The World Junior Championship (WJC) rightfully gets the lion’s share of the attention over the holiday season, and rightly so, as it’s the best under-20 hockey tournament of the year and an annual holiday tradition for a lot of people around the world’s hockey powerhouse countries. Winnipeg Jets fans will be keeping a close eye on Canada’s WJC team in particular as top prospect Brayden Yager is captaining a 2025 club hoping to rebound from a disappointing quarterfinal exit a year ago.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
However, the Spengler Cup also deserves some eyeballs over the festive season. The longstanding annual tournament played in the gorgeous Alpine city of Davos, Switzerland is a bit of an oddball — it brings different European professional clubs to compete every year, takes only a week, and also features a Team Canada squad comprised of Canadians playing around Europe — but it’s nonetheless entertaining to see different clubs duke it out on the big ice each year.
Jets fans will recognize seven players — five Canadians, one American, and one Finn — participating in this year’s tournament with past connections to the organization. Let’s dive in.
Sam Gagner — Canada
Sam Gagner, who will captain Canada’s Spengler team, is of two former Jets attempting to help his country capture their first trophy since 2019. The veteran of 1,043 NHL games — best known for his three separate stints with the Edmonton Oilers — suited up for 48 with the Jets in 2022-23 on a one-year contract, recording eight goals and six assists for 14 points before his season was cut short due to hip surgery.
This will be Gagner’s first action of the 2024-25 season as while he hasn’t retired, he is an unrestricted free agent without a team who also hasn’t played in Europe.
Logan Shaw — Canada
Logan Shaw is a bit more of a Jets’ deep cut. The now 32-year-old, who has become well-known as a reliable scorer at the American Hockey League (AHL) level, suited up for 35 games with the Jets in 2019-20, recording three goals and two assists.
Shaw, who has spent the past three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies but has been loaned to Canada for the Spengler, also played parts of two seasons with the Manitoba Moose, potting 31 goals and adding 22 assists for 53 points in 79 games.
Saku Maenalanen — Karpat Oulu
Saku Maenalanen is suiting up for his home country’s Karpat Oulu, which plays in the Finnish Liiga. Maenalanen has actually played in Swiss National League for the Langnau Tigers for the past two seasons but has joined Karpat — with whom he played for five seasons earlier in his career — for the tournament.
After his 2021-22 season with Karpat, Maenalanen joined the Jets for an attempted NHL comeback on a one-year deal. The Carolina Hurricanes 2013 fifth-rounder hadn’t played in the NHL since 2018-19, when he played 34 for the Hurricanes.
Maenalanen’s second NHL foray went alright as he made the 2022-23 Jets thanks to an impressive training camp and was a lineup regular when healthy, playing 64 games and recording four goals and six assists for 10 points in bottom-six and penalty-killing roles. However, the Jets let him walk after the season and he returned to Europe.
Brendan Lemieux — HC Davos
Brendan Lemieux, an agitator who has had a winding NHL career, was originally acquired by the Jets in the blockbuster 2015 Evander Kane trade with the Buffalo Sabres and made his NHL debut with the Jets in 2017-18. The winger played 53 games with the Jets, recording 10 goals and three assists for 13 points in a fourth-line role, before being traded to the New York Rangers at the 2019 Trade Deadline as part of a package for Kevin Hayes.
Lemieux has played for the Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, and Hurricanes since for a career total of 307. He played 12 games for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier this season, but recently joined Davos after being released. He has played three games for the host so far and has no points.
JC Lipon — Straubing Tigers
JC Lipon, a Jets 2013 third-round pick, played all nine games of his NHL career with the club in 2015-16, recording one assist. The gritty forward, who possesses a good mixture of offensive talent and sandpaper, was also one of the Moose’s most-recognizable players and alternate captains for a good period, playing five seasons in antlers and recording 157 points in 305 games.
The now 31-year-old headed to Europe for the 2020-21 season and has been there since. He is in his third season with the German DEL’s Tigers and has seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 27 games.
Skyler McKenzie — Straubing Tigers
Skyler McKenzie, a Jets seventh-round 2017 pick, has never played an NHL game. However, he did suit up for the Moose for parts of three seasons, recording 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points in 131 games. The winger has four goals and three assists for seven points in 26 games this season for the Tigers.
Nelson Nogier — Straubing Tigers
Nelson Nogier, a Jets fourth-round Jets selection, rounds out the trio of Tigers with a Jets connection. The defensive defenseman played in 10 games for the Jets in 2016-17 and one in 2017-18; he was also a reliable blue liner for the Moose, playing 242 games in antlers over six seasons and serving as an alternate captain before heading to Europe for the 2022-23 season.
The now 28-year-old has two goals and four assists for six points in 26 games for the Tigers this season.