When the IIHF World Junior Championship gets underway on December 26, there will be five Detroit Red Wings draft picks in action.
Forward Max Plante (47th overall, 2024 NHL entry draft) is looking to gain a second straight gold medal with the USA. He’s been named an alternate captain on the team.
Your 2026 #WorldJuniors leadership group!
Brodie Ziemer will lead Team USA as Captain 🫡 with alternate captains James Hagens, Cole Hutson, Max Plante and Teddy Stiga by his side! 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/WFcsff4DPN
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 25, 2025
Winger Eddie Genborg (40th, 2025) is skating on Sweden’s top forward line. Forward Carter Bear (13th, 2025) is suiting up for Canada.
Slovakia goes two-deep in Detroit draftees. There’s goalie Michal Pradel (75th, 2025) and forward Michal Svrcek (119th, 2025).
There’s another one-time Red Wings prospect performing in the tournament who remains an NHL prospect, albeit on a new and different path.
Hayden Verbeek is among the officials who will be working the tournament. He’s one of two Canadians who are among the 12 referees who will be working the tournament.
Verbeek, 28, is an Ontario Hockey League referee. He was previously working as a linesman. Last season, Verbeek worked the whistle as a referee during the ECHL Kelly Cup final, which involved one of his former teams, the Toledo Walleye. He’s considered to be an NHL prospect as an official.
Nephew of Former Red Wings Player
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Montreal Canadiens, Verbeek, a center, became part of the Red Wings organization via the April 11, 2021, trade that sent defenseman Jon Merrill from Detroit to Montreal.
Verbeek played eight games with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins in 2020-21 and with both the Griffins (21 games) and Walleye (six games) in 2021-22. Among his teammates during Verbeek’s time in the Detroit system were Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno, Dominik Shine, Jonatan Berggren, and Joe Veleno.
His uncle Pat Verbeek was a Red Wings forward from 1999 to 2001, who scored his 500th NHL goal in a Detroit uniform. Pat Verbeek later would serve as assistant GM of the Red Wings under GM Steve Yzerman. Today, Pat Verbeek is GM of the Anaheim Ducks.