Gauthier, Cataford Attending Canada's World Junior Camp

Team Canada has released its preliminary 32-man roster for the 2025 World Juniors.  Two QMJHL stars will have the opportunity to fight for the chance to wear the red maple leaf in Ottawa later this month.

The most notable player draft-wise making the team is Drummondville's Ethan Gauthier. Gauthier, 19. was a second round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023 NHL entry draft. He has 31 points (12+19) across just 22 games with the Voltigeurs this season.

Gauthier brings championship pedigree to the team, having won Gold for Team Canada already at the Hlinka-Gretzky in 2023 -- scoring seven points (6+1) over five games -- and winning the QMJHL championship last season with the Volts -- amassing 25 points (14+11) over 19 games.

Alongside the NHL affiliation and accolades, Gauthier brings leadership as well as he's been the Voltigeurs alternate captain the last two seasons.

Should Gauthier make the team, he would join his father, former NHLer, Denis and cousin Islanders' forward Julien as the third member of his family to represent Team Canada at the World Juniors.

Denis was apart of Canada's gold medal winning squad in 1996, and Julien, who played for Team Canada twice, won silver in 2017. 

Rimouski's Mathieu Cataford, the other QMJHL to get the call, is no slouch either. The right winger has 38 points (11+27) over 25 games with the Memorial Cup hosts, the Rimouski Océanic.

Cataford, too, was on the same Hlinka-Gretzky team as Gauthier in 2023, scoring just one point (0+1) in five games.

Since that tournament, the Vegas Golden Knights 2023 third rounder has put the pedal to the metal. Last season, Cataford notched 40 goals and 50 assists for 90 points with the Mooseheads. His play was dominant enough to earn a first team All Star nod, and winning the Michel Briere Trophy for league MVP.

He even had the opportunity to play four games with the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights where he marked his first two professional points (0+2).

One could imagine that his quiet performance in his last appearance with Team Canada might give further motivation to prove them right for giving him a second opportunity internationally.

Cataford and Gauthier's additions to Team Canada's camp were givens.

However, there were a couple of players who deserved a shot at making the team.

Take Moncton's Etienne Morin, for example. He's a 6-foot-1, physical two-way defenseman who is scoring at above a point-per-game rate (27 in 24). Morin is a Calgary Flames second round pick, who even got into a game with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers' last season.

A fun option could have been a guy like Justin Poirier. Not chosen as he's got another year, but the Carolina Hurricanes fifth rounder brings the heat, scoring 38 points (22+16) in 24 games while being a physical presence in spite of being 5-foot-9.