Team Canada's national development team has gone young this season bringing in a variety of NCAA rookies and youth who have yet to play college hockey.
Canada's national development team took a leap toward youth this offseason. The roster heavily features players who recently finished their rookie NCAA season and who have yet to play at the NCAA level. It's a stark departure from the roster Canada fielded last summer that lost two of three to USA's development roster.
Last summer's roster featured four 1999 born players, four 2000 born players, and six 2001 born players. This year, with the 1999 born players aged out, there are no 2000 or 2001 born players on Canada's roster. In fact, there are only three 2002 born players in Jenna Buglioni, Anne Cherkowski, and Maya Labad.
Instead, Canada brought a dozen players from last year's U-18 World Championship gold medal winning team. That list includes six 2005 born players and one 2004 born player who have yet to step foot on NCAA ice, along with a group of recent NCAA rookies including Jade Iginla, Sara Swiderski, Alyssa Regalado, Tova Henderson, Sarah MacEachern, and Brooke Disher.
Absent from this year's Development roster are eight players eligible to return.
At this year's World Championship, Canada's roster featured three NCAA players, while the gold medal winning Team USA roster features 13.