Which Active, Former College Players Are Competing in 2026 IIHF World Championship: Puck Drop

Depending on how the tournament breaks, one might see the last three Hobey Baker Award winners on the ice together at the same time during the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland.

It would require a certain matchup in the elimination stage, and a specific line pairing, but it's possible as Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth, 2026) and Isaac Howard (Michigan State, 2025) are both playing for Team USA, while Macklin Celebrini is the 19-year-old captain of Team Canada (Boston University, 2024). The teams won't meet in the preliminary stage due to being in different groups, however the U.S. and Canada often seem to be on a collision course during international competitions, especially when medals are up for grabs.

Regardless, there will be numerous incidents of NHL teammates being on opposite sides, and players from the same college lining up across from each other.

Friday, the annual tournament got under way and 14 of the 16 teams participating in this year's championship have at least one player with a college connection, and all but two players on the initial U.S. roster. There are no age limits, so Team USA ranges from Michigan State forward Rykar Lee being the youngest at 19, to Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Faulk, who played at Minnesota Duluth in 2010-11, the oldest at 34.

Overall, 42 Division I colleges, and two Division III programs, have a past, present or future hockey player competing at this year's World Championship. Rosters can be changed before the tournament wraps up with the gold-medal game on May 31, but here's the list from Day 1. For our purposes, players who have transferred at some point are included under both schools:

Active College Players at IIHF World Championship

Augustana: Nace Langus, F (Slovenia)
Bentley: Márton Nemes, F (Hungary)
Boston College: Luka Radivojevič, D (Slovakia)
New Hampshire: Kristaps Skrastiņš, F (Latvia)
Niagara: Gļebs Prohorenkovs, F (Latvia)
Michigan: Jack Ivankovic, G (Canada)
Michigan State: Ryker Lee (USA)
Minnesota Duluth: Max Plante, F (USA)
Notre Dame: Danny Nelson, F (USA)
RPI: Ian Scherzer, F (Austria); Filip Sitar, F, UConn transfer (Slovenia)

College Commitment Playing at IIHF World Championship

Boston College: Olivers Mūrniek, F (Latvia)
Colgate: Sam Lyne, F (Great Britain)

Former College Players at IIHF World Championship

Alabama Huntsville: Cam Talbot, G (Canada)
Alaska: Arvils Bergmanis, D, RPI transfer (Latvia); Gustavs Grigals, G, Lowell transfer (Latvia); Cade Neilson, F (Great Britain)
Alaska Anchorage: Carmine Buono, D, UMass transfer (Italy)
American International: Luka Maver, F (Slovenia)
Arizona State: Filips Buncis, F (Latvia)
Bemidji State: Zach Whitecloud, D (Canada)
Boston College: James Hagens, F (USA); Ryan Leonard, F (USA); Joseph Woll, G (USA)
Boston University: Macklin Celebrini, F (Canada); Drew Commesso, G (USA)
Bowling Green: Ralfs Freibergs, D (Latvia)
Brown: Sam Lafferty, F (USA)
Clarkson: Haralds Egle, F (Latvia); Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup, F, Maine transfer (Denmark)
Cornell: Liam Steele, D (Great Britain)
Connecticut: Filip Sitar, F, RPI transfer (Slovenia)
Denver: Devin Cooley, G (USA); Emilio Pettersen, C (Norway)
Elmira (Division III): Sandro Aeschlimann, G (Switzerland)
Harvard: Matt Coronato, F (USA)
Lake Superior: Mareks Mitens, G (Latvia)
Lindenwood: Kristóf Papp, F, Northern Michigan and Michigan State transfer (Hungary)
Lowell: Gustavs Grigals, G, Alaska transfer (Latvia)
Maine: Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup, F, Clarkson transfer (Canada)
Massachusetts: Carmine Buono, D, Alaska Anchorage transfer (Italy); Ryan Ufko, D (USA)
Merrimack: Declan Carlile, D (USA)
Miami: Sean Kuraly, F (USA)
Michigan State: Isaac Howard, F, UMD transfer (USA); Ryker Lee, F (USA); Porter Martone, F (Canada); Brett Perlini, F (Great Britain); Kristóf Papp, F, Lindenwood and Michigan State transfer (Hungary); Maxim Štrbák, D (Slovakia)
Minnesota: Ryan Lindgren, D (USA); Oliver Moore, F (USA); Tommy Novak (USA); Mat Robson, G (Great Britain)
Minnesota Duluth: Justin Faulk, D (USA); Adam Gajan, G (Slovakia); Isaac Howard, F, Michigan State transfer (USA); Wyatt Kaiser, D (USA)
Minnesota State: Marc Michaelis, F (Germany); Parker Tuomie, F (Germany)
Niagara: Johnny Curran, F (Great Britain); Glebs Prohorenkovs, F
Northern Michigan: Kristóf Papp, F, Lindenwood and Michigan State transfer (Hungary); Atte Tolvanen, G (Austria)
Notre Dame: Peter Schneider, F (Austria); Alex Steeves, F (USA)
Ohio State: Mason Lohrei, D (USA)
Providence: Jaroslav Chmelař, F (Czechia); Nick Saracino, F (Italy)
Robert Morris: Daniel Mantenuto, F (Italy)
RPI: Arvils Bergmanis, D, Alaska transfer (Latvia)
Quinnipiac: Connor Clifton, D (USA)
St. Cloud State: Will Borgen, D (USA); Patrick Russell, F (Denmark)
Trine (Division III): Bradley Jenion, D (Great Britain)
Western Michigan: Paul Cotter, F (USA); Max Sasson, F (USA); Frederik Tiffels, F (Germany)
Vermont: Bryce Misley, F (Italy)
Wisconsin: Dylan Holloway F, (USA)

