No visa obstacles: Russia can assemble a team of overseas players at the MFM
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) has received notification of the national team's inclusion in the 2027 World Youth Championship. However, the team's return to the international arena may be hindered by the position of Canada, which intends to refuse to issue visas to Russian hockey players. As it became known to Izvestia, in this case, the RIHF is considering an alternative option for forming a squad — exclusively from players already playing in North America. Moreover, even such a national team can be strong enough to compete for the medals of the tournament.
Return to the MFM
Notifications about the adjustment of the composition of participants and the schedule have already been received in Switzerland, Norway and Latvia. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has sent an updated version of the calendar to national associations, taking into account the return of the Russian team. Now the FHR has received a similar letter. "The Russian Ice Hockey Federation has received such a notification," the source told TASS.
According to the option proposed by the IIHF, Russia will receive the tenth seed and take Norway's place in Group B. The Scandinavian national team, which turned out to be the lowest-ranked team among the participants, will be transferred to the first division.
Together with the Russians, Canada, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Latvia are scheduled to play in the group.
The first match of the Russian team is scheduled for December 27 against the Swiss. The tournament will be held from December 26, 2026 to January 5, 2027 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada. Meanwhile, the Norwegians continue to believe that they will still play at the MFM in the top division.
"The situation remains unclear," said Petter Salsten, Secretary General of the National Federation. — Canada has made it clear that Russian players will not receive visas for the championship, and several participating countries have expressed their unwillingness to meet with Russia. This gives us hope that the last word about our team's participation in the tournament in Canada in December has not yet been said.
Unfortunately, the functionary's hopes are not in vain: the Czech Republic, Latvia and Switzerland, which are in the same group with our national team, have publicly spoken about their desire to boycott the matches.
However, the main obstacle to the participation of the Russian youth national team remains the position of the host country.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier that Russian hockey players would not be able to compete at the upcoming World Championships. The local authorities intend not to issue them entry visas. As it became known to Izvestia, the RIHF is working on various options for recruiting a team in case it is allowed to participate in the tournament.
One possible scenario involves the formation of a national team of hockey players playing in North America if players from Russian clubs cannot obtain Canadian visas. In this case, the national team can be led by Igor Larionov, Sergey Fedorov or Sergey Gonchar.
At the same time, according to TASS, the new president of the IIHF, Franz Reindl, is in Canada right now, where he is supposed to discuss, among other things, the participation of the Russian national team in the World Cup.
Russian hockey players in Canada
There are a lot of Russians playing in the American and Canadian junior leagues. And if the host country really tries to block the entry of the national team, what local officials have criticized in recent years will play in our favor — the outflow of talented youth overseas. Just look at the Canadian League (CHL) system: 46 Russian hockey players compete in Canada's three major junior leagues — more than representatives of any other European country (44 of them are age-appropriate to participate in the MFM). You can pay attention to the United States League (USHL) and the NCAA student League, in which more and more potential NHL stars are playing.
In pre-sanctions times, our national team strengthened individual positions at best with players from overseas. The coaches mostly relied on local guys, who were more often seen in person and who also gained adult experience in the KHL. These can now be Nazar Privalov, Alexander Zharovsky, Sergey Skvortsov, Viktor Fedorov, Andrey Pustovoy, Matvey Kotkov, Kirill Yemelyanov, and most importantly, Peter Andreyanov, who would take the place of the main goalkeeper at the MFM. Alternatively, you will have to rely on other characters.
Alexey Medvedev holds the strongest positions among Russian goalkeepers in North America. Selected by Vancouver in the second round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the goalkeeper started this season with the London Knights and was recently traded to the Peterborough Petes. In the 2024/25 season, Medvedev, as part of the London Knights, first became the champion of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and then won the Memorial Cup. Among the goalkeepers, Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko, a graduate of Salavat Yulaev, who moved overseas last summer, can compete with him. Now the prospect of "Utah" represents "Sarnia Sting".
In any version of the Russian national team at the MFM, there would be a place for Vladimir Shtyrkhunov, the most talented defender born in 2009. You could follow his game in the CSKA youth team. In the summer, Vladimir decided to go to the Quebec Junior League, unlike Privalov, who signed a long-term contract with the army. Probably, this decision will help not only to increase their quotes in the NHL draft, but also open the way to the MFM. At the start of the season, Shtyrhunov, who loves to play with the puck and boldly connects to attacks thanks to excellent skating, scored 12 points (4+8) in 15 matches for the Shawinigan Cataracts and is one of the ten most productive defenders of the Quebec Major Junior League (QMJHL).
Alexey Vlasov and Egor Shilov are among the leaders in performance in the entire QMJHL. Both forwards went overseas from Yekaterinburg's "D-13-Yunost" and have been performing in North America for the third year. They have now signed up for the Victoriaville Tigers, where they are getting good playing time. Vlasov has 28 points (15+13) in 14 matches, Shilov has the same number (12+16) in 17 meetings. Yegor was also chosen as the captain of the team. It is quite possible to form a percussion triple around this bundle, and Nikita Klepov could complement it.
Hockey talents from the USA
The Florida-born forward with dual citizenship has already stated his desire to play for the Russian national team. In the 2026/27 season, Klepov made his NHL debut and played four games for Anaheim. However, he did not score any points and was sent back to Saginaw Spirit from the OHL on October 30. But the key question concerning Klepov is whether it will be possible to declare him to the Russian national team from the point of view of the regulations. In 2025, Nikita played for the U.S. national team at the Glinka—Gretzky Cup. This tournament does not belong to the official IIHF competitions, however, the sports citizenship of a hockey player with multiple passports still requires a separate confirmation from the federation.
Most of the players listed above are playing in Canada, which means they are already in the host country of the tournament. The situation with hockey players from the United States is more complicated in terms of entry: the availability of the necessary documents to cross the Canadian border will have to be clarified separately. But there are also a lot of promising guys among them. Only Ivan Ryabkin, who until recently was called Alexander Ovechkin's heir, is worth it. Currently, the forward plays in the AHL for the Chicago Wolves and leads the team among scorers: he has nine (2+7) points in 13 matches. Last season, he looked super convincing in the Quebec Junior League, averaging more than two points per match.
Ilya Morozov will also help close the long-standing Russian problem with the centers. The native of Moscow chose the United States to pursue a career and has been playing in the NCAA for the University of Miami for the second year. At the last draft, Buffalo selected the forward at number 20. In the near future, we will be able to see Morozov as part of the Sabres.
The FHR and the Ministry of Sports continue to fight for our country's participation in the MFM. And even if we assume that only hockey players from North America will be able to enter the tournament, the coaching staff will have someone to choose from. Quite a few players stand out with statistics at the junior level, and most importantly, they are all adapted to the game against the Canadians and Americans, our main competitors in the fight for gold.
Another question is who will coach this team. According to the information, Sergey Gonchar, Sergey Fedorov and Igor Larionov are possible candidates for this post, who should also have no problems entering Canada.
How exactly the squad will turn out and who will lead our national team are the questions of the next stage. The main thing now is to defend Russia's right to participate in the MFM, and then deal with the selection of players. Moreover, the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada stated that the Russians as a whole would not be able to play for their national team on the territory of this country.
Therefore, participation itself will be a victory. But, as we can see, even the North American version of our team can count on medals. And this, after a long period of isolation, will be a great success for our country.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
