The round robin is complete, and the stakes don’t get any lower. The best is yet to come at the World Junior Championships as the calendar turns to 2026 and the eight remaining teams will start on Friday as they look to set their own script for this year’s tournament. 

With no lack of story lines from previous tournaments and new emerging timelines, there is a lot to dissect from the round robin as we head into the games that truly matter. 

This is the stage where heroes are made, legends are written in stone, and a team can become immortal in the tournament’s history books, or be completely forgotten by the time next year’s showcase rolls around. 

We’ll go through each team, the road they had to get to this point and who they can expect to be their biggest X-Factor heading into the knockout stage. 

Match-ups:

Sweden (A1) vs Latvia (B4)

Canada (B1) vs Slovakia (A4)

USA (A2) vs Finland (B3)

Czechia (B2) vs Switzerland (A3)

Germany (A5) vs Denmark (A5) – Relegation

***

Group A

Sweden

The Swedes are looking to return to the top of the podium for the first time since 2012 when Mika Zibanejad scored the overtime winner against the Finns to capture gold. 

Following heartbreak four times in the finals along the way, the Swedes put themselves in the best position possible with a win over the Americans on New Year’s Eve to face off against Latvia, opposed to the Finns, which is a massive advantage moving forward. 

X-Factor: Love Harenstam 

Harenstam was sensational to start the New Year’s Eve showdown with the Americans. The Americans came out on fire and he held the fort. He has started three of Sweden’s games thus far and has a 0.919 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against-average. 

Sweden has struggled to produce offence consistently, and he has showcased his athletic ability along the way to keep them in the mix each night out. 

https://twitter.com/DylanLoucks4/status/2006542555899433198

Honourable Mentions: Jack Berglund, Lucas Pettersson

***

USA

The Americans had a tough start to the tournament losing Cole Hutson to a scary injury in the first game against Germany. They struggled to put away the Swiss, and fell behind early against the Slovaks before mounting a comeback. All of this caught up when they fell behind 3-0 to the Swedes and failed to pull back within one for the rest of the way, despite several looks on the powerplay. 

They are in tough as their scoring has not been as consistent as it needs to be, but with returnees from last year’s team that went back-to-back looking to be the first three peat in the program’s history at the tournament, they have their work cut out for them. 

X-Factor: Will Zellers + James Hagens

While the rest of the roster has struggled to score on occasion, it never felt that way with these two on the ice. The Boston Bruins prospects have been dynamite, and the driving force for the American offence after losing top defenceman Cole Hutson to a scary injury in the first game. 

U.S. with some work to do but the #NHLBruins connection at it again. Zellers starts the play with a take away, and finishes it off a Hagens rebound. pic.twitter.com/67XxeU3taJ

— Brian DeFelice (@briandefelice_) January 1, 2026

Bruins fans have a lot to be excited about with these two. There were question marks around Hagens heading into the draft, but he and Zellers (acquired in Charlie Coyle trade) have been the driving force on the offence, and will need to continue to do so if they want to get anywhere in the knockout stage. 

Honourable Mentions: Brodie Ziemer, Teddy Stiga

***

Switzerland

The Swiss have a lot to keep their heads high about heading into their quarterfinal date with the Czechs. Rattling off a couple of wins against Germany and Slovakia, they found themselves very much in their games against the USA (2-1) and Sweden (4-2). They have struggled when swinging above their weight class to score, which will need to change to advance to their first semi-final appearance since 2019.

X-Factor: Lars Steiner (‘26 Eligible)

Steiner has been the guy for Switzerland. Constantly hovering around the top of the circle on the powerplay, he is the evident top option for the one-timer. He has just the one goal to show for it in four games, but a lot of that comes from the poor puck movement in those moments. 

Once he has the space in front of him, it shouldn’t be long before Steiner hits the back of the net. And the Czechs will have to be weary of that threat. 

Honourable Mentions: Leon Muggli, Christian Kirsch

***

Slovakia

The Slovaks have been in and around the tournament’s best all along. They have yet to lose by more than a goal and have led for large swaths of the tournament. Unfortunately, they will have a tall task in Canada on the other end for the quarterfinals. Teams like Latvia have laid the roadmap to defeat Canada, and they will certainly need a plan similar to the one they have deployed thus far to give themselves a chance to pull off the upset. 

X-Factor: Tomas Chrenko (‘26 Eligible)

The current leader in tournament scoring, Chrenko has been a machine at creating space. Chrenko is always a threat when he’s on the ice due to his speed and great gauging of the pace of play. 

The Slovaks have never had a player lead the tournament in scoring when all was said and done, and they will have their work cut out for them with Canada looming. But if they can pull off the upset and find their way into the semi-finals, Chrenko could be on the cusp of making history in his draft year. Your best players need to be your best at this point in the tournament, and Chrenko is no exception. 

