Six of the top Nashville Predators prospects are set to vie for a spot to represent their country this holiday season.
Defensemen Tanner Molendyk and Andrew Gibson, as well as forward Matthew Wood, were named to Hockey Canada’s 32-Man World Juniors Selection Camp on Monday, the first step in potentially skating for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. Molendyk and Wood were members of last year’s Canadian squad.
Additionally, forwards Joey Willis and Teddy Stiga were named to USA Hockey’s preliminary roster for its 2025 U.S. National Junior Team.
Finally, goaltender Jakub Milota is on the roster for Czechia.
The Hockey Canada Selection Camp is set to take place Dec. 10-13 in Ottawa, Ontario, while Team USA will convene at training camp Dec. 16-17 in Plymouth, Michigan.
Currently starring for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, Molendyk has three goals and 17 points in 19 games while serving as an alternate captain. The blueliner stuck with the Predators through this season’s training camp with a strong showing before being assigned back to his WHL team as Nashville announced their Opening Night roster. Selected by the Predators 23rd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, Molendyk inked his three-year, entry-level contract with the Preds just a week after he was drafted.
Selected just eight picks ahead of Molendyk at No. 15 in the 2023 NHL Draft, Wood has four goals and 18 points through 16 contests with the University of Minnesota this season. The 6-foot-4 forward is in his junior year - but his first with the Golden Gophers after leading UCONN in scoring last season.
Acquired via trade with the Red Wings last June, Gibson skates for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League and has registered four goals and seven points through 23 games this season. Selected 42nd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-3 blueliner recorded 12 goals and 44 points with the Greyhounds in the previous campaign.
An alternate captain with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, Willis has been on an offensive outburst with 16 goals and 32 points in just 23 games this season, including a recent stretch with 13 goals and three hat tricks in just five contests. Drafted by the Preds in the fourth round, 111th overall, in 2023, Willis posted 50 points with the Spirit last season.
Participating in his freshman season at Boston College, Stiga has registered three goals and nine points through 13 games thus far. The winger was selected 55th overall by Nashville in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Taken 99th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, Milota tends goal for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and has posted nine wins with a .906 save percentage in 22 games this season.
The 2025 World Junior Championship tournament begins the day after Christmas with the bronze and gold medal games set for Jan. 5, 2026. The NHL Network will broadcast every game in the United States; TSN broadcasts the games in Canada.
