Hockey Canada named the first 18 players for its entry in next month's world championships in Russia.

Among the names are a trio returning from last year's gold medal-winning squad in Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres centre Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche.

Hall's Oilers teammate Connor McDavid will also be heading to Russia.

"The opportunity to represent your country in international competition is something that never gets old, as we’ve seen in the enthusiasm of this first group of players to join the squad, and the others we’re still in discussion with as we move through the process of building our roster,” said Canada's co-general manager, Brad Treliving, in a release.

Canada will continue to make additions to its roster as players become available over the course of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Up to 25 players can be selected.

"The world championship is always a great event, and coming in as defending champions adds to the cachet of the event. We all want to see the Canadian flag be the one raised at the end of that gold-medal game on May 22,” said George McPhee, the team's other co-GM.

Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters will be behind the bench for the team.

Canada opens the tournament on May 6 against the United States.

 

TEAM CANADA

GOALTENDERS: Calvin Pickard (Avalanche) and Cam Talbot (Oilers)

DEFENCEMEN: Cody Ceci (Senators), Ben Hutton (Canucks), Ryan Murray (Blue Jackets), Morgan Rielly (Maple Leafs) and Chris Tanev (Canucks)

FORWARDS: Max Domi (Coyotes), Matt Duchene (Avalanche), Brendan Gallagher (Canadiens), Taylor Hall (Oilers), Boone Jenner (Blue Jackets), Connor McDavid (Oilers), Brad Marchand (Bruins), Sam Reinhart (Sabres), Ryan O'Rielly (Sabres), Mark Scheifele (Jets) and Mark Stone (Senators).