Junior hockey news

Ryan Kennedy, Tony Ferrari and Eric Cruikshank break down a few NHL rookies who have exceeded expectations through the first few weeks of the season before projecting Team CHL's roster for the upcoming CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

The CHL USA Prospects Challenge has quickly become one of the most exciting showcases of the draft year. And, now, one of the two teams is looking to take the bragging rights back.

The Canadian Hockey League swept the first series in convincing fashion back in 2024 with a group led by Matthew Schaefer, Porter Martone and Michael Misa. The USA Hockey National Team Development Program bounced back in 2025, with Wyatt Cullen leading the charge as the Americans won in overtime of the series-deciding game in Western Canada.

With the first four players named to Team CHL ahead of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge, Tony Ferrari projects which remaining forwards, defensemen and goaltenders could be named to the roster.

Landon DuPont looked as comfortable as ever and was everything as advertised in his NCAA debut. With CHL players returned to their major junior teams, which players will continue to light up their leagues now that the competition is at its peak?

The life of an 18-year-old ice hockey goaltender features some of the most drastic ups and downs of any athlete. For Brady Knowling, that fact holds true in so many ways.

From injury and the mental hurdles that come with recovery to the NHL draft and skating for Team USA at the World Junior Championship and the Under-18s, Knowling has dealt with quite a bit in the last couple of years. He’s had to adapt, grow, and mature with so much still ahead of him.

With Boston Bruins training camp winding down, the Providence Bruins roster is beginning to take shape. Some key prospects remain in Boston, as Frederic Brunet , Matthew Poitras , and Dans Locmelis are all candidates to make the main roster. With Poitras nursing an injury, he could start the season on IR to make room for Locmelis. Meanwhile, Brunet is expected to be at least the seventh defenseman while Charlie McAvoy serves his six-game suspension.

Believe it or not, the preseason finale is here already, as the Chicago Blackhawks close their four-game exhibition slate against the St. Louis Blues at the United Center on Saturday night. When the Blackhawks suit up next in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the game counts for real.

The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t have any more time to evaluate talent, and the get-to-know-you phase with their top two draft picks has ended.

Friday morning, the Penguins cut Avery Hayes, Tanner Hower, Atley Calvert, and Mikhail Ilyin from training camp and reassigned them to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

TORONTO — A report on junior men’s hockey in Ontario delivered by former NHL player and executive Brendan Shanahan makes 11 recommendations to improve it.

Shanahan, a Hockey Hall of Famer and president of the Toronto Maple Leafs for 11 years until 2025, was asked by Hockey Canada in January to conduct a review of junior hockey in Ontario.

The Vancouver Canucks first-round pick scored two goals in a 25-second span in the first period and added two assists to lead the Peterborough Petes to a 7-4 win over the visiting Sarnia Sting on Thursday in OHL action.

Czech winger Adam Novotny , picked 24th overall, has been returned to the OHL's Peterborough Petes, the Canucks announced Wednesday.

While Novotny was eligible to go to AHL Abbotsford on a rule for Europeans on loan to CHL clubs, per Patrick Johnston of Postmedia , the Canucks made the decision to have him return to Peterborough for a second season.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Hockey League announced the first four players named to Team CHL for the 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge. Brock England (Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL), Dima Zhilkin (Saginaw Spirit, OHL), Alexis Joseph (Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL), and Carter Meyer (Quebec Remparts, QMJHL) are going to be playing for the league as they get set to face the U.S. National Under-18 Team.

The United States will play Germany in one of four games Dec. 26, the first day of the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

The tournament will run Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2027. Games will be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton, home of the Edmonton Oilers, and at Marchant Crane Centrium in Red Deer.

At the Blackhawks Ice Center on the city’s near west side, the Chicago Blackhawks prepared for the upcoming NHL season. Down the hall, the USHL kicked off its season with the Fall Classic, a chance for every USHL team to get in two games in front of NHL and college scouts.

The Colorado Avalanche reassigned 18-year-old forward Beckett Hamilton to the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League on Tuesday.

Hamilton, a third-round pick in this past June’s draft, played in one preseason game and scored a goal. But his performance throughout camp was what really stood out.

Canada will open the 2027 world junior hockey championship against Switzerland on Dec. 26 at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced Tuesday the schedule for the tournament, which will be held from Boxing Day to Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.

On Tuesday, the International Ice Hockey Federation released the schedule for the upcoming event , set to take place in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

There are plenty of storylines heading into this year’s tournament. Many wonder if Canada can end its three-year gold medal drought. In Minnesota last year, the team managed to come away with a bronze medal, a better performance after back-to-back quarterfinal exits.

With the regular season quickly approaching and only three preseason games left, the Chicago Blackhawks have begun cutting down their 50-player training-camp roster.

The Blackhawks announced Sunday afternoon that they loaned three prospects back to their respective junior clubs. Ryan Roobroeck (Guelph Storm), Parker Holmes (Sarnia Sting), and Ty Henry (Erie Otters) have returned to the Ontario Hockey League for the 2026-27 season.

That’s better odds than an NHL team has of landing an NHL player with a seventh-round draft pick. Since 2020, only 19 seventh rounders have played a game in the NHL. Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie (82 games) and Chicago’s Louis Crevier (134 games) are the only two among those players who have played the equivalent of a full NHL season.

It’s a Friday night, you probably have better things to do, but I’m killing time and wanted to drop in some quick notes here while they were fresh in mind after spending the past two days in Chicago covering the USHL Fall Classic.

It's been just over a year since CHL players have been deemed eligible for NCAA hockey programs, and Tony Ferrari speaks with some of the most important figures in Canadian junior hockey to share their perspectives on this changing landscape.

It's safe to say the Ruck family will remember Sept. 1, 2026, for a long time.

During Tuesday night's pre-season game between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes, twins Liam and Markus Ruck took their usual spot on the Tigers' top line.

But this time the two Pittsburgh Penguins' draft picks were joined by their younger brother, Landon, marking the first time the three brothers have played together as linemates.

Making it extra special was the fact that it happened in Lethbridge, where their dad, Derek, once played for the Hurricanes.