The Czech Ice Hockey Association has announced the 23-man roster that it will send to the U-17 World Junior Challenge, which will take place Nov. 2 to 8 in Truro, N.S., Canada.

The team is headlined by three players who were members of Czechia’s U-18 team that competed at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past August – defensemen Lukáš Kachlíř and Dominick Byrtus and forward Michal Hartl. In that tournament, Kachlíř – who was still just 15 at the time – was the team’s co-leader in scoring with four points in five games.

Both Kachlíř and Hartl have played professionally in the Czech Extraliga as 16-year-olds this season – Kachlíř has played five games for Bílí Tygři Liberec while Hartl has played one for Kometa Brno and also became the youngest player ever to score a goal in the Champions Hockey League.

Byrtus, who was born in Philadelphia but raised in Czechia, is a dual US-Czech citizen.

Also on the radar for the 2027 NHL Entry Draft is captain Adam Němec, who has 12 points in nine games for the Czech U-17 team so far this season. Defenseman Matyáš Michálek was born in January 2010 and won’t be eligible for the draft until 2028.

Before the tournament begins, the Czechs will play an exhibition game against Canada Red on Oct. 31 in Amherst, N.S. They will then compete in Group A with Canada White and Sweden.

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Goaltenders (3): Václav Osvald (Pardubice), Simon Pešout (Chomutov), Kryštof Štěpánek (SaiPa Lappeenranta, FIN).

Defensemen (8): Matěj Švec (České Budějovice), Lukáš Kachlíř (Liberec), Dominick Byrtus (Třinec), Daniel Filip (Škoda Plzeň), Sean Žuffa, Matyáš Michálek (both Sparta Prague), Stanislav Sanejstr (Cleveland, USA), Oliver Andrle (Malmö, SWE).

Forwards (12): Matyáš Čančík, Petr Hörnig, Maxmilián Mareš, Adam Němec (all Liberec), Melichar Kovář (Pardubice), Michal Hartl (Kometa Brno), Jakub Polášek (Třinec), Dario Alessandro Blengino, Patrik Poláček (both Sparta Prague), Marek Hrabina (Vítkovice), Štěpán Stejskal (Davos, SUI), Šimon Šejc (Växjö, SWE).

Manager: Tereza Menčíková. Head Coach: Marek Melenovský. Assistant Coaches: Radek Bělohlav, Libor Procházka. Goaltending Coach: Petr Tuček. Video Coach: Josef Janča.

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