The 2026 World Junior Championship gets underway on Friday, with 10 nations vying for the under-20 gold medal. This year’s tournament is being hosted at the Grand Casino Arena and the 3M Arena in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Washington Capitals will again have six prospects at the tournament after Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson won gold with Team USA last year. Hutson, the leading scorer of the 2025 tournament, will headline the group of Caps youngsters this year, who are spread among five different nations.
To begin a successful run to gold, a team must finish in the top four of its preliminary group of five teams after playing all other teams in the group. After doing so, they’ll advance to the single-elimination knockout stage, beginning with the quarterfinals on January 2.
Participating Capitals prospects
Cole Hutson, D (2024 second-round pick) – Team USA
Hutson, an alternate captain for the USA at the tournament, will attempt to lead the Americans to a third straight World Juniors gold medal. In seven games last year, Hutson finished with 11 points (3g, 8a), becoming the first defenseman in the history of the tournament to finish first in scoring.
The 19-year-old defender comes into this year’s games as one of the top scorers in all of college hockey, posting 20 points (7g, 13a) in 18 games for Boston University. No other NCAA defenseman is producing at a higher rate than Hutson, 1.11 points per game, in his sophomore campaign.
Hutson is expected to play big minutes for the USA at the tournament, with a leading role as the first power-play unit’s primary distributor and quarterback.
Nick Kempf, G (2024 fourth-round pick) – Team USA
Kempf is expected to be the USA’s number-one netminder to begin the tournament, a role he has previously excelled in on the junior national team stage. At the 2024 Under-18 World Junior Championship, Kempf posted a 5-1 record with a 1.89 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and two shutouts. The Americans won silver at the tournament, falling 6-4 to Canada in the gold medal game.
The 19-year-old Chicago native is Notre Dame’s starting goaltender in the NCAA this season. Kempf is 4-11-1 for the struggling Fighting Irish, with a 3.57 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. He is the team’s only backstop to make more than one appearance this year.
Leon Muggli, D (2024 second-round pick) – Team Switzerland
Muggli is the lone Capitals-affiliated player heading to the tournament with prior pro experience in North America, playing four games with the AHL’s Hershey Bears since the end of the 2024-25 campaign. The 19-year-old rearguard only got into two games for the Bears this season, recording one assist, before suffering an upper-body injury.
The left-shot defender will be participating in his third World Juniors for Switzerland, serving as the team’s captain this year. In nine total World Juniors games, he has recorded four assists. Muggli is expected to play close to 30 minutes a game for a Swiss team with just four other NHL prospects on their roster.
Maxim Schafer, F (2025 third-round pick) – Team Germany
Schafer, 18, ranked third in scoring for Germany during last year’s tournament with three points (2g, 1a) in five games. The 2025 third-round pick scored both of his goals in Germany’s 4-3 victory over Kazakhstan, which saved them from relegation to the Division I A tournament this year.
The Nuremberg native spent most of the 2024-25 season in the DEL, Germany’s top pro league, with Eisbären Berlin. He moved to the QMJHL this season, where he has 23 points (12g, 11a) in 25 games for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
Milton Gastrin, F (2025 second-round pick) – Team Sweden
Gastrin, 18, will play a shutdown role at center for a Swedish team expected to fight for a medal this year. The Ornskoldsvik, Sweden native is playing the 2025-26 season in the second tier of Swedish pro hockey, the HockeyAllsvenskan, with MoDo Hockey.
In 25 games for MoDo, Gastrin has recorded 18 points (8g, 10a). He is the league’s highest-scoring under-19 forward. Gastrin was the captain of Team Sweden at last year’s Under-18 World Junior Championship, notching 10 points (3g, 7a) in seven games en route to a silver medal.
Petr Sikora, F (2024 sixth-round pick) – Team Czechia
Sikora, 19, was one of Czechia’s top players last year, recording seven points (4g, 3a) in seven games for the third-place finishers. He notably played a villain role at the tournament, attracting the ire of Canadian fans after he drew a five-minute kneeing major penalty against Team Canada in the quarterfinal.
As the Czechs were awarded their medals, the Canadian crowd booed Sikora thoroughly.
Sikora is currently playing his third season of pro hockey with HC Ocelari Trinec in the Czech Extraliga. He has six points (2g, 4a) through 12 games.
Gastrin’s Team Sweden will play Team Slovakia at 1 pm to kick off the tournament. Later, Schafer’s Team Germany will do battle with Hutson and Kempf’s Team USA, and Sikora’s Team Czechia faces the tournament favorite, Team Canada.
This year’s semifinals and finals will be hosted at the Grand Casino Arena on January 4 and 5. All of the tournament’s action will be broadcast on NHL Network and TSN, with select games available on ESPN+. The full schedule for the tournament can be viewed here.
