Czechia faces Canada in the World Junior opener with a depleted defense corps, hinging on Radim Mrtka's uncertain status. The Czechs also named their captains and starting goalie.
In each of the past two IIHF World Junior Championships, Czechia has eliminated Canada in the quarterfinals. This year, the two teams kick off the tournament against each other at 7:30 pm on Dec. 26, local time in Minnesota, and in the wee hours of the morning on Dec. 27 in Europe.
A player who was expected to be a key member of this year’s Czech team – and who still might be – is 18-year-old Radim Mrtka, a defenseman for the Seattle Thunderbirds who was selected ninth overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. The exact nature of Mrtka’s injury, which apparently happened during the team’s first pre-tournament game against Latvia – has not been disclosed.
“He probably won’t be in the game today, but we expect him to be ready soon,” Czech head coach Patrik Augusta told Czech media the morning of the game.
That means the Czechs will dress six defensemen and 12 forwards for the opening game.
“We tried it in the camp, so I think it’s nothing new for us – the guys played in these pairs during the last pre-tournament game,” said Augusta. “We agreed that we would go with six defenders for now.
“At this point, we will wait for Radim and then we’ll add one more. Radim is the type of player that we’re gonna give as much time as he needs. He may be back tomorrow, or after that for the Finns.”
If Mrtka ultimately isn’t able to go, other options on defense are Vashek Blanár of Swedish club HV71 or 17-year-old Jakub Vaněček from the Tri-City Americans.
Also injured during the pre-tournament game is forward Adam Jecho, a St. Louis Blues prospect, who has apparently been ruled out for the tournament.
At the same time, Augusta said that Michal Oršulák of the Prince Albert Raiders will be the starting goalie against Canada.
Shortly after the Czechs announced their preliminary training camp roster in early December, expected starting goaltender Jakub Milota was dropped due to injury and replaced on the roster by Ondřej Štěbeták, who will probably be the third-string goalie.
The captain of this Czech team is center Petr Sikora, who was accused by Canadian fans of embellishing a knee injury and then assisted on the winning goal in last year’s quarterfinal. The alternates are defensemen Adam Jiříček and Jakub Fibigr.
Each team can register up to 25 players for the tournament but can only dress 22 in any single game. Here are the 21 players that the Czechs have registered so far:
Goaltenders: Matyáš Marík (Banes Motor České Budějovice), Michal Oršulák (Prince Albert Raiders, WHL), Ondřej Štěbeták (Portland Winterhawks, WHL).
Defensemen: Vladimír Dravecký, Adam Jiříček (both Brantford Bulldogs, OHL), (Brampton Steelheads, OHL), Tomáš Galvas (Bílí Tygři Liberec), Matyáš Man (Prince Albert Raiders, WHL), Max Pšenička (Portland Winterhawks, WHL).
Forwards: Adam Benák (Brantford Bulldogs, OHL), Maxmilian Curran (Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL), Vojtěch Čihar (HC Energie Karlovy Vary), Štěpán Hoch (Banes Motor České Budějovice), Jiří Klíma (Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL), Matěj Kubiesa, Petr Sikora (both HC Oceláři Třinec), Václav Nestrášil (University of Massachusetts, NCAA), Adam Novotný (Peterborough Petes, OHL), Tomáš Poletín (Kelowna Rockets, WHL), Adam Titlbach (Vancouver Giants, WHL), Richard Žemlička (SaiPa, FIN).
Finland Unveils Preliminary World Juniors Roster
Finland has announced its preliminary roster for the 2026 World Juniors. Eleven players return from last year’s team in the group selected for the tournament in Minnesota.