ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell men's hockey sophomore defenseman Xavier Veilleux has been named to the U.S. Collegiate Selects roster for the 2026 Spengler Cup, it was announced Thursday afternoon (Oct. 22).

Veilleux and Boston College junior forward Dean Letourneau were the two players added Thursday, bringing the roster to 13. Veilleux is the only sophomore named to the team so far.

Veilleux is also the fourth ECAC Hockey student-athlete on this year's team, joining Union defenseman Tyler Dunbar, Quinnipiac defenseman Elliott Groenewold and Dartmouth forward Hayden Stavroff. Last year's team had two players from the conference: Cornell senior forward and captain Ryan Walsh and Quinnipiac forward Chris Pelosi. The rest of the 25-man roster, which will include student-athletes from all six NCAA Division I conferences, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 98th Spengler Cup runs Dec. 26-31 in Davos, Switzerland. The tournament has been held every year since 1923, which makes it the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world. Last December, the U.S. Collegiate Selects became the first team of select college hockey players to compete in it. In April, the Selects accepted a two-year invitation to return for the 2026 and 2027 tournaments.

Veilleux will have a familiar face behind the bench in Davos. Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey, is an assistant coach on this year's team alongside Minnesota Duluth's Scott Sandelin. New Hampshire head coach Mike Souza leads the team.

"Xavier earned this with the way he played as a freshman, and he's only getting better," Jones said. "He sees the ice so well and makes plays at both ends, which will translate against the level of competition in Davos. It's an honor for him and for our program to be represented again, and I'm looking forward to sharing that experience with him."

"It's an honor and I'm grateful for the opportunity," Veilleux said. "I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to representing Cornell and college hockey to the best of my ability."

A native of Ancienne-Lorette, Québec, Veilleux had one of the best freshman seasons by a defenseman in program history in 2025-26. He played in all 34 games and finished with 26 points (6-20—26), the most ever by a Cornell rookie defenseman. That total tied Penn State's Jackson Smith for the most among Division I freshman defensemen, and his 20 assists led all freshman defensemen nationally. His six goals were the second-most by a Big Red freshman defenseman, behind only Joakim Ryan '15 (seven in 2011-12). His five power-play goals were the most by a Cornell defenseman since Alec McCrae '19 also had five in 2017-18.

Veilleux was named Second Team All-ECAC Hockey and First Team All-Ivy last season, the latter by unanimous vote. He was also a unanimous pick for the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team and a finalist for ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year.

A sixth-round selection of the New York Islanders in the 2024 NHL Draft, Veilleux earned Second Team All-USHL honors in 2024-25 and helped the Muskegon Lumberjacks win their first Clark Cup in 2025 before arriving at Cornell.

Cornell opens its 2026-27 regular season Friday, Oct. 30, against Sacred Heart, the first of a two-game series at Lynah Rink.

Last year, the U.S. Collegiate Selects won Group Cattini, which earned them a bye into the semifinals. They then reached the championship game, where they fell to host HC Davos, 6-3. Walsh, then a junior, scored a goal and added an assist in the title game, his only two points of the tournament.

This year's field puts the SCL Tigers, Adler Mannheim and Ilves Tampere in Group Torriani. HC Davos, Frölunda HC and the U.S. Collegiate Selects make up Group Cattini.

Group play runs daily from Dec. 26 to Dec. 28. The two group winners advance directly to the semifinals. The other four teams meet in the pre-semifinals on Dec. 29, and the two winners claim the last two semifinal spots. The championship game is Thursday, Dec. 31, at 12:10 p.m. local time (6:10 a.m. ET).

The U.S. Collegiate Selects open against Frölunda HC on Saturday, Dec. 26, at 8:15 p.m. local time (2:15 p.m. ET). They then face HC Davos at 8:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. ET), either on Sunday, Dec. 27, if they lose to Frölunda, or on Monday, Dec. 28, with a win.

Last year, U.S. viewers could watch the games on the Spengler Cup's YouTube channel, and TSN carried them in Canada. Viewing details for this year's tournament will be announced at a later date.

Visit CollegeHockeyInc.com for more information on the U.S. Collegiate Selects and spenglercup.ch/en for more on the Spengler Cup.

U.S. COLLEGIATE SELECTS POOL PLAY SCHEDULE
All times local with EST in parentheses
Sat., Dec. 26 — vs. Frölunda HC, 8:15 p.m. CET (2:15 p.m. EST)
Sun., Dec. 27 — vs. HC Davos (with loss to Frölunda), 8:15 p.m. CET (2:15 p.m. EST)
Mon., Dec. 28 — vs. HC Davos (with win over Frölunda), 8:15 p.m. CET (2:15 p.m. EST)

ELIMINATION ROUND SCHEDULE
Tue., Dec. 29 — Group Cattini third place vs. Group Torriani second place, 3:10 p.m. CET (9:10 a.m. EST)
Tue., Dec. 29 — Group Torriani third place vs. Group Cattini second place, 8:15 p.m. CET (2:15 p.m. EST)
Wed., Dec. 30 — Group Cattini winner vs. winner of Dec. 29 3:10 p.m. game, 3:10 p.m. CET (9:10 a.m. EST)
Wed., Dec. 30 — Group Torriani winner vs. winner of Dec. 29 8:15 p.m. game, 8:15 p.m. CET (2:15 p.m. EST)
Thu., Dec. 31 — Championship, 12:10 p.m. CET (6:10 a.m. EST)

CURRENT 2026 U.S. COLLEGIATE SELECTS ROSTER
Forwards (7): Michael Hage (Michigan), Dean Letourneau (Boston College), Jayden Perron (Michigan), Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth), Zam Plante (Minnesota Duluth), Hayden Stavroff (Dartmouth), Brodie Ziemer (Minnesota)
Defensemen (5): Tyler Dunbar (Union), Elliott Groenewold (Quinnipiac), Ty Hanson (Minnesota Duluth), Evan Murr (Minnesota), Xavier Veilleux (Cornell)
Goaltender (1): Lawton Zacher (Northeastern)