Team Canada cut forwards Jake O’Brien and Marek Vanacker, as well as defenceman Jackson Smith from their World Junior Championship camp roster on Thursday.
The moves come after Canada picked up a 2-1 win over Sweden in their first pre-tournament game on Wednesday. Canada’s roster now stands at 24 players.
O’Brien, who picked up a high-sticking penalty in Wednesday’s win, has 11 goals and 46 points in 27 games with the Brantford Bulldogs this season. The 18-year-old was selected eighth overall by the Seattle Kraken in June’s draft.
Vanacker, 19, had 26 goals and 41 points in 26 games with the Bulldogs. The Chicago Blackhawks selected him with the 27th overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Smith, 18, has three goals and nine points in his first season with Penn State. He was selected 14th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in June’s draft.
Among those still in Canada’s camp are draft-eligible defencemen Carson Carels and Keaton Verhoeff. Canada has two 17-year-old defencemen into the tournament just before, in 1987 with Chris Joseph and Luke Richardson.
The World Juniors get underway for Canada on Boxing Day at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT in a game against Czechia. Canada will play their second game of the tournament against Latvia on Dec. 27, then face Denmark on Dec. 29 and wrap up their round-robin schedule on Dec. 31 against Finland.
The 2026 tournament represents a chance for Canada to get back on the podium after exiting in the quarter-finals in each of the past two years. Canada has missed the podium three straight years just once in the history of the tournament, from 1979-81.
Canada will face Sweden once again in pre-tournament action Saturday on TSN.
More details to follow.
