<p>As you may have heard, Canada didn&#8217;t have a particularly strong 2025 edition of the World Junior Championships. Canada was knocked out in the quarterfinals and will finish the tournament ranked fifth for the second consecutive season.</p>
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<p>Over at Daily Faceoff, during their extensive post-mortem of the big loss by Canada, their crew has been dissecting what went wrong and looking to the future. As part of that, our pal <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/what-could-canadas-team-look-like-for-the-2026-world-juniors">Steven Ellis has mocked up an early, potential roster for Canada&#8217;s entry at next year&#8217;s World Juniors in Minnesota</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What could Canada’s team look like for the 2026 World Juniors? <a href="https://t.co/OFlG2Frm3v">https://t.co/OFlG2Frm3v</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1875559702001852822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>If you were sour regarding the fact that Canada&#8217;s 2025 team had zero Calgary Flames representation, good news: Ellis included a pair of their prospects in his roster. He included 2024 first-round pick Zayne Parekh and 2024 third-round pick Henry Mews on his blueline, which also features Matthew Schaefer, Sam Dickinson, Jackson Smith, Landon DuPont, Harrison Brunicke and Kashawn Aitcheson.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a bit of Ellis&#8217; rationale:</p>
<blockquote><p>Defensively, there’s loads more skill compared to the 2025 squad. If Schaefer isn’t in the NHL (many scouts think he will be), he’ll be back to get vengeance for his injury early in the tournament. Speaking of vengeance, do you think Parekh might have something to prove after being a high-profile omission this year? Those two combined would make one of the scariest offensive blueline units Canada has ever had at this tournament.</p>
<p>Dickinson had been having an outstanding year in the OHL before heading to Ottawa, where he made a lot more mistakes than we’re used to seeing. Still, he’s a talented two-way threat with size, and he might still put up 100 points in the OHL despite missing time over the holidays. Smith, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-3 defender who moves the puck well, but excels in being a compliment to someone who can be more aggressive with the rubber disk. I like that as a second-pair option.</p>
<p>The rest of the blueline core gives them a great mix of options. Need offense? Mews can do it. Need to put someone through the glass? Aitcheson’s your guy. Need a steady mix at both ends? Try out Brunicke, who was originally named to Canada’s camp roster this year but missed out due to injury.</p>
<p>And then there’s DuPont. The top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft is special. He’s absolutely dominating the WHL, playing at a 20-goal, 80-pace as a 15-year-old. Seriously – he’s that young. He’d be 16 for this tournament next year so there’s a chance he’s passed over just solely for his young age, but he’s easily one of the most skilled defenders at Canada’s disposal.</p></blockquote>
<p>The 2026 tournament is limited to players born in 2006 or later, so in terms of Flames prospects that are eligible for Team Canada, there&#8217;s Parekh (the reigning CHL defenceman of the year), Mews (the current OHL defenceman of the month) and Jacob Battaglia (who&#8217;s having a great season with the OHL&#8217;s Kingston Frontenacs). There&#8217;s not a ton of selection, but the players they have to choose from are pretty high-end.</p>
<p>The 2026 World Juniors will run Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2026 from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.</p>


Zayne Parekh skates in the neutral zone in the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers game at the 2024 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.

As you may have heard, Canada didn't have a particularly strong 2025 edition of the World Junior Championships. Canada was knocked out in the quarterfinals and will finish the tournament ranked fifth for the second consecutive season.
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Over at Daily Faceoff, during their extensive post-mortem of the big loss by Canada, their crew has been dissecting what went wrong and looking to the future. As part of that, our pal <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/what-could-canadas-team-look-like-for-the-2026-world-juniors">Steven Ellis has mocked up an early, potential roster for Canada's entry at next year's World Juniors in Minnesota</a>.

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1875559702001852822

If you were sour regarding the fact that Canada's 2025 team had zero Calgary Flames representation, good news: Ellis included a pair of their prospects in his roster. He included 2024 first-round pick Zayne Parekh and 2024 third-round pick Henry Mews on his blueline, which also features Matthew Schaefer, Sam Dickinson, Jackson Smith, Landon DuPont, Harrison Brunicke and Kashawn Aitcheson.

Here's a bit of Ellis' rationale:
<blockquote>Defensively, there’s loads more skill compared to the 2025 squad. If Schaefer isn’t in the NHL (many scouts think he will be), he’ll be back to get vengeance for his injury early in the tournament. Speaking of vengeance, do you think Parekh might have something to prove after being a high-profile omission this year? Those two combined would make one of the scariest offensive blueline units Canada has ever had at this tournament.

Dickinson had been having an outstanding year in the OHL before heading to Ottawa, where he made a lot more mistakes than we’re used to seeing. Still, he’s a talented two-way threat with size, and he might still put up 100 points in the OHL despite missing time over the holidays. Smith, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-3 defender who moves the puck well, but excels in being a compliment to someone who can be more aggressive with the rubber disk. I like that as a second-pair option.

The rest of the blueline core gives them a great mix of options. Need offense? Mews can do it. Need to put someone through the glass? Aitcheson’s your guy. Need a steady mix at both ends? Try out Brunicke, who was originally named to Canada’s camp roster this year but missed out due to injury.

And then there’s DuPont. The top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft is special. He’s absolutely dominating the WHL, playing at a 20-goal, 80-pace as a 15-year-old. Seriously – he’s that young. He’d be 16 for this tournament next year so there’s a chance he’s passed over just solely for his young age, but he’s easily one of the most skilled defenders at Canada’s disposal.</blockquote>
The 2026 tournament is limited to players born in 2006 or later, so in terms of Flames prospects that are eligible for Team Canada, there's Parekh (the reigning CHL defenceman of the year), Mews (the current OHL defenceman of the month) and Jacob Battaglia (who's having a great season with the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs). There's not a ton of selection, but the players they have to choose from are pretty high-end.

The 2026 World Juniors will run Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2026 from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

2 Flames prospects included in Daily Faceoff’s early 2026 Canadian World Juniors roster

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