Honourable Mentions: Luka Radvoijevich

***

Group B

Canada

Canada bounced back from a horrid showing last year where they could not buy a goal when they needed it most, and are now yet to score less than seven goals in a game beside the outlier in the 2-1 overtime win over Latvia. 

The scoring and defence is there, but a shaky Carter George raised question marks heading into the quarter-finals. He started three of Canada’s four games, but now his status is up for grabs, so worth noting if Jack Ivankovic sees the crease against the Slovaks. 

Potential X-Factor: Michael Hage

Hage has been everywhere in some of the biggest moments thus far for Canada. He restored the lead in the opener against Czechia, while assisting on the eventual game winning goal. He netted the overtime winner against Latvia in yet another nailbiter against what has been Canadian kryptonite in recent years. 

Hage finds himself in a three way tie with Parekh and Gavin McKenna for the team lead in scoring. If he continues on this trajectory and can help Canada capture gold, he could find himself a dark horse for tournament MVP when all is said and done. 

MICHAEL HAGE WITH THE OVERTIME WINNER! 🚨

LE BUT DE LA VICTOIRE EN PROLONGATION DE MICHAEL HAGE! 🚨#WorldJuniors | #MondialJuniorpic.twitter.com/ka9NDeUVbX

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 28, 2025

I would be remiss if I did not mention Zayne Parekh. After last year’s snub, he has been the risk-reward candidate Canada needed in the last few tournaments, and it is paying off. He sits tied for the tournament lead in points. 

11 points was the total Cole Hutson set last year, and Parekh will certainly be the key to unlocking this team’s potential, while maybe staring down history simultaneously. 

Honourable Mentions: Tij Iginla, Brady Martin, Zayne Parekh

***

Czechia

The Czechs find themselves with the second seed in Group B, thanks in large part to an adjustment after their opener against Canada, where they lost a shooting gallery 7-5 on Boxing Day. They even gutted out a 2-1 overtime win against the Finns, where they showed they can take the game anyway you want it to go. The Czechs are looking to lock in a spot in the semi-finals for the fifth year in a row with a win Friday against the Swiss.

X-Factor: Tomas Galvas

Galvas has been Czechia’s best defenceman thus far in the tournament and will be considered for tournament MVP honours should the Czechs go the distance. With seven points in his four games, he has shown his foot and transition speed to be a pure asset to go with the unpredictability. That’s what happens when you pack the threat of a shot and a game breaking pass into one skater. His vision certainly does not hurt either. He will be a key component should the Czechs run into Canada or Sweden in the semis. 

Honourable Mentions: Adam Jiricek, Max Curran

***

Finland

The Finns found themselves in a precarious spot on Wednesday evening, with a win locking in first place in Group B, versus the third place finish they got, which will result in them facing the USA. Not everything is doom and gloom, however. Petteri Rimpinen, prior to New Year’s Eve, was repping a 0.938 save percentage, and they had found their scoring touch. 

X-Factor: Petteri Rimpinen

Heading into the New Year’s Eve showdown with Canada, Petteri Rimpinen had a 0.938 save percentage and a sub-2.00 goals-against-average. He allowed six goals against Canada, but should still be leaned on when they face the hosts on Friday evening. 

The scoring has been there for Finland, but Rimpinen has had to come up huge on a few occasions. He will need to be better come the knockout stage, but if he cannot return to form, the Finns will not get very far to begin with. His play will determine how far this team can go, especially since the matchups don’t get any easier.

Honourable Mentions: Roope Vesterinen, Oliver Suvanto

***

Latvia

The Latvians are growing a reputation for being a pesky group that can cause problems, and that’s what they did to Canada and Czechia. The plan has to be simple, and that is to defend and wait for their shots. Against the Swedes, it does not get much simpler than that. 

X-Factor: Alberts Smits (‘26 Eligible)

Smits and his towering demeanour were a big reason Latvia was able to stick around in the games they found themselves with a chance to win in. His large 6-3 frame is towering when trying to break into the zone wide. Smits reminds me a lot of the conversation around Norwegian defender Stian Solberg and his ability to defend with a cannon of a shot, which he likely will not get ample opportunity to utilize. 

Smits will be a large part in shutting down a Swedish attack that just netted six goals on the Americans. Smits will play a large role with around 25 minutes on the ice, and will be tasked with facing the top line and to keep the offence to the perimeter. 

He has pedigree in this year’s draft, and for good reason. 

Alberts Smits sure is making an impact on clubs here.

As one NHL scout just put it:

"I won't blink an eye when he's the first (defenseman) off the board this year."

— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) December 30, 2025

Honourable Mentions: Kristers Ansons, Bruno Osmanis 

***

As always, it looks like there will be a few marquee matchups to close out the tournament with the prospect of Canada vs USA in the semi-finals, so there will be lots of intrigue to go around. 

With Canada and Sweden looking like the favorites, don’t sleep on anyone! These last few years have shown, no matter how comfortable a contender can feel at this tournament, all it takes is one bounce, and history is rewritten. 

Sean Crocker