Prince George Cougars centre Riley Heidt has been invited to Canada’s world junior team selection camp.
Heidt was one of 12 WHL players chosen for the camp Monday morning by Hockey Canada.
That list also includes Saskatoon Blades defenceman Tanner Molendyk, a native of McBride.
Heidt, 19, has been one of the top playmakers in the WHL this season and has 11 goals to go with his 23 assists in 20 games. He’s tied for 18th in the league scoring race with 34 points.
He continues to produce points, centring the Cougars’ top scoring line with Terik Parascak and Borya Valis, despite a broken jaw suffered in a game Nov. 10 against Vancouver, which forced him to miss two games.
Heidt was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the second round, 64th overall, in 2023. The Saskatoon native played for Team Canada in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and World U-18 Championship in 2022-23.
This will be Molendyk’s second world junior experience. He made Canada’s team last year that went to Sweden but broke his arm in the final pre-season game.
Molendyk, 19, has three goals and 14 assists in 19 games with Eastern Conference-leading Blades.
Thirty-two players, including four goaltenders, 10 defenceman and 18 forwards were selected for the IIHF World Junior Championship team tryouts that start Dec. 10 in Ottawa. Team Canada will play U SPORTS all-star team Dec. 12 and 13.
Dave Cameron of the Ottawa 67s is Team Canada’s head coach. Mike Johnston of the Portland Winterhawks will serve as Cameron’s assistant.
Dan De Palma was picked as the goaltending consultant for the world junior team.
De Palma is a Prince George native who lives in Kamloops and is the Kamloops Blazers goalie coach.
The tournament will be played in Ottawa, Dec. 26-Jan.5.
Canada will play exhibition games against Switzerland (Dec. 19), Sweden (Dec. 21) and Czechia (Dec. 23) leading to their tournament-opener Dec. 26 agaoinst Finland.
Yager traded to Lethbridge
Brayden Yager, Heidt’s good friend from Saskatoon, was also invited to the camp, having played for Canada at last year’s tournament.
Yager, a 19-year-old Winnipeg Jets prospect, was traded Monday from the Moose Jaw Warriors to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a blockbuster deal that also sent goalie Jackson Under to Lethbridge.
Moose Jaw received in exchange 18-year-old forward Landen Ward, 19-year-old goalie Brady Smith, 15-year-old prospect Colt Carter, two first-round picks (2025, 2028), a second-round pick (2028), a third-round pick (2025), a fourth-round pick (2026), and a fifth-round pick (2026).
