The 2025 world juniors are set to be another holiday classic. Some of The Hockey News' digital contributors bravely guess the medallists and top players ahead of the tournament.
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)
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
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. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum.