Meet the Team: Slovakia’s roster for the 2026 World Juniors

After another quarter-final loss last year, Slovakia enters this year's tournament looking to finally break a decade-long drought and secure its first World Junior quarter-final win in ten years, a result that would push them into true medal contention.

The obvious question is whether this year’s roster has the tools to make that step. It is also worth noting that before the tournament begins, Slovakia will still need to make three final cuts: one defenceman and two forwards.

The roster 

One of the immediate challenges for Slovakia is the absence of two cornerstone players from recent tournaments. For the first time in three years, the team will be without Dalibor Dvorský and Juraj Pekarčík. From last year’s roster, only six players return: goaltenders Michal Prádel and Alan Lanďák, defencema