Dozens of future NCAA stars will be in action as the IIHF Under-18 World Championship gets underway Thursday at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The tournament is considered an important showcase for NHL scouts and a preview of next season's World Junior Championship.
The bulk of the NCAA commits, not surprisingly are on the United States team. For most of the players, this tournament marks the culmination of two years spent with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. Nine NCAA schools have recruits on the U.S. roster.
Five other countries in the 10-team field have at least one NCAA recruit on their roster. Canada features three commits, including first-round NHL draft prospects Dante Fabbro (Boston University) and Tyson Jost (North Dakota).
In total, 14 scshools have at least one recruit in the tournament.
The U.S. has won golf six of the last seven times the tournament has been played. Each U.S. game in the tournament will air on NHL Network (complete schedule).
NCAA Recruits at Under-18 World Championship
| Canada | |
| Dante Fabbro | Boston University |
| Tyson Jost | North Dakota |
| Cam Morrison | Notre Dame |
| Denmark | |
| Jake Schmidt-Svejsrtup | Maine |
| Finland | |
| Mikkael Hakkarainen | Providence |
| Latvia | |
| Robert Bueger | Lake Superior State |
| Haralds Egle | Merrimack |
| Sweden | |
| William Fallstrom | Minnesota |
| United States | |
| Joey Anderson | Minnesota Duluth |
| Kieffer Bellows | Boston University |
| Adam Fox | Harvard |
| Trent Frederic | Wisconsin |
| Matthew Hellickson | Notre Dame |
| Keegan Howdeshell | Ferris State |
| Clayton Keller | Boston University |
| Chad Krys | Boston University |
| Ryan Lindgren | Minnesota |
| Will Lockwood | Michigan |
| Griffin Luce | Michigan |
| Luke Martin | Michigan |
| Graham McPhee | Boston College |
| Casey Mittelstadt | Minnesota |
| Jake Oettinger | Boston University |
| Nick Pastujov | Michigan |
| James Sanchez | Michigan |
| Zach Walker | Boston College |
| Joseph Woll | Boston College |