Trio of Former Eagles Named to 2026 United States Men's National Hockey Team Preliminary Roster
On Thursday afternoon, three former Boston College men’s hockey players were named to the United States’ preliminary roster for the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship, which is set to run from May 15-31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
Those three players are Boston Bruins forward James Hagens, Washington Capitals forward Ryan Leonard, and Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll.
Eagles on the World Stage 🦅
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) May 7, 2026
James Hagens, Joseph Woll, and Ryan Leonard have been named to Team USA's preliminary roster for the 2026 IIHF Men's World Championship! pic.twitter.com/pvEO9900s6
All three former Eagles are products of the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), so they all have ample experience representing their country on the international stage.
Only Leonard, however, has skated for Team USA in a previous IIHF Men’s World Championship, doing so just two years ago in Czechia.
This year, the U.S. is the defending champion, as it defeated Switzerland in the 2025 World Championship for just the country’s third World Championship title ever. Former BC forwards Will Smith (San Jose Sharks) and Cutter Gauthier (Anaheim Ducks) were members of that trophy-claiming squad.
Woll, who played on the Heights from 2016-19, went 15-16-7 for the Toronto Maple Leafs this past season with a 3.34 goals against average and an .899 save percentage.
Originally from St. Louis, Mo., the Maple Leafs’ 2016 third-round pick has represented the United States three times before — twice for the U.S. Junior Team (2018, bronze; 2017, gold) and once for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team (2016, bronze).
Leonard, a native of Amherst, Mass., finished his first full professional season in 2025-26, recording 20 goals and 25 assists in 75 appearances with a plus-minus rating of +2.
In 2024-25, as a rookie, he played in the Capitals’ last nine games of the season, scoring just once.
Leonard was part of a U.S. World Juniors squad that won gold at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships, and he received tournament MVP in the latter for collecting 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in seven games.
After BC’s 2025-26 season ended, Hagens signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Bruins’ AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, and ended up signing his entry-level deal with Boston just a week later.
He played in five total games for the Bruins, three of them in their first-round loss to Buffalo, and manufactured just one assist total.
The Hauppauge, N.Y., native’s previous stints for Team USA include winning gold at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship. He also participated in the 2026 World Junior Championship in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., this winter, where the U.S. finished fifth.
Hagens holds the IIHF U-18 Men’s World Championship single-tournament points record (22).
2026 U.S. Men's National Team Preliminary Roster:
Introducing the preliminary roster for the 2026 U.S. Men's National Team! 🇺🇸#MensWorlds roster details: https://t.co/A4ssxWDEM1 pic.twitter.com/dOqsTKgF2I
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 7, 2026
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Graham Dietz is a 2025 graduate of Boston College and subsequently joined Boston College On SI. He previously served as an editor for The Heights, the independent student newspaper, from fall 2021, including as Sports Editor from 2022-23. Graham works for The Boston Globe as a sports correspondent, covering high school football, girls' basketball, and baseball. He was also a beat writer for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2023.
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