Of the players named, five were part of the team that captured gold at the 2016 IIHF World Championships - goaltender Calvin Pickard, defenceman Michael Matheson and forward trio Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and Mark Scheifele.

Eric Comrie is the other goaltender, while Calvin De Haan, Jason Demers, Josh Morrissey and Tyson Barrie, a member of Canada’s 2015 gold medal-winning team, complete the line-up of defencemen. 

Sean Couturier and Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom played at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey for Team North America and in Canada’s 2015 gold medal-winning team, are among the forwards named.

Claude Giroux, who represented Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2015 World  Championships, also features along with Travis Konecny, Brayden Point, Wayne Simmonds, Jeff Skinner and Alex Killorn.

The 18 players have collectively amassed international titles from some of the sport’s marquee events, including the Winter Olympic Games.

They were selected by Team Canada’s management group following the conclusion of the National Hockey League (NHL) regular season. 

General manager Ron Hextall heads the group, which also includes assistant general manager Sean Burke, director of player personnel Larry Carrière and Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams with Hockey Canada.

There was also input from the coaching staff, which comprises head coach Jon Cooper and assistants Gerard Gallant, Dave Hakstol and Dave King.

"It’s always special when you get to represent your country, and you can see it from the quality of our initial list of players who will join us at the worlds," said Hextall.

"Between them, these players have made 17 appearances at this very event, including nine players who’ve come away as gold medallists for Canada, and they can play a big role in helping set the tone for this team."

Canada's management, staff and players are due to gather in Swiss city Geneva for a pre-tournament camp, which includes a warm-up game against Switzerland on May 2.

The defending champions are due to open their World Championship campaign against the Czech Republic on May 5.

The Group B match will be held at the AccorHotels Arena in France’s capital Paris, which is co-hosting the event with German city Cologne.

"Our coaches have a lot to work with, and we will be ready to ice a competitive team in Paris for our opening game on May 5," Hextall added.

Preliminary-round games are scheduled to conclude on May 16 with the medal matches taking place on May 21.

Canada went undefeated during the 2015 tournament and successfully defended their crown the following year.

The country has won the World Championship 20 times since 1931, not counting the years when the Winter Olympic gold medallists were also considered world champions.

They have also collected 11 silver medals and six bronzes in that time-span.

Head coach Cooper was appointed to his role last week.

He is currently the head coach of NHL outfit Tampa Bay Lightning, a team he joined midway through the 2012-13 campaign following two-and-a-half seasons in the American Hockey League with the Norfolk Admirals and Syracuse Crunch.