Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon will represent Team Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, it was announced today by Hockey Canada.
Wotherspoon joins Pittsburgh’s Jason Spezza, who is serving as Team Canada’s Assistant General Manager, and Strength and Conditioning Coach Sean Young, who is assuming his same role. This year’s World Championship will be held from May 15-31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
The defenseman, who recently completed his third season in the NHL, just came off a career year where he established new career highs in games played (80), goals (3), assists (27), points (30) and plus/minus (+17) while serving on the Penguins’ top defensive pairing with Erik Karlsson. He also led the team in blocked shots (114) and ranked second in hits (162). Wotherspoon also dressed in six postseason games for the Penguins, recording one assist and averaging 22:06 minutes per game.
This will be the first time the Surrey, British Columbia native has represented Team Canada since the World Under-18 Championship in 2015 where he helped Canada win a bronze medal, notching five points (1G-4A) in seven games.
Below is Team Canada’s preliminary round schedule. The 2026 World Championship will be broadcast on NHL Network and ESPN+.
Date Opponent Time (ET)
May 15 Sweden 10:20 AM
May 16 Italy 10:20 AM
May 18 Denmark 10:20 AM
May 21 Norway 10:20 AM
May 22 Slovenia 10:20 AM
May 24 Slovakia 2:20 PM
May 26 Czechia 2:20 PM
