Former Swift Current Broncos fan favourite Cody Eakin will wear the maple leaf once again as he was named to Canada's 25-man roster for the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.

The Winnipeg product was drafted by Swift Current in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2006 WHL Prospects Draft and played for parts of five seasons with the Broncos from 2006 to 2011 before being traded to the Kootenay Ice in their WHL Championship season. He scored 100 goals and 195 points in 212 regular season games with the Broncos and seven goals and 12 points in 23 playoff games.

Eakin was drafted in the third round, 85th overall, by the Washington Capitals in 2009 and played 30 games in DC before being traded to the Dallas Stars in 2012. He spent five seasons in Dallas until he was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft and would make it to his first Stanley Cup Final in the Knights' inaugural season in 2018, where they fell in five games to the Capitals.

Eakin was traded to his hometown Winnipeg Jets in 2020 and then signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent in that off-season. After two seasons with the Sabres, Eakin signed with Swiss National League club SCL Tigers, where he has scored four goals and 11 points in 15 games this season.

In 11 NHL seasons, Eakin scored 110 goals and 256 points in 701 regular season games, and eight goals and 19 points in 50 playoff games.

Eakin has represented Canada on four previous occasions, earning gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial U18 tournament in 2008, a fourth-place finish at the IIHF World U18 Championship in 2009, silver at the World Juniors in 2011 and a gold medal at the World Men's Hockey Championship in 2015.

Canada is taking part in the Spengler Cup for the first time since winning their 16th title in 2019. Their first game will be against Czech club HC Sparta Prague on Boxing Day.