2025 World Junior Championship: A very early Team USA roster projection

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
2025 World Junior Championship: A very early Team USA roster projection
Credit: (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)

The World Junior Summer Showcase took place in Michigan earlier this summer, showcasing some of the best talent that four of the best junior national teams had to offer.

The United States hosted Canada, Sweden and Finland in a week-long bout to help get early looks as to what each of the team’s lineups could look like for the main event, taking place in Ottawa from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5. It wasn’t anything too serious, with all four teams experimenting with lineups and Canada and USA rarely icing anywhere close to their best possible group. But for each of the four countries, it was a good chance to gather information on as many players as possible.

We already examined Canada’s potential roster, but many eyes will be on the defending champions from the United States. At this exact moment, this team is significantly easier to project than Canada was. And that’s not a bad thing, either—the Americans look ready to challenge for a second consecutive gold. A total of 10 players can return from last year’s roster, although I don’t think Sam Hillebrandt will come back as the third goalie. I guess it really depends on if they want to bring one of their younger keepers to get a close look at the event before taking over as starter in 2026, but I don’t think Hillebrandt will be there.

Up front, there is absolutely zero reason to split up the Boston College trio of Gabe Perreault, James Hagens and Ryan Leonard. They looked great together in their short time together at the World Junior Summer Showcase and will be leaders on one of the top NCAA teams in the country. This might be the best line in the tournament. Perreault and Leonard played with Will Smith last season and were excellent, but with Smith off to chase a Calder Trophy with San Jose, filling the spot with Hagens – the top prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft – is an easy fit, both at BU and with USA.

You can make an argument for any combination from the middle six, but I like the idea of having Cole Eiserman and Trevor Connelly back together in particular. They looked excellent at the 2024 USA Hockey All-American Game, and while that was just one night, you could see things clicking there. Having a speedy, creative center like Oliver Moore keeping things glued together would make for a second line that would beat many teams’ top lines, with the ability to score from just about everywhere.

I’ll maintain that Danny Nelson is one of the most underrated prospects in hockey; sure, he’s not going to put up a boatload of points in the NHL, but he does so many other things so well. Anything he does to contribute on the scoresheet is just gravy. His ability to be the guy who merges everything together on a line and keeps things grounded will make him valuable to this team, especially if you pair him with someone like Quentin Musty. The San Jose Sharks prospect should have been on this team last year, but the Americans elected to leave him off despite being one of the highest-scoring players in the CHL at the time. Musty can do a lot of the play driving, while Brodie Ziemer will be the spark plug that steals the puck, gets it where it needs to be, and provides leadership after previously captaining the USNTDP in 2023-24.

The fourth line is fun, too. I’m a big Teddy Stiga fan – I love the way he hustles out there. He might be a bit of a long shot as the team might elect to bring a 19-year-old instead, but I think he’s the type of player that makes any line better because he never gives up on a play. His 2023-24 U-18 teammate, Max Plante, can play just about anywhere in the lineup because of how good of a play distributor he is, and when he shoots, he puts some power behind it. Carey Terrance was one of the extras on the team a year ago, and he’ll have a chance to be a role player who defends well and is always looking to break up the play. I have Brandon Svoboda as the 13th forward after he put himself on the map with an excellent WJSS. That’s a small sample size, but USA Hockey notices performances like that.

On the blueline, the top four are easy locks. Zeev Buium and Drew Fortescue return after helping the Americans win gold a year ago. Buium will be leaned on as the primary offensive driver from the point, while Fortescue will be more of the defensive rock option. Together, this is easily one of the better pairings in the tournament.

From there, there’s no way Cole Hutson and EJ Emery should be split up. They played together at the U-18 level last year, with Hutson becoming the highest-scoring defender in USNTDP history. Emery, meanwhile, is a competitive, 6-foot-3 defender who is extremely difficult to beat in 1-on-1 situations. They fill in each other’s missing links to build a dynamic duo when paired on the ice and you just love to see that.

In net, there shouldn’t be much debate here. Trey Augustine will return for his third and final stint as USA’s top goaltender and is one of the best netminding prospects in hockey. After two great showings the past two years, he’s headed to Ottawa as the best in the tournament and ready to chase another medal. Hampton Slukynsky was arguably the best keeper at the WJSS, and it’ll take an absolute collapse at Western Michigan to lose out on the backup gig. Nick Kempf, USA’s U-18 goalie last year, is projected to be the starter in 2026, so having him tag along as the third-stringer will allow him to keep close tabs on what he’s set to deal with – not that he doesn’t have plenty of international experience already.

Forwards

Gabe Perreault (NYR) – James Hagens (2025) – Ryan Leonard (WSH)
Cole Eiserman (NYI) – Oliver Moore (CHI) – Trevor Connelly (VGK)
Quentin Musty (SJS) – Danny Nelson (NYI) – Brodie Ziemer (BUF)
Max Plante (DET) – Carey Terrance (ANA) – Teddy Stiga (NSH)
Brandon Svoboda (SJS)

Defensemen

Zeev Buium (MIN) – Drew Fortescue (NYR)
Cole Hutson (WSH) – EJ Emery (NYR)
Aram Minnetian (DAL) – Adam Kleber (BUF)
Paul Fischer (EDM)

Goaltenders

Trey Augustine (DET)
Hampton Slkynsky (LAK)
Nick Kempf (WSH)

Other notables: AJ Spellacy, F (CHI), Noah Powell, F (PHI), William Whitelaw, F (CBJ), Chris Pelosi, F (BOS), Zach Shultz, D (NYI), Logan Hensler, D (2025), Andrew Strathmann, D (CBJ)

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