Connor Brown to play for Canada at World Championships with Gavin Mckenna

Connor Brown is headed back to the World Championships, and gavin mckenna is part of the Canada group with him next month in Switzerland. The New Jersey Devils winger, 32, will represent Canada at the tournament for the first time since 2021.

Brown returns to Canada

Brown last played at the Worlds in 2021 and produced 16 points in 10 games, including 14 assists. That is the kind of track record Canada is leaning on as it builds a roster for an international event that sits a step or two below the Olympics.

He will be the only Devils player representing Canada for now. Dougie Hamilton, Dawson Mercer, Cody Glass and Brenden Dillon either opted against playing for Canada or were not asked.

Canada’s Switzerland group

Canada’s group also includes Macklin Celebrini, Mat Barzal, Morgan Rielly and Mark Scheifele. Brown’s return puts him in a lineup with players who give Canada a mix of experience and high-end talent, while the Switzerland tournament gives him his first chance to wear the Canadian jersey at the event since that 2021 run.

The broader field also includes other NHL names on national teams: Aleksander Barkov will play for Finland, Martin Pospisil and Adam Sykora are booked for Slovakia, and Emil Heineman, Albert Johansson, Simon Holmstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson will feature for Sweden. For Devils fans, the immediate takeaway is that Brown will still have a national-team stage even though New Jersey did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

What comes next is Brown’s chance to turn a familiar tournament into a fresh lineup spot for Canada. He arrives with the 2021 production on his résumé and a roster place that, for now, belongs only to him among Devils players.