World Juniors 2025: The Hockey News Predictions

The World Junior Championship has become a fixture on the hockey calendar and one of the year's most anticipated events. Let's predict it.

Nine contributors to The Hockey News have made a few predictions for the annual U-20 men's tournament, showcasing some of the top NHL prospects and draft-eligible talents.

The results are always interesting with these world juniors predictions, which we've done for the past few years now. Those who participated in this exercise filled out a poll with their best guesses as to what might happen between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5, 2025, in Ottawa.

Here are the contributors who took part:

Tony Ferrari (NHL Draft/Prospect Analyst)

Jonathan Tovell (Deputy Managing Editor, Digital Media)

Jason Chen (Fantasy Hockey Features/Podcast)

Adam Kierszenblat (WHL Site Editor)

Jacob Titus (QMJHL Site Editor)

Carol Schram (Features)

Andre Leal (Digital Correspondent)

Janson Duench (Digital Correspondent)

Patrick Present (Anaheim Ducks Site Editor)

And here are the predictions.

Top Forward

In what was arguably the most contentious category, Ryan Leonard, Calum Ritchie and Gavin McKenna received two votes each.

The top forward could go in any direction because, in a two-week event, a hot few games could be enough to get the honor. Production often matters to such a high degree in a tournament like this.

Ferrari: Ryan Leonard, USA

Tovell: James Hagens, USA

Chen: Calum Ritchie, Canada

Kierszenblat: Ryan Leonard, USA

Titus: Gavin McKenna, Canada

Schram: Easton Cowan, Canada

Leal: Gavin McKenna, Canada

Duench: Dalibor Dvorsky, Slovakia

Present: Calum Ritchie, Canada

Top Defenseman

Without much shock, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Zeev Buium each got three votes as they come into the tournament as favorites. Sandin-Pellikka received the honor last year, after all. It’s a two-horse race, but the dark horses always seem to rise in this category.

Ferrari: Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Sweden

Tovell: Zeev Buium, USA

Chen: Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Sweden

Kierszenblat: Cole Hutson, USA

Titus: Zeev Buium, USA

Schram: Tanner Molendyk, Canada

Leal: Zeev Buium, USA

Duench: Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Sweden

Present: Matthew Schaefer, Canada

Related: World Juniors 2025: One Prospect To Watch From Every Western Conference NHL Team

Top Goalie

Predictably, Trey Augustine is the favorite on his third trip to the world juniors with five votes, and Michael Hrabel of Czechia got two. The interesting thing here is that two Canadian goalies each got one vote: Carter George and Carson Bjarnason. That just goes to show that Canada’s crease is all but decided.

Ferrari: Trey Augustine, USA

Tovell: Michael Hrabal, Czechia

Chen: Trey Augustine, USA

Kierszenblat: Michael Hrabal, Czechia

Titus: Trey Augustine, USA

Schram: Carter George, Canada

Leal: Carson Bjarnason, Canada

Duench: Trey Augustine, USA

Present: Trey Augustine, USA

Related: Team USA Releases Preliminary World Juniors Roster: Initial Reaction, Snubs And Battles

MVP

The MVP voting was all over the place, with Calum Ritchie coming out on top with three votes and Gavin McKenna coming out with two. Only two non-forwards got some recognition, with defenseman Sandin-Pellikka and goalie George each getting one vote.

Ferrari: Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Sweden

Tovell: James Hagens, USA

Chen: Calum Ritchie, Canada

Kierszenblat: Ryan Leonard, USA

Titus: Gavin McKenna, Canada

Schram: Carter George, Canada

Leal: Gavin McKenna, Canada

Duench: Calum Ritchie, Canada

Present: Calum Ritchie, Canada

Related: Canada Announces 2025 World Juniors Roster: Reaction, Full List And Cuts

End of Tournament All-Stars

Ferrari: F Ryan Leonard, F Gavin McKenna, F Otto Stenberg, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D Zeev Buium, G Trey Augustine

Tovell: F James Hagens, F Easton Cowan, F Gabe Perreault, D Zeev Buium, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, G Michael Hrabal

Chen: F Calum Ritchie, F Ryan Leonard, F Gabe Perreault, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D Zeev Buium, G Trey Augustine

Kierszenblat: F Ryan Leonard, F Eduard Sale, F Gavin McKenna, D Cole Hutson, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, G Michael Hrabal

Titus: F Gavin McKenna, F Konsta Helenius, F Gabe Perreault, D Zeev Buium, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, G Trey Augustine

Schram: F Easton Cowan, F Gabe Perreault, F Gavin McKenna, D Tanner Molendyk, D Tom Willander, G Carter George

Leal: F Gavin McKenna, F Dalibor Dvorsky, F Berkly Catton, D Zeev Buium, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, G Carson Bjarnason

Duench: F Dalibor Dvorsky, F Gavin McKenna, F James Hagens, D Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D Zeev Buium, G Trey Augustine

Present: F Calum Ritchie, F Ryan Leonard, F Dalibor Dvorsky, D Matthew Schaefer, D Zeev Buium, G Trey Augustine

Bronze Medal Game

Team Czechia was chosen in six answers, but only twice were they chosen as the winners. Team USA led the way with three bronze wins. The bronze seems to be a fairly wide-open race.

Ferrari: Canada over Czechia

Tovell: Sweden over Czechia

Chen: Finland over Czechia

Kierszenblat: Czechia over Canada

Titus: Finland over Sweden

Schram: USA over Czechia

Leal: USA over Finland

Duench: Czechia over Sweden

Present: USA over Slovakia

Gold Medal Game

Everyone chose either Canada, USA or Sweden to be in the game, but no one chose the Swedes to win. Canada got five nods, while the Americans were chosen four times. It’s pretty close to a dead heat between Canada and the USA.

Ferrari: USA over Sweden

Tovell: USA over Canada

Chen: Canada over USA

Kierszenblat: USA over Sweden

Titus: Canada over USA

Schram: Canada over Sweden

Leal: Canada over Sweden

Duench: USA over Canada

Present: Canada over Sweden

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