2026 World Junior Championship: Tournament Predictions

The 2026 World Junior Championship is finally underway. Here are Inside The Rink writer Conrad Jack’s tournament predictions for this year’s tournament.

Final Predictions

Gold medalists: Canada

Team Canada is coming into the 2026 World Junior Championship with a chip on its shoulder after placing fifth in back-to-back years. The quarterfinal round will certainly be a challenge, given that Czechia has given them trouble, but the Canadians will be up to the task as they aim to spoil the United States’ three-peat.

Silver medalists: Finland

Finland has a strong presence in the net, but there’s no doubt that they’re going to have their hands full throughout the entire tournament. This is a team that isn’t top-heavy like the Swedes, Americans, or Canadians, but the difference is goaltending for Finland. If they can get steady goaltending throughout the entire tournament, they can make themselves a strong contender for a gold medal appearance.

Bronze medalists: United States

The Americans are going to be one of the top teams pushing for a gold medal, but without Trey Augustine leading the charge in net, it’s going to be a rocky road for the USA. This is where the Americans’ demise could meet them; they don’t have a number one goalie in this tournament, but they have the potential for a guy to step up into that role. Regardless, the firepower upfront could mean that the Americans rely on outscoring their opponent, and that could make for some interesting hockey throughout this tournament.

• Fourth place: Sweden
• Fifth place: Czechia
• Sixth place: Slovakia
• Seventh place: Latvia
• Eighth place: Switzerland
• Ninth place: Germany
• Relegated: Denmark

Tournament MVP: James Hagens, USA

The Americans are nowhere near as deep as they were last year, but that only means the likes of James Hagens emerging as a massive on-ice threat. He’ll most likely take that next step for the Americans, and if they get a third straight gold, Hagens will have his mark all over that.

Best forward: Anton Frondell, Sweden

Frondell comes into this tournament with a chance to lead the charge for Sweden, and he’ll be more of an offensive threat, rather than a threat down the middle for the Swedes this year. He’s been slotted into Sweden’s lineup on the wing, freeing him up to be more of a pure scorer.

Admittedly, this award could be a toss-up given the sheer talent in the forward group with the likes of James Hagens (USA), Gavin McKenna (Canada), Aatos Koivu (Finland), Michael Misa (Canada), Will Horcoff (USA), Ivar Stenberg (Sweden), and Max Curran (Czechia).

Best Defenseman: Radim Mrtka, Czechia

Czechia has quite the team this year, and a 6-foot-6 defenseman that can move easily is a massive asset to their medal hopes this year. If things click, Mrtka will have no problem securing an award in this year’s World Junior Championship.

Mrtka will be challenged for this award from the likes of Zayne Parekh (Canada) and Cole Hutson (USA).

Best Goaltender: Petteri Rimpinen, Finland

This one feels nearly like a lock for me this year. Rimpinen was, in my opinion, Finland’s best player in last year’s tournament. He played all seven games, faced the most shots, made the most saves, but only walked away with a silver medal and the best goalie award. Finland will heavily rely on Rimpinen to have yet another excellent tournament.

It will take a lot, but the likes of Jack Ivankovic (Canada), Michal Pradel (Slovakia), Love Harenstam (Sweden), and Nicholas Kempf (USA) are other goalies to watch in this tournament.