Today marks the opening day of the IIHF World Junior Championship, one of the best annual international hockey tournaments. It is a Boxing Day tradition for many to sit in front of the TV and watch the hockey stars of tomorrow face off in high-quality best-on-best competition.
Here are the top players to watch this year for every single team.
This year, Group A is an absolute gauntlet which features Canada, the United States, Finland, Germany, and Latvia. Group B features Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan. The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals and the last-place team will advance to the relegation round.
Canada
Canada is loaded with talent even though they left several highly skilled players at home, including Calgary Flames first-rounder Zayne Parekh. The Canadian team was selected based on two-way play and the ability to bring more than one dimension to the ice. However, in a short tournament, goals are everything, and a player to keep an eye on is offensive dynamo Gavin McKenna. The 16-year-old out of Medicine Hat in the WHL was skating as the extra forward to open the pretournament round but could be an x-factor as they search for goals.
Joining him is 2025 draft-eligible forward Porter Martone. He’s projected to be a top-five pick in 2025 and has been on fire to start the season for the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. As their captain, he’s scored 21 goals and 54 points in just 26 games. His teammate Michael Misa was inextricably left off the team, but Martone will be just fine in Canada’s top-six.
On the blueline, keep an eye on Matthew Schaefer, a dynamic skating puck-mover who despite being 17, can dominate games against older competition. He is so cerebral and so talented, and he’s projected to be a top-three pick in the upcoming draft and could easily be Canada’s top defender by the end of the tournament.
Look for Cal Ritchie, Bradly Nadeau, and Jett Luchanko to be leaders on the team as they are the only three players with NHL experience on the roster.
USA
All eyes will be on the projected number-one pick in the upcoming draft, James Hagens. The Boston College freshman is a top-10 scorer in the NCAA and is elite at so many things it’s no surprise he will go first overall and change an NHL franchise overnight. He’ll play on the top line for the Americans and be heavily relied upon all tournament long. He’ll skate between Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, no slouches themselves on the offensive side of the puck.
On the back end, Zeev Buium will be an interesting player to watch. Fresh off being selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2024 NHL Draft, he’s putting up over a point-per-game in the NCAA this season. The Americans’ head coach, David Carle, is the coach at Denver where Buium plays, so he may get some special treatment in this tournament.
Finland
Finland will be led by 2024 14th overall pick Konsta Helenius. In his first North American season, Helenius has amassed 17 points in 28 games, impressive stuff from the 18-year-old. He’ll be looking for revenge after Finland missed the podium last season, too.
He’ll be joined by a trio of solid wingers. Julius Miettinen was selected in the second round of the 2024 draft by the Seattle Kraken, and though he hasn’t played for Finland at the World Juniors before, he’s a point-per-game WHLer over his time in junior. Kasper Halttunen was a second-rounder of the San Jose Sharks last year and spent time with the AHL’s Barracuda this season. And, Jesse Kiiskinen is having a solid season in the Liiga this year, bringing professional experience and leadership to the Finnish team.
Germany
The German team this season doesn’t have the top talent we’re used to seeing from them. No players like Tim Stutzle or JJ Peterka, as they have just one NHL-drafted player on the roster: Norwin Ponocha of the Buffalo Sabres. He’ll play a big role as a shutdown defenceman on the back end but plays a game where if you notice him too much out there, it’s not a good thing.
The most exciting players for Germany are a trio of 2025 NHL draftees in David Lewandowski, Julius Sumpf, and Lenny Boos.
Latvia
Latvia will try to win their game against Germany in order to avoid the relegation round, and if successful, it will be on the back of their two NHL draftees: Darels Uljanskis of the Anaheim Ducks, and Eriks Mateiko of the Washington Capitals. They’ll have nine players returning from last year’s squad and will hope their familiarity and continuity are enough to get them into the quarters.
Sweden
The Swedes are favourites to win Group B and are led by the reigning WJC top defenceman in Axel Sandin-Pellikka. The uber-skilled blueliner could become just the second player in WJC history to win the award twice, and he has all the talent to do it. ASP is currently operating at around a point per game in Sweden’s top men’s league, the SHL.
On offence, all eyes will be on Otto Stenberg, who put up a hat-trick in the opening game of the tournament last year and amassed nine points in nine pretournament games this year. Sweden also boasts a projected top-10 pick in the 2025 draft, Viktor Eklund. He’s the younger brother of Sharks forward William Eklund, he’s a dynamic undersized player who will be looking to improve his draft stock as much as possible.
Sweden could challenge for gold as they bring such a deep, balanced roster to the tournament.
Czechia
The Czechs don’t have a ton of top talent this year but do have some very good players who will shine for them. The best is forward Eduard Sale, currently playing for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL and has 13 points in 23 games as a 19-year-old. As well, Adam Jecho will be playing in his first WJC, and his 6’5″ frame will catch your eye. He’s extremely talented and will be a key player for Czechia. These two will look to carry the mail on offence.
On defence, Adam Jiricek is the player to watch, though he’s been hurt since November 6 and may not be fully healthy. If he is, he’ll be the backbone of the Czech blueline, and can really do it all at both ends of the ice. Czechia may be in tough to extend their medal streak to three years.
Slovakia
Slovakia boasts one of the top players in the tournament, Dalibor Dvorsky. He’s on an absolute tear in the AHL for Springfield and has made the St. Louis Blues look very good for drafting him 10th overall in 2023. He’s on pace for a ~60-point season which would be historic for a teenage AHLer. Dvorsky is the real deal and is an early favourite for the tournament’s top forward and MVP.
Slovakia also has a projected 2025 first-rounder in Luka Radivojevic. After moving stateside to play for Muskegon in the USHL, Radivojevic has 10 points in 19 games. He’ll be a major piece on the Slovakia blueline and will garner lots of attention as a draft eligible.
Slovakia is a lock to make the quarterfinals, and will not be an easy out for whoever they face.
Switzerland
Like Canada, Switzerland will be led up front by a 2026 draft-eligible player. Lars Steiner is currently third in scoring among 17-year-olds in the QMJHL with 14 goals and 36 points in 29 games for Rouyn-Noranda. He’s incredible on the power play and will play a key role offensively for Switzerland this year. Outside of Steiner, though, Switzerland doesn’t have any true top talent in this year’s tournament.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is back in the WJC for the first time since 2020 after earning a promotion last year. As is usual with promoted teams, the Kazakhs will be in tough to advance to the quarterfinals and are likely to face a much better Latvia or Germany in the relegation round. Kazakhstan has just one CHLer in the tournament, Asanali Sarkenov from the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. He has six goals and 15 points in 21 games.
Let the World Juniors begin
The action is officially getting underway in Ottawa and this year’s crop of future stars is exciting as ever. May the best team win!