If you've never followed a Wold Championship (note that it's singular, not championships), the International Ice Hockey Federation has four different level in addition to the championship level, and promotion and relegation are part of the process.

It is not similar to the Olympics, in which the top players are chosen, in part because many are simply not available. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are still ongoing and the the annual tournament is played at the end of the long NHL season. So the rosters are often mix of veterans and up-and-coming prospects.

The tournament features eight teams in Group A and B, and the last place teams in team will move down to Division I next year. Group A has Austria, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Latvia, Switzerland and Team USA. Group B includes Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Italy , Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.

Each team will play every opponent in its group in the preliminary round. Teams get three points for a regulation win, two for overtime/shootout win, one for OT/SO loss.

The top four teams in each group advance to cross-group quarterfinals: first place in Group A faces the fourth-place team in Group B; 2B vs. 3A; 1B vs. 4A; 2A vs. 3B. Teams are re-seeded for the semifinals, the winners of which will play for the gold medal.

The United States is the reigning champion.

Complete 2026 IIHF World Championship Schedule

All Times ET
Friday, May 15
Group A
Finland 3, Germany 1
Switzerland 3, USA 1
Group B
Canada 5, Sweden 3
Czechia 4, Denmark 1

Saturday, May 16
Group A
Great Britain vs Austria, 6:20 a.m.
Hungary vs Finland, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Latvia, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Slovakia vs Norway, 6:20 a.m.
Italy vs Canada, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Czechia, 4:20 p.m.

Sunday, May 17
Group A
Great Britain vs USA, 6:20 a.m.
Austria vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Latvia, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Italy vs Slovakia, 6:20 a.m.
Denmark vs Sweden, 10:20 a.m.
Norway vs Slovenia, 4:20 p.m.

Monday, May 18
Group A
Finland vs USA, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Switzerland, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Denmark, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Czechia, 4:20 p.m.

Tuesday, May 19
Group A
Latvia vs Austria, 10:20 a.m.
Hungary vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Italy vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Slovakia, 4:20 p.m.

Wednesday, May 20
Group A
Austria vs Switzerland, 10:20 a.m.
USA vs Germany, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Czechia vs Italy, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Slovenia, 4:20 p.m.

Thursday, May 21
Group A
Latvia vs Finland, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Denmark vs Slovakia, 4:20 p.m.

