The 2025 world juniors are set to be another holiday classic. Check out the full article at THN.com/world-junior-championship. The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship takes place in Ottawa, Canada, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2025. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExMjg4OTg1MDAyMDU4OTEx/2025-iihf-wjc_1.jpg] The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship takes place in Ottawa, Canada, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2025. 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 [https://twitter.com/theTonyFerrari] (NHL Draft/Prospect Analyst [https://thehockeynews.com/author/tony-ferrari]) Jonathan Tovell [https://twitter.com/journalismjon] (Deputy Managing Editor, Digital Media [https://thehockeynews.com/author/jonathan-tovell]) Jason Chen [https://x.com/jasonchen16] (Fantasy Hockey Features/Podcast [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/fantasy/]) Adam Kierszenblat [https://twitter.com/Adamkblat] (WHL Site Editor [https://thehockeynews.com/whl/]) Jacob Titus [https://bsky.app/profile/jakewtitus.bsky.social] (QMJHL Site Editor [https://thehockeynews.com/qmjhl/]) Carol Schram [https://twitter.com/pool88] (Features [https://thehockeynews.com/author/carol-schram]) Andre Leal [https://x.com/leal_andre19] (Digital Correspondent [https://thehockeynews.com/author/andre-leal]) Janson Duench [https://x.com/pucksdeepJD] (Digital Correspondent [https://thehockeynews.com/author/janson-duench]) Patrick Present [https://x.com/patrickcpresent] (Anaheim Ducks Site Editor [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/]) 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 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 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 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 Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [https://info.thehockeynews.com/mail/microsites/951/1/gTeQVf?_gl=1*ustlbj*_ga*NjkyMzUxMy4xNjYzNjIwMzQ3*_ga_PK63FB1PME*MTcxMzUwOTExNi40NDguMS4xNzEzNTA5MjA5LjU5LjAuMA..]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum [https://thehockeynews.rtb.io/THNHOME/posts].
