As Canada shoots for a fourth-straight gold medal at the U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the national team will have plenty of firepower. One of those weapons up front is center Tynan Lawrence, a 2026 NHL draft prospect who already has a recent championship to his name thanks to his starring role with the United States League [https://thehockeynews.com/ushl]'s Muskegon Lumberjacks. As a rookie with the Jacks last season, Lawrence put up nearly a point per game before kicking it up a notch in the playoffs, where his 18 points in 14 games earned him post-season MVP honors at the Clark Cup. In an age of unprecedented movement among prospects, the New Brunswick native could have easily taken his talents to the QMJHL [https://thehockeynews.com/qmjhl] for his draft year, but he's more than happy in Muskegon. [https://thehockeynews.com/qmjhl/latest-news/top-2026-nhl-draft-prospect-snubs-qmjhl-stays-in-ushl] "I want to keep playing there," Lawrence said. "I had a great experience last year; we won it all, so it was a lot of fun. I want to do it again. We had a great team, and I think we'll be just as good this year, and it will be a great experience for me to develop as a player." While it won't be easy, Muskegon will try to win back-to-back championships this coming year. If the Lumberjacks pull it off, it would be the first USHL repeat since 1993-94, when Omaha did it. With speed and skill, Lawrence will be one to watch for the draft, too, especially since he'll be one year older and wiser in the USHL. Of course, it's hard to beat the experience he got with the Lumberjacks already during that championship run. "We really came together as a team," he said. "Everybody owned their role and took ownership in what they had to do to contribute. At the end of the day, we were just a big family, and that's what got us to the next step." Canada Edges Finland, Sweden Wins Big In Hlinka Gretzky Cup Openers [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b30daa52-aa25-4344-97a4-155c146c2af9.webp] Canada Edges Finland, Sweden Wins Big In Hlinka Gretzky Cup Openers Ethan Belchetz had three points and defensemen Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin had two points each, leading Canada to a 5-3 opening-day victory over Finland at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup’s Group A in Brno, Czechia. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/canada-edges-finland-sweden-wins-big-in-hlinka-gretzky-cup-openers] Once he's done in Muskegon, Lawrence is committed to Boston University, where the Terriers sealed the deal with the program's excellent recent history of minting NHLers. "They've been really good at developing players," Lawrence said. "Macklin Celebrini just went through, Cole Eiserman's there, Jack Eichel went there – they know what they're doing to prepare players for the next step, and it was the right spot for me." Which brings up an interesting question: in this new age [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/what-does-gavin-mckenna-s-college-commitment-mean-for-the-chl-and-ncaa-s-recruiting-saga] of NCAA [https://thehockeynews.com/ncaa] eligibility and recruiting opportunities, did any of Lawrence's Canadian teammates have questions for him about college during the Hlinka Gretzky camp? After all, he is surrounded by CHLers right now. "A little bit," he said. "They're not so experienced in it. I went through the whole recruiting process, so getting opinions is always nice and seeing different points of view is always good." Lawrence's mission before he gets to BU is to make sure he continues to develop a complete game – without sacrificing the goal-scoring that makes him such an enticing prospect, of course. In his first game at the Hlinka [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/canada-edges-finland-sweden-wins-big-in-hlinka-gretzky-cup-openers], he popped in an assist for Team Canada in a 5-3 win over Finland. But if we can glean anything from the kid's recent past, it's that you really need to watch out for Lawrence when the stakes are highest. And that's great news for Canada as it attempts the four-peat. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
