Porter Martone named captain of Canada’s world junior team

On the eve of the 2026 world junior hockey championship, Hockey Canada has announced the captains that will lead the team into competition in Minnesota.

Philadelphia Flyers first rounder Porter Martone, a forward playing for the NCAA’s Michigan State Spartans this season, will serve as Canada’s captain.

Forward Cole Beaudoin, a Utah Mammoth first-rounder playing for the OHL’s Barrie Colts, and defenceman Harrison Brunicke, who has played nine games for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, have been named alternate captains.

Martone and Beaudoin are two of six Canadian players returning from last year’s world junior roster, which fell in a quarterfinal to Czechia.

Martone, who played four seasons for the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads before being selected sixth overall by Philadelphia in the 2025 NHL draft, has an extensive history with Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.

After representing Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and under-18 world championship, in 2024, the Peterborough, Ont., product captained the under-18 team to a gold medal while scoring five goals and 17 points in seven games, second only to Gavin McKenna among Canadian forwards.

Martone parlayed that experience into roles on Canada’s 2025 world junior and world championship teams, both of which disappointed with fifth-place finishes.

The 6-foot-3, 196-pound winger left the OHL following the 2024-25 season to play for Michigan State, where he has compiled 11 goals and 20 points in 16 games.

Martone is expected to play a starring role on Canada’s top line.

Beaudoin, from Kanata, Ont., also comes into the tournament with a wealth of experience representing his country, having worn the maple leaf at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, under-18 world championship and world juniors.

Playing for Barrie this season, Beaudoin has enjoyed a hot start with 14 goals and 41 points in 25 games.

Brunicke enters his first world junior tournament with just one appearance with Hockey Canada — a gold-medal finish with Martone and Beaudoin at the 2024 under-18 world championship.

A second-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft, Brunicke was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and became the first non-goaltender from that country to play in the NHL earlier this year.

After playing nine games in the NHL, the 6-foot-3 blueliner has since lined up with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he has recorded four assists in five games.

As one of two Canadian defenceman with pro-level experience, alongside Zayne Parekh, Brunicke is expected to shoulder a heavy load for his country.

Canada kicks off its world junior schedule against Czechia — the nation that bounced it out of the tournament the past two years — on Dec. 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET.