After a disappointing year, Hockey Canada headlined their national development team roster with a group of exciting young players, and a group of perplexing omissions.

There were definitely a large number of highly talented invites. The group was headlined by players like Stryker Zablocki, Sara Manness, Jocelyn Amos, Caitlin Kraemer, Mackenzie Alexander, Eve Gascon, and Chloe Primerano, among others.

It's an impressive group of young talent. In fact, it's enough fresh skill to give Canadian fans hope for a golden future after a season that saw Canada lose all six games they played against the USA, some by a considerable margin.

Canada's national development team camp group also included five players selected in the 2026 PWHL Draft in Sara Swiderski, Brooke Disher, Avi Adam, Jade Iginla, and Ashley Messier, five players who have yet to step on NCAA ice, and two from U SPORTS.

What Canada's national development team camp roster didn't include was their top three NCAA goal scorers from last season, the leading scorer among all Canadian NCAA players, their top scoring NCAA defender, and three of the top five Canadian defenders in NCAA scoring.

While it's not all about offense for Team Canada, they were visibly out-skilled by USA at the U-18, Collegiate Select/Development, and senior national team levels last season, and the bulk of USA's skill that left Canada watching was from the NCAA.

Up front, Kahlen Lamarche scored 42 goals last season. It was the leading total in the NCAA from any nation. Her 64 points tied Caroline Harvey and trailed only Lacey Eden and Abbey Murphy. But Lamarche didn't get an invite.

Nor did the next two top Canadian goal scorers in the NCAA, Carina DiAntonio, and Issy Wunder. Wunder scored 27 goals this season, and 26 last year. She was the highest Canadian forward picked in the 2026 PWHL Draft going 13th overall to Las Vegas. DiAntonio scored 26 goals this season for Yale, and was a third round pick of the New York Sirens in the PWHL Draft.

None were invited to camp. Statistically, they were intriguing decisions. Players like Alex Law, who has 11 goals, Jordan Baxter who has 13 goals, and Madeline Palumbo who has 22 goals in three NCAA seasons each all received invites. All three are excellent two-way players, but Canada, a nation in desperate need of new faces, left a lot of skill at home. They've failed to get past USA by focusing on low-scoring, checking forwards, rather than skill.

Last season Wunder scored 14 goals in January, while Lamarche scored 14 in October. Those totals in a single month surpass the career totals of others at camp.

Lamarche's goal total from last season is more than every player at Canada's national development team has totalled in their NCAA careers aside from 2025 national development team captain and Ohio State senior Jocelyn Amos, and PWHL Hamilton draft pick and Brown grad Jade Iginla.

On the back end, the most significant omission was Penn State blueliner Danica Maynard. Maynard starred for Canada at the U-18 World Championships in 2025 winning gold. She's a mobile and dynamic puck moving defender who uses her feet and vision to creatively transport the puck and generate opportunities. This season, the Atlantic Hockey America Rookie of the Year led all Canadian defenders in NCAA scoring with 33 points in 39 games as a first year player.

Canada also left PWHL drafted defenders like Gracie Gilkyson, and second year NCAA defender Ainsley D'Ottavio at home. They sat third and fourth in scoring by Canadian NCAA defenders topping all but Maynard and Chloe Primerano. They also left four defenders at home selected in the PWHL Draft before Ashley Messier, who finished with zero goals and seven assists as a 24-year-old veteran in the NCAA at home.

While Canada's crease looks well tended at the national development team level, despite the omission of Penn State standout Madison Campbell, Canada did leave behind a very promising U-18 netminder. Sophie Jovanovic, a six-foot Wisconsin commit will not be able to represent Hockey Canada, despite playing for a Hockey Canada governed team, because she is playing boys' hockey. Jovanovic is playing U-18 'AAA' in the GTHL with the Toronto Nationals, where she's starred her entire career. It's an antiquated rule that threatens to leave out some of Canada's best players.

While Canada's national team invites are packed with promise, they're also shrouded with omissions that show the gaps in Canada's development and identification of talent.