Team USA Hockey is participating in the 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase in Ontario, Canada, as they invite players from its youth system to show their skills ahead of the 2027 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
The showcase includes teams from Canada, Finland, and Sweden, with the first games starting on Wednesday. Team Finland defeated Team USA 3-2 in the first game, and Team Sweden defeated Team Canada 5-3 in the second game.
Team USA spent the weekend and the first few days of this week playing exhibitions and several Nashville Predators young players are already making an impact.
Team USA has three Nashville Predators on the roster, with 2026 first-round pick Wyatt Cullen garnering the most headlines. He ripped a shot against Sweden that turned into the opening goal and then scored one of his own in a 6-1 win on Sunday, and had an assist disallowed due to offsides in Team USA's loss to Finland on Wednesday.
Fellow 2026 first round pick, defender Tommy Bleyl, showed his skating skills by scoring against Sweden but had it disallowed for goalie interference.
2025 second-round pick, defender Jacob Rombach, got into the exhibition games against Sweden as he works to make an impact. Rombach didn't play in Nashville's Developmental Camp, but played in all 36 games as a true freshman at Minnesota this past year. He scored his first goal of the season in the Gopher's last game of the year.
The Nashville Predators have three players who made the Canadian roster for the event: forward Brady Martin, defender Cameron Reid, and goaltender Jack Ivankovic. Reid and Ivankovic were healthy scratches for Team Canada's first game against Sweden, while Calgary Flames 19-year-old center Theo Stockselius scored two goals, including the game-winner, in Team Sweden's 5-3 win.
The 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase continues on Thursday with the United States taking on Sweden at 3 p.m. CT and Canada taking on Finland at 6 p.m. It concludes on Saturday with Finland vs Sweden at 11 a.m. CT and the United States facing Canada at 4 p.m.
The 2027 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship is December 26-January 5 in Edmonton
and Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Team Sweden won their first title since 2012 last season, ending Team USA's two-year winning streak in the process.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/predators/onsi as Nashville Predators Stand Out at the 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase .
