for the World Junior Championship can include up to 25 players, 22 skaters and three goaltenders. Team USA is expected to fill its roster with 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies.

Last summer the IIHF approved expanded rosters for all of its major tournaments. Game rosters are a maximum 20 skaters and two goalies, however any of the 25 players will be eligible to dress as part of that game roster. That was not the case in previous World Junior Championships where players could only be added to the roster as an injury or illness replacement. So teams can carry as many as three healthy scratches throughout the tournament for increased roster flexibility.

The U.S. squad opens tournament play on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m. ET against Germany.

Here is the full list of Team USA’s camp invites.

Team USA World Juniors Preliminary Roster

Forwards

• Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State (ANA)
• Trevor Connelly, Providence (VGK)
• Cole Eiserman, Boston Univeristy (NYI)
• James Hagens, Boston College (2025)
• Ryan Leonard, Boston College (WSH)
• Oliver Moore, Minnesota (CHI)
• Danny Nelson, Notre Dame (NYI)
• Chris Pelosi, Quinnipiac (BOS)
• Gabe Perreault, Boston College (NYR)
• AJ Spellacy, Windsor Spitfires (CHI)
• Teddy Stiga, Boston College (NSH)
• Brandon Svoboda, Boston Univeristy (SJS)
• Carey Terrance, Erie (ANA)
• Joey Willis, Saginaw (NSH)
• Brodie Ziemer, Minnesota (BUF)

Defense

• Zeev Buium, Denver (MIN)
• EJ Emery, North Dakota (NYR)
• Blake Fiddler, Edmonton (2025)
• Paul Fischer, Notre Dame (EDM)
• Drew Fortescue, Boston College (NYR)
• Logan Hensler, Wisconsin (2025)
• Cole Hutson, Boston University (WSH)
• Adam Kleber, Minnesota Duluth (BUF)
• Aram Minnetian, Boston College (DAL)
• Colin Ralph, St. Cloud State (STL)

Goalies

• Trey Augustine, Michigan State (DET)
• Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan (LAK)
• Sam Hillebrandt, Barrie Colts 

Biggest Surprises From USA's Roster Announcement

Blake Fiddler Makes Camp Roster

It is especially rare for a U18 player to make the U.S. camp roster, especially when that player is outside of the NTDP. Fiddler plays for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL and skated for Team CHL in the recent CHL USA Prospects Challenge. He is projected to be a first-round pick. This is just a hard break from precedent when it comes to the World Junior roster and, quite frankly, it's worth trying.

Fiddler captained Team USA at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and gets big minutes in Edmonton. He has size and mobility, too. USA's blue line is where it has the most holes, so it makes sense to look outside of the regular pool to see what's there.

The other wrinkle is that Fiddler is a dual U.S.-Canada citizen who has not yet played in an IIHF event to solidify his national team choice. He told us last week that he had essentially made his choice and will go with the country of his birth, the United States, for who he plays with internationally.

Notable Omissions

There weren't a ton of big surprises among player that got left off. I think Max Plante of Minnesota Duluth, was probably the guy I thought was mostly likely going to be there as a potential second power play option. He did not ultimately get the invite, but you also have to consider that Plante spent most of this season injured after a fracture in the first exhibition game of the season. It would have been tough.

Quentin Musty (SJS) broke his wrist before the camp was named, but it was my understanding that he was unlikely to receive an invite to camp and was not part of Team USA's plans. He has become a more divisive prospect among scouts who see the size and scoring ability, but have grown more concerned about consistency and compete level. I think the latter two points were part of why he was unlikely to be part of this camp.

I thought the U.S. may go with a young goalie as their No. 3 this year, but that was not the case. Sam Hillebrandt is returning for another go-around as the No. 3 for Team USA after serving in that role last year. I heard great things about his attitude and how he was as a teammate. He goes into this chance eyes wide open knowing he probably will not play. That said, Team USA will host the World Juniors next year with zero goalies on their roster with WJC experience as all three on this team will age out.

The only other defenseman I thought might get a look for this team was Zach Schulz (NYI), a former NTDP captain who has played well enough at Wisconsin. But he's similar to some of the other guys added and I don't think there was much space for him, especially not with how well a guy like Colin Ralph has played to earn his spot in camp.

USA Roster Notes

Team USA will have to make one cut at forward and two among its defensemen. It's going to be a very difficult couple of decisions to make. There's going to have to be a number of players who force their way into roles on the team that they may not be used to, but that's what it takes at the World Juniors.

Team USA's 2025 World Junior Championship Schedule

• Thursday, Dec. 26 vs. Germany, 2:30 p.m. ET

• Saturday, Dec. 28 vs. Latvia, 3:30 p.m. ET

• Sunday, Dec. 29 vs. Finland, 2:30 p.m. ET

• Tuesday, Dec. 31 vs. Canada, 8 p.m. ET

• QUARTERFINALS: Jan. 2

• SEMIFINALS: Jan. 4

• MEDAL GAMES: Jan. 5

How To Watch The 2025 World Junior Championship

The 2025 World Junior championship will be broadcast live in Canada by TSN and RDS. NHL Network will have live coverage of all Team USA games and select others in the United States.

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