Hockey Canada confirmed its initial 18-man roster for May's IIHF World Championship on Thursday.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid headlines a team full of NHL talent that will head to Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark, after missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs. McDavid, who was part of Canada's gold-medal winning team in 2016, returns to join a group of tournament veterans that includes Jordan Eberle, Aaron Ekblad, Brayden Schenn, Ryan O'Rielly and Colton Parayko.
Sweden won last year's event, defeating Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game. Led by Henrik Lundqvist, the Swedish roster also featured NHL talent like William Nylander, Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver-Ekman Larsson.
Canada opens the tournament against the United States on May 4 and will play Denmark, Finland, Germany, South Korea, Latvia and Norway in the preliminary round. The bronze and gold medal games are scheduled for Sunday, May 20.
Here is the Team Canada's initial 18-man roster:
| Position | Name | NHL team |
| Forward | Mathew Barzal | New York Islanders |
| Forward | Anthony Beauvillier | New York Islanders |
| Forward | Jordan Eberle | New York Islanders |
| Forward | Bo Horvat | Vancouver Canucks |
| Forward | Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers |
| Forward | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Edmonton Oilers |
| Forward | Brayden Schenn | St. Louis Blues |
| Forward | Jaden Schwartz | St. Louis Blues |
| Forward | Ryan O'Reilly | Buffalo Sabres |
| Forward | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Ottawa Senators |
| Defenseman | Thomas Chabot | Ottawa Senators |
| Defenseman | Vince Dunn | St. Louis Blues |
| Defenseman | Joel Edmundson | St. Louis Blues |
| Defenseman | Aaron Ekblad | Florida Panthers |
| Defenseman | Darnell Nurse | Edmonton Oilers |
| Defenseman | Colton Parayko | St. Louis Blues |
| Defenseman | Ryan Pulock | New York Islanders |
| Goaltender | Darcy Kuemper | Arizona Coyotes |