Friday, May 22
Group A
Germany vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Finland vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Slovenia, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Italy, 4:20 p.m.

Saturday, May 23
Group A
Latvia vs USA, 6:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Austria vs Germany, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Denmark vs Slovenia, 6:20 a.m.
Slovakia vs Czechia, 10:20 a.m.
Norway vs Sweden, 4:20 p.m.

Sunday, May 24
Group A
Great Britain vs Latvia, 10:20 a.m.
Finland vs Austria, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Denmark vs Italy, 10:20 a.m.
Slovakia vs Canada, 4:20 p.m.

Monday, May 25
Group A
USA vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Czechia vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Italy, 4:20 p.m.

Tuesday, May 26
Group A
Hungary vs Latvia, 6:20 a.m.
USA vs Austria, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Finland, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Norway vs Denmark, 6:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Slovakia, 10:20 a.m.
Czechia vs Canada, 4:20 p.m.

Thursday, May 28
Group A
Quarterfinals Game 1, 10:20 a.m.
Quarterfinals Game 2, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Quarterfinals Game 3, 10:20 a.m.
Quarterfinals Game 4, 4:20 p.m.

Saturday, May 30
Semifinals Game 1, 9:20 a.m.
Semifinals Game 2, 4 p.m.

Sunday, May 31
Bronze Medal Game, 11:30 a.m.
Gold Medal Game, 4: 20 p.m.

Still searching for a photo of Will Borgen not smiling at #MensWorlds 😄

A good reminder for all of us to take a page out of the Borgen playbook: play your game and have fun doing it. pic.twitter.com/Z6fsyND4IX
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 13, 2026

Puck Drop: Saturday, May 16, 2026

Catching you up on what's been going on in college hockey ...

• Kevin Porter has been named the 18th head coach of the National Team Development Program. The former Hobey Baker Award winner while at Michigan was the U.S. coach for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which it won for the first time since 2004, and second time ever.

• Harvard is reportedly leaning on some of its prominent alumni to help with the search for the next men's hockey coach after Ted Donato stepped down. The winningest coach in program history went 334-292-77 over 22 seasons.

• Defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, who is projected to be a first-round selection in the upcoming NHL Draft, committed to Boston University. NHL Central Scouting has him rated as the No. 18 North American skater. Over the past three seasons he's tallied 26 goals and 143 points in 152 games with QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Meanwhile, the No. 19 skater Yegor Shilov, a Russian forward who has also been playing the QMJHL (Victoriaville Tigres.), committed to Penn State. He had previously been committed to Boston University.

• USA Today's John Brice reported that Notre Dame is reorganizing its sports into separate “growth" and “maintained” categories, while addressing concerns about the ability of those "maintained" sports to attract and retain talent. “The nine growth sports are football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, hockey, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's lacrosse. … Those are the ones who aren't getting budgets frozen or budgets reduced or scholarships cut also as part of that process."

• Stonehill College, which is constructing an arena that will feature both a basketball center and a hockey rink, announced the public launch of a $50 million campaign to elevate school athletics. "I think Stonehill Athletics is true to who we are. We're not trying to be Boston College. We're not trying to be Texas," athletic director Dean O'Keefe said on the Skyhawk Talk podcast. "I think our student-athletes and coaches that are the most successful are comfortable in their own skin and say, 'Here's what Stonehill is. Here's what we stand for.'"

Countdown to the 2026-27 Season

139 days ...

Hockey Quote of the Day

“Seventy-five percent of the players are overpaid.”
Brett Hull (UMD)

We'll Leave You With This ...

In the best hands 🎉

We are proud to welcome Manon Rhéaume - two-time Women’s Worlds gold medalist, Olympic silver medalist, first woman to play in an NHL game AND first woman to sign a professional hockey contract - as our team’s first General Manager!
📰… pic.twitter.com/VF7pstlSEX
— PWHL Detroit (@pwhl__detroit) May 15, 2026

Meanwhile, Dominique DiDia from CAA Sports is the new general manager of PWHL Las Vegas.

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