Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship – The Hockey Writers World Junior Hockey Championship Latest News, Analysis & More
With December here, it’s time to look ahead to the next big event on the hockey calendar, the 2025 World Junior Championship. Last year, the United States took home their sixth title over the hometown Swedes in Gothenburg, with Czechia taking home the bronze over Finland. Canada, usually a medal contender, surprisingly fell 3-2 to the Czechs in the Quarterfinal, leaving them medal-less for the first time in four years.
The tournament has become a holiday tradition for many hockey fans around the world, beginning on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) each year and ending during the first week of the new year. The WJC has grown remarkably since the inaugural (official) tournament was held in 1977 and has massive international support.
This year, the tournament returns to Ottawa, Canada, for the second time. From 2020-23, Canada hosted the tournament for three straight years, but after being hosted in Sweden, the rotation between European and North American markets has been reestablished. The only change from before 2020 is that the relegation series has been shortened to a single-game knockout. Here’s to hoping we get another wildly exciting tournament this year!
NOTE: Final Roster and Players to Watch articles will be linked below as they are published
Features
Canada’s World Junior Team is in Good Hands with Tanner Molendyk
Team Canada Leaves Notable Names Off 2025 WJC Camp Roster
Team USA Leaves Notable Names Off 2025 WJC Camp Roster
NHL Teams
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
New York Islanders
Philadelphia Flyers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Winnipeg Jets
2025 NHL Draft Rankings
Who Is Eligible to Play?
This is the U20 version of the tournament meaning that players must be under the age of 20 to participate. If a player’s 20th birthday takes place in the year the tournament ends (Jan. 1-Dec 31, 2025), then they are eligible, even if they turn 20 while the tournament is still underway. If a player’s 20th birthday takes place in the year the tournament begins (Jan.1-Dec 26, 2024), they are not eligible. People usually talk about the upper limit for the age eligibility but there is also a lower limit, as players must turn 15 years old in the year the tournament ends.
Ottawa, Canada to Play Host
The World Juniors returns to Canada’s capital city for the second time in the tournament’s history. The city first hosted the tournament in 2009, which saw the Canadians take home their 15th gold medal, beating Sweden 5-1 with two goals from Cody Hodgson and one apiece from P.K. Subban, Angelo Esposito, and Jordan Eberle. Canada dominated the scoresheet, with Hodgson, John Tavares, and Eberle finishing 1-2-3 in points. Tavares took home the tournament’s MVP award, was named the IIHF’s Best Forward, and was selected to the All-Star team along with Subban and Hodgson.
The 2025 World Juniors will be split between the Canadian Tire Centre, home to the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, and TD Place, which hosts both the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). The Canadian Tire Centre will be the preferred location for fans as it will host Group A, the semifinals, and both medal games. Plus, with a capacity of over 18,000, it makes sense to have the hometown Canadians playing in front of the most people possible. TD Place holds a much smaller 5,500, but it’s hosted numerous world-class events, including figure skating, curling, wrestling, and more. However, last season, the arena added nearly 3,000 seats to accommodate the record-setting debut of the PWHL. TD Place will host Group B and the relegation match.
Participating Nations
As I mentioned earlier, Group A consists of Canada, the United States, Finland, Germany, and Latvia while Group B is made up of Sweden, Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Kazakhstan.
Canada will look to retake their crown as the top World Junior nation on home ice after failing to medal in 2024. It won’t be an easy road for them, but they rarely take a back seat for more than a year; the last time they went medal-less was back in 2013 and 2014. With a strong group of returnees, they’ll be in a much better spot than last year. The 2025 tournament also will see the return of a Canada-USA New Year’s Eve game. The two teams have faced off eight times since 2000, but fans have been deprived of the classic rivalry for the past seven years.
Team USA returns as a top challenger for the gold thanks to several key players from its 2024 championship-winning roster expected to return, including Minnesota Wild prospect Zeev Buium and the future of the Montreal Canadiens in net, Jacob Fowler. However, despite the strength of their program in recent years, the Americans have never won back-to-back gold medals. The best they’ve done is following up a gold with a bronze medal, which they did in 2011 and 2018. The San Jose Sharks could change that if they release rookie Will Smith. But they’ll also need to decide what to do with Canadian Macklin Celebrini, who has outperformed his American teammate in the NHL and would give the Canadians a massive boost at the World Juniors.
The Swedes and Czechs will have some significant roster turnover from last year, which will make repeating as medalists more challenging, but they still have some top-end talent that won’t go down without a fight. Tom Willander, Axel Sandin Pellikka, and Theo Lindstien will return to control Sweden’s blue line, while 6-foot-6 goalie Michael Hrabel will have a chance to retake the starting job for Czechia. Finland can’t be counted out, though, with Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Konsta Helenius expected to take a much bigger role in 2025.
Award Winners From the 2024 WJC
Vancouver Canucks’ prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2024 tournament after leading Sweden with six goals and 10 points. He was instrumental in helping the Swedes get to the Final, beating Switzerland and Czechia en route to claiming their first medal – a silver – since 2008.
College star and Anaheim Ducks’ prospect Cutter Gauthier was named the tournament’s best forward. He led the tournament with 12 points and was practically unstoppable whenever he got the puck. His ability to control the pace of the game with size and skill made the Americans a nearly impossible team to handle, helping them take home a gold medal.
Axel Sandin Pellikka was named the best defenceman of the tournament, and although he didn’t lead Sweden’s blue line in points, he was arguably one of the most important defenders on the team, shutting down opposing players with speed and solid defensive play. The Detroit Red Wings prospect scored a crucial overtime goal over Switzerland in the quarterfinals to propel the Swedes into the semifinal.
Hugo Havelid was named the best goalie and the third Swede to take home a tournament award. His .917 save percentage was third-highest at the tournament, but he stood tall against the Canadians, turning away all 21 shots for a 2-0 victory over the gold-medal favourite. It was the second shutout for Havelid in two games, and he didn’t allow a goal until the second period of the next game against the Swiss, giving him a shutout streak of 157:26.
The Media All-Star team voted on at the tournament saw Cutter Gauther, Jiri Kulich, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki selected as the top forwards, Lane Hutson and Theo Lindstein as the top defencemen, and Hugo Havelid as the top goalie at the 2024 World Junior Championship.
2025 WJC Schedule
If you want to follow a specific team or game, here is a full schedule of the games in the tournament, including all medal-round games
Dec. 26
Slovakia vs Sweden
USA vs Germany
Czechia vs Switzerland
Finland vs Canada
Dec. 27
Switzerland vs Slovakia
Germany vs Finland
Sweden vs Kazakhstan
Latvia vs Canada
Dec. 28
Latvia vs USA
Kazakstan vs Czechia
Dec. 29
Switzerland vs Sweden
USA vs Finland
Czechia vs Slovakia
Canada vs Germany
Dec. 30
Slovakia vs Kazakhstan
Germany vs Latvia
Dec. 31
Kazakhstan vs Switzerland
Finland vs Latvia
Sweden vs Czechia
Canada vs USA
Jan. 2 – Quarterfinals
1A vs 4B
2B vs 3A
1B vs 4A
2A vs 3B
A5 vs B5 (Relegation)
Jan. 4 – Semifinals
1A/4B vs 2B/3A
1B/4A vs 2A/3B
Jan. 5
Bronze Medal Game
Gold Medal Game
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