
Now that most national teams have submitted their final rosters for the 2026 World Junior Championship, it’s time to take a look at all the prospects competing in this year’s tournament who have been drafted by an NHL team.
The World Juniors are a great time for NHL fans to get acquainted with some of their team’s top prospects and to see how they stack up against the rest of their age group. 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams have recently drafted players who will be playing for their national team when the tournament begins on Boxing Day (December 26, 2025).
Only two NHL teams do not have prospects playing in this year’s tournament and they are the Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Hurricanes have dealt some picks and graduated several young prospects to the NHL in recent years so it’s not too much of a shock they don’t have any prospects playing. The Blue Jackets have similarly graduated prospects, but it’s certainly a disappointment that eligible prospects like Cayden Lindstrom and Jackson Smith couldn’t make the cut for Team Canada.
For fans of the remaining 30 teams, this is a great chance to familiarize yourself with some of your team’s future players and to cheer them on as they develop into NHL players. The following is a list of the NHL affiliated prospects organized alphabetically so you can check out which prospects will be representing your favorite NHL team at the 2026 World Junior Championship.
Note: This list includes prospects on teams that haven’t made their final rosters official so this list is subject to minor changes in the coming week or so. (last updated: Dec. 20st)
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