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USA Hockey announced the roster for the team that will compete at this year's IIHF World U18 Championship, held this year Lappeenranta and Imatra, Finland April 17-27th.
USA Hockey usually selects a roster largely comprised of their NTDP U18 team, with a few call-ups from the NTDP U17 and the occasional talented player from outside of the program whose season has already ended mixed in. That's the case this year with Noah Hanifin and Auston Matthews joining the team from the U17 program and Plymouth Whalers(OHL) goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and Youngstown Phantoms(USHL) forward Kyle Connor joining the team.
Traditionally, the US has fared very well in this tournament. They've earned a medal in each of the past 10 tournaments. Last year's silver medal snapped a streak of four straight gold medals for the Americans. They are at a bit of advantage in that the core of their team plays together all year with the NTDP U18 team while other countries send what are essentially all-star teams formed just for the tournament. It should also be noted that Canadian players still playing in the CHL playoffs are not released for this tournament, so many of Canada's best won't be available.
Here's the full roster:
| 29 | Edwin Minney | 6-4 (193) | 189 (86) | 3/29/96 | Right | Wind Gap, Pa. |
| 30 | Alex Nedeljkovic | 6-0 (183) | 182 (83) | 1/7/96 | Right | Parma, Ohio |
| 24 | Louie Belpedio | 5-10 (178) | 193 (88) | 5/14/96 | Right | Skokie, Ill. |
| 6 | Ryan Collins | 6-4 (193) | 204 (93) | 5/6/96 | Right | Bloomington, Minn. |
| 2 | Jack Dougherty | 6-0 (183) | 185 (84) | 5/25/96 | Right | Cottage Grove, Minn. |
| 5 | Brandon Fortunato | 5-9 (175) | 144 (65) | 6/7/96 | Left | North Hills, N.Y. |
| 8 | Jack Glover | 6-3 (191) | 192 (87) | 5/17/96 | Right | Golden Valley, Minn. |
| 20 | Noah Hanifin | 6-2 (188) | 201 (91) | 1/25/97 | Left | Norwood, Mass. |
| 16 | Johnathan MacLeod | 6-1 (185) | 198 (90) | 6/2/96 | Right | Dracut, Mass. |
| 7 | Anders Bjork | 5-11 (180) | 182 (83) | 8/5/96 | Left | Mequon, Wis. |
| 25 | Kyle Connor | 6-1 (185) | 170 (77) | 12/9/96 | Left | Shelby Township, Mich. |
| 11 | Jack Eichel | 6-1 (185) | 191 (87) | 10/28/96 | Right | North Chelmsford, Mass. |
| 22 | Jared Fiegl | 6-1 (185) | 208 (94) | 1/23/96 | Left | Parker, Colo. |
| 9 | Shane Gersich | 5-10 (178) | 176 (80) | 7/10/96 | Left | Chaska, Minn. |
| 21 | Ryan Hitchcock | 5-9 (175) | 171 (78) | 3/30/96 | Left | Manhasset, N.Y. |
| 19 | Dylan Larkin | 6-0 (183) | 192 (87) | 7/30/96 | Left | Waterford, Mich. |
| 12 | Auston Matthews | 6-0 (183) | 199 (90) | 9/17/97 | Left | Scottsdale, Ariz. |
| 27 | Sonny Milano | 5-11 (180) | 185 (84) | 5/12/96 | Left | Massapequa, N.Y. |
| 14 | Dylan Pavelek | 5-11 (180) | 191 (87) | 1/16/96 | Right | Marysville, Mich. |
| 18 | Nolan Stevens | 6-2 (188) | 183 (83) | 7/22/96 | Left | Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| 17 | Alex Tuch | 6-3 (191) | 215 (98) | 5/10/96 | Right | Baldwinsville, N.Y. |
| 10 | Joe Wegwerth | 6-3 (191) | 230 (104) | 6/16/96 | Left | Brewster, N.Y. |