Almost Every Nation Dealing With Notable Absences From World Championship Rosters

The World Championships are were the best women's hockey players in the world come together each season. At the 2026 World Championships in Denmark however, almost every roster is adapting to fill holes in their lineups from injuries, pregnancies, and players stepping away from national programs

Olympic gold medal winning Team USA will be without veteran leader Kendall Coyne Schofield, and PWHL All-Star Britta Curl-Salemme. Coyne Schofield announced her pregnancy earlier this offseason, with Curl-Salemme following with a pregnancy announcement of her own.

The duo are significant holes up front for USA, which is looking to fill those gaps with incoming players like Casey O'Brien and Lacey Eden. Coyne Schofield takes away from USA's competitiveness and speed, with Curl-Salemme evolving into not only a physical two-way presence, but a consistent offensive producer as well. USA, fortunately for their program, have enough depth to overcome those gaps and still enter as the gold medal favorite.

Their top rival, Canada, made the choice to move on from several key veterans like Brianne Jenner, Sarah Nurse, and Natalie Spooner. More notably, Canada is without captain Marie-Philip Poulin for the first time in 18 years. She's out following reconstructive knee surgery in the offseason. Poulin's impact both on and off the ice will be felt, as teenagers step in to fill the void. Ultimately, Canada will need to enter each game with the mentality that they don't have Poulin to rescue them in tense situations, and that's a mental and physical challenge. Canada could be without Sarah Fillier for a portion of the tournament after she was injured in their final pre-tournament game against USA, although initial prognosis looked as though FIllier would be able to return. Canada's final replacement was in defender Claire Thompson who retired from hockey at 28, but Canada has more than made up for that loss filling their blueline from a deep pool.

Czechia will have an uphill battle at Worlds without Tereza Vanisova, Denisa Krisova, Dominka Laskova, and Andrea Trnkova. Krisova is out due to visa issues that also kept her from Czechia's final Women's Euro Hockey Tour stop ahead of Worlds. Trnkova hasn't played yet this season as the Clarkson defender continues to recover from injury, while Dominika Laskova's reasoning for not making Team Czechia is unclear. Tereza Vanisova, considered a top line forward for Czechia chose not to take part in Czechia's national team program for personal reasons after playing prep matches for her nation.

For Finland, the absence of Ronja Savolainen from their blueline is problematic. Savolainen is their top defender, and it's a position where Finland has lacked depth beyond Savolainen, Jenni Hiirikoski, Nelli Laitinen, and Sanni Rantala. Without Savolainen, Finland will miss one of their top players on both sides of the puck, and one that is crucial to their medal hopes.

Switzerland lost captain and offensive leader Lara Stalder in the weeks leading up to Worlds with a knee injury. Stalder, alongside Alina Muller, has remained two-thirds of Switzerland's best line. Few could have anticipated Switzerland would also lose Lara Christen following the Olympics. She was Switzerland's best defender at the Olympics, and the 23-year-old retiring from Switzerland's national program was a shock to their system and medal hopes.

Japan will also be playing without Mei Miuri, who led the nation in scoring at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 World Championships. It's a blow to their already slim chances in the tournament. Japan will hope to qualify for the quarterfinals, but they'll need someone else to step up offensively to replace what they've lost in Miuri. 

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