Mammoth Prospects Who Could Play in 2026 World Junior Championship

Iginla started the season on fire, scoring 14 goals and adding 18 assists for a total of 32 points in 21 games before his season was cut short due to injury. This injury came at an unfortunate time as he was building off his excellent 2023-24 campaign, where he averaged 1.31 points per game compared to last season, where he was averaging 1.52 points per game through the first part of the WHL season.

Iginla was not present at the WJC Summer Showcase as he is still recovering from hip surgery. Still, his elite shot, playmaking, and high energy make him the perfect candidate to play anywhere in Team Canada’s lineup. The only concern for Canada would be that Iginla makes the Mammoth out of training camp. However, that seems unlikely given the depth of the roster, and with him only able to play 21 games last season, it’s doubtful he is rushed into the NHL.

Cole Beaudoin – Team Canada

Cole Beaudoin, along with Iginla, will go down as the only two players to be drafted in the first round by the Utah Hockey Club. Beaudoin was the second of their two first-round picks in 2024, being selected 24th overall. Recently, Beaudoin was given the ‘Award of Excellence‘ at the Mammoth’s summer prospect development camp.

He is not the typical first-round pick that lights up the stat sheet in Canadian junior hockey. However, Beaudoin has respectable numbers in his draft year playing for the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Barrie Colts. In 2023-24, he finished the season with 28 goals and 34 assists for a total of 62 points in 65 games. He followed that up by scoring 22 goals and adding 29 assists for 51 points for the Colts in 2024-25 after being drafted.

While he may not be the biggest difference maker on the score sheet, he becomes one in the physical areas of the game. He wins puck battles, he does not shy away from contact, and he understands how to use his 6-foot-2 frame to protect the puck.

While Beaudoin struggled at the WJC last year, his hard-nosed, high-energy, physical play style makes him the perfect candidate to play in a depth forward role for Canada. The offensive upside he brings will purely be a bonus at this tournament. I expect he will make Canada’s roster and have a significant impact.

Caleb Desnoyers – Team Canada

After lucking into an NHL Draft Lottery win and getting the fourth overall pick for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the Mammoth were lucky enough to select Caleb Desnoyers, who The Athletic has ranked 11th in their top 100 drafted prospect ranking (from ‘Top 100 drafted NHL prospects ranking: Schaefer, Misa, Demidov lead Wheeler’s summer 2025 list,’ The Athletic, July 16, 2025).

To start, Desnoyers will have an advantage over plenty of other Team Canada hopefuls, as his junior coach from the Moncton Wildcats will be on the bench, helping coach the Canadians. Regardless, he will likely be an impact player on this roster. He is an excellent two-way center, a massive body on the ice and has plenty of offensive talent.

He dominated the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in all facets last season, finishing with 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points, while also having a plus-51 plus/minus throughout the regular season. Desnoyers continued his dominance through the QMJHL playoffs, putting up 30 points in 19 games, the second-most in the playoffs, and led his team to a Memorial Cup appearance after winning the QMJHL’s Gilles-Courteau Trophy.

Desnoyers has a unique skillset that will make him a valuable asset anywhere in Team Canada’s lineup. If he is not with the Mammoth this season, expect him to make the roster.

Will Skahan – Team USA

Will Skahan was drafted by Utah in the second round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He is another massive, physical defenseman that the Mammoth have been loading up on in the past few drafts.

Before being drafted, Skahan played with the United States National Development team at the under-17 and under-18 levels and played in the Under-18 World Championship. After being drafted, he committed to Boston College, which lost to Denver in the Quarterfinals of the 2025 Division One Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

Skahan’s physicality and stick work on the defensive end seem to make him a front runner to make the WJC roster with The Athletic noting “Defensively, the Americans have a nice collection of size and skating with which to surround [Cole] Hutson, featuring EJ Emery, Will Skahan, Adam Kleber and Logan Hensler” (from ‘2026 World Juniors roster projections: Predicting lineups for Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, Czechia,’ The Athletic, Aug. 5, 2025).

Skahan will look to solidify his spot on the roster by taking on a much more prominent role with the Eagles in his sophomore season at Boston College.

Veeti Väisänen – Team Finland

Utah drafted Veeti Väisänen in the third round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, one round after Skahan. At 6-foot-0, he is slightly undersized as a defenseman in today’s game. However, he more than makes up for it with his mobility and positioning. His skating ability allows him to aggressively pinch in the offensive zone and keep pucks in, but also get back and recover when beaten.

Väisänen is also an excellent rush defender who excels at closing gaps and rubbing puck carriers out into the boards. He has some playmaking skills, putting up 20 assists last season in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Team Finland will have limited options to bring defensively, so it would be shocking if they decided not to bring Väisänen after he played in the tournament last year and finished the 2024-25 season as a plus-41 for the Tigers in his first season after making the transition to North America.

Stepan Hoch – Team Czechia

Stepan Hoch was the Mammoth’s third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Standing at 6-foot-4, Elite Prospects has him listed as a power forward, and their 2025 Draft Guide notes that he has an “aura of maturity“. Despite being listed as a power forward, he is not overly physical and more so relies on his excellent hockey IQ to disrupt opponents’ breakouts and take away threats in the defensive zone.

Last season, Hoch split his time across three different leagues. He primarily played with HC Motor České Budějovice in Czechia’s under-20 league, where he put up 29 points in 30 games. He had a goal and an assist in the two games he played in Czechia’s second-best professional league. He also played 23 games for HC Motor České Budějovice in Czechia’s top professional league. In this league, Hoch struggled offensively, only scoring one goal and totaling three points in those games.

While his puck skills and offensive skills could use a lot of work before he is ready to make the jump to the NHL, Hoch will play at the WJC. He has already played for their national team at the under-18, under-19, and under-20 levels, and barring injury, it’s likely he will be one of the most impactful players on Czechia’s roster.

Max Pšenička – Team Czechia

The Mammoth drafted Max Pšenička in the second round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and bears an uncanny resemblance to Skahan, their second-round pick from 2024, we discussed earlier.

Pšenička stands at 6-foot-5. He is a physical force on the ice that takes away a ton of space with his long reach and excellent stick work. For his size, he is a terrific skater. His sneaky quickness allows him to pinch aggressively and still recover defensively.

In addition to the defensive abilities you love to see from a guy of Pšenička’s size, it seems he still has plenty of room to grow offensively and is starting to develop the tools to do that. Last season, he began in Czechia’s under-20 junior league, before playing 15 games in their senior league, the highest professional league, before transitioning to North America to finish the season with the Portland Winterhawks, who play in the WHL.

Pšenička started with Czechia’s national team at the under-16 level, and has played with them at every level since, and is likely a lock for the 2026 WJC roster. However, it will still be a question of how he is deployed, with Czechia having Radim Mrtka, a 2025 first-round pick, and Adam Jiříček, a 2024 first-round pick, as the two right-handed defensemen ahead of him in the lineup.

Mammoth Will Be Well Represented at the World Juniors

The Mammoth have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL and these roster projections from The Athletic reiterate that with them having seven players expected to make their countries’ rosters, not including two of their top prospects Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But, who are now too old to play but unfortunately never got to showcase their talent on the international stage due to the obvious political issues with Russia.

While these rosters are far from set, it will be interesting to follow along and see which players can elevate and solidify their spots on their respective countries’ rosters in the coming months and compete in the World Juniors, which is set for its typical start on Dec. 26, 2025.