- What: 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
- Date: December 26, 2024 – January 5, 2025
- Location: Canadian Tire Centre and TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- How to Watch: NHL Network
The 49th edition of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships occurs between December 26, 2024, and January 5, 2025, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The United States are the defending champions after beating Sweden 6-2 in the final of the 2024 World Junior Championship. Since 2020, no team other than Canada and the United States has won the tournament. Canada won in 2020, 2022, and 2023. The United States won in 2021, and 2024. The United States club has won gold six times, but never won back-to-back World Junior titles. Canada is the all-time leader in gold medals in the World Juniors with 20.
The 2025 World Juniors Championships begins with two groups of five teams. Group A: United States, Finland, Canada, Latvia, and Germany. Group B: Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan. After a single round-robin series in each group, the top four teams from each group advance to the Playoff Round. Meanwhile, the fifth-placed team in each group moves to the Relegation Round. The winner of each semi-final game will move on to the Gold Medal Game. The losers compete in the Bronze Medal Game.
Before we look at the betting odds, picks, and predictions for the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship, check out our NHL betting picks and our guide to betting on the Stanley Cup.
2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships betting picks
| To Win 2025 World Jr. Championship |  |
 |
 |
| Canada | +105 | +105 | +105 |
| United States | +250 | +250 | +250 |
| Sweden | +625 | +625 | +625 |
| Finland | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Czechia | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Slovakia | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Switzerland | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Germany | +6600 | +6600 | +6600 |
| Latvia | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Kazhakstan | +20000 | +20000 | +20000 |
2025 World Junior Championship betting breakdown: Team Canada
After winning the World Junior Championship in 2022 and 2023, Team Canada failed to earn a medal in 2024, losing to Czechia 3-2 in the quarterfinal. It was the first time since 2019 the team did not earn a medal. Canada hopes for a bounce back like it had in 2020, when it defeated Russia to win gold. The last time Canada went back-to-back years without a medal was 2013-14.
With the 32-player preliminary roster in place, head scout Al Murray said of the players competing for a spot on the final roster, “This is a talented group of young players that is determined to represent Canada with pride over the holidays, and we expect a highly competitive camp with several difficult decisions when determining our final roster.”
Two players to watch for Team Canada are Porter Martone and Matthew Schaefer, who are both expected to be top-five draft picks in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Martone is the leading scorer in the OHL as of this writing with 50 points for the Brampton Steelheads. He is first in the league in assists with 30 and third in goals with 20. Schaefer, a defenseman for the Erie Otters, has 20 points in 15 games. His scoring puts him inside the top 10 of the OHL, where every player above him has played in at least 23 games this year.
Canada always has a deep pool of talent to choose from for this event, so what they need to look for is chemistry, something last year’s squad lacked. This year is even more critical for Team Canada since the tournament is on home ice.
2025 World Junior Championship betting breakdown: Team USA
The United States has never repeated as World Junior champions. In fact, they’ve only medaled twice in the years after they won the tournament, taking the bronze in 2011 and 2018. The team they have assembled for the preliminary roster is deep enough and talented enough for Team USA to capture back-to-back titles.
Goaltender Trey Augustine is back for the team and should get the nod as the starting goalie in the World Juniors. He went 4-0 last year with a goals against average of 1.75 and a .936 save percentage. Sam Hillebrandt is likely to be his backup. Hillebrandt was also on the 2024 roster.
Minnesota Wild draft pick Zeev Buium will likely patrol the club’s blueline. Buium is the top-scoring defenseman for the University of Denver this year and played on the gold-medal junior team in 2024 and the gold-medal winning under-18 squad in 2013.
As for the forwards, James Hagens, Gabe Perreault, Oliver Moore, and Ryan Leonard are all in the mix. Hagens is currently projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft, Perreault was selected 23rd by the NY Rangers in 2023, Moore went 19th to the Chicago Blackhawks, and Leonard was the No. 8 pick in 2023 of the Washington Capitals.
2025 World Junior Championship betting breakdown: Team Sweden
Unlike Team Canada and Team USA, Team Sweden has already named its final roster for the 2025 World Junior Championship. The team is a deep one, with 19 of its players having already been drafted by NHL clubs. Sweden has not won the World Juniors since 2012, but the club picked up a silver in 2024, it’s second-place medal since 2018. Team Sweden won the bronze in 2020 and 2022.
All three of Team Sweden’s goaltenders, Marcus Gidlof (New York Islanders), Melvin Strahl (Columbus Blue Jackets), Melker Thelin, (Utah Hockey Club) have been drafted to the NHL. Thelin is the only one of the trio who is returning from the 2024 World Juniors club.
Sweden is very deep on defense, as six of the seven players named to the club have been drafted. Axel Sandin-Pellikka was the first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings and he will be looked at to lead the Swedish blueliners. He led Sweden’s power play in 2024 and had six points in seven games.
As for the forwards, 10 of the 14 players have been drafted. Otto Stenberg, a first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, had nine points in last year’s tournament. The team will be expecting more output from him in this year’s World Juniors.
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