General | 12/26/2025 9:29:16 AM

With the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minneapolis underway, United States Hockey League (USHL) alumni will be well represented across all countries participating in the annual event. However, a number of returning players will look to help their respective teams capture a gold medal. Here’s a look at several key returners in this tournament.

James Hagens, F, USA (NTDP)
Hagens will look to guide Team USA to its third straight gold medal. The Boston Bruins draft pick was excellent for the Americans in last year’s tournament, recording five goals and four assists for nine points across a seven-game sample. Hagens, currently a sophomore at Boston College, played in the USHL for the U.S. National Team Development Program. With the U18 team, he notably had 18 goals and 47 points in 26 USHL contests.

Heikki Ruohonen, F, Finland (Dubuque Fighting Saints)
Ruohonen had a solid showing for Team Finland in last year’s tournament. The Philadelphia Flyers draft pick, a freshman at Harvard, recorded four goals in seven games as Finland earned a silver medal. Before Harvard, Ruohonen developed with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, where he had 16 goals and 39 points in 49 games.

Cole Hutson, D, USA (NTDP)
Hutson had an excellent showing at last year’s tournament, recording three goals and 11 points in seven games en route to Team USA’s gold medal. The Washington Capitals draft pick, who is a sophomore at Boston University, previously spent two seasons at the NTDP, where he notably had 12 points in 19 USHL games with the U18 team during the 2023-24 season.

Luka Radivojevic, D, Slovakia (Muskegon Lumberjacks)
Radivojevic is set to skate in his third World Junior Championship. The mobile defenseman feels like a player who can be extremely impactful for Team Slovakia. He recorded two assists in five games in last year’s tournament. As a freshman at Boston College this year, he has eight assists through 14 games. Before college hockey, Radivojevic skated with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, where he had 22 points (3-19-22) in 38 games.

Teddy Stiga, F, USA (NTDP)
Stiga will look to top last year’s moment when he scored the golden goal for Team USA in overtime of the gold medal game. It was his only goal of the tournament, and he finished with three points in six games. As a sophomore at Boston College this year, Stiga has three goals and 10 points in 13 games. He came up through the NTDP, where he had 18 goals and 38 points in 27 USHL games with the U18 squad.

Adam Kleber, D, USA (Lincoln Stars)
Kleber’s size and strength will be invaluable to Team USA’s blueline, but the Buffalo Sabres’ draft pick has shown plenty of offensive upside. As a sophomore at Minnesota-Duluth, Kleber has two goals and five points in 20 games thus far. Prior to UMD, the big defenseman spent two seasons with the Lincoln Stars, where he had five goals and 26 points in 56 games during the 2023-24 season.

Olivers Murnieks, F, Latvia (Sioux City Musketeers)
Murnieks feels like a player that will take a big step forward in this year’s tournament after a solid showing in a limited sample size last year. The 2026 NHL Draft-eligible forward had a goal and four points in five games for Latvia last year. Prior to the WJC, Murnieks racked up 15 goals and 35 points in 52 games for the Sioux City Musketeers last season.

About the USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) and its 16 teams are committed to being the world's leading junior hockey league. This season, more than 50% of NCAA Division I men's hockey players and nearly 25% of NHL players have USHL experience. The USHL has developed more than 285 direct NHL Draft picks since 2020, and eight of the last 10 Hobey Baker Award winners, including Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel).

Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 92% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Auston Matthews (NTDP), Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede), and Johnny Gaudreau (Dubuque Fighting Saints).