By Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman

The 2025 World Juniors are around the corner.

Ahead of the tournament, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Max Bultman convened for a second time to build out lineups for the big five countries of Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland and Czechia. Here are their final roster projections, plus a hypothetical Russian team.

Note that these are predictions and not necessarily the picks our panel would make themselves.

As usual with Team Canada, who gets left off is going to make bigger headlines than who they pick this year.

Our projected roster doesn’t include top-10 picks Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim), Carter Yakemchuk (Ottawa) and Tij Iginla (Utah), a first-rounder playing pro in Bradly Nadeau (Carolina), and one of the top scorers in the WHL over the last three seasons in Riley Heidt (Minnesota). Other names we often get questions about, like exceptional status player and OHL leading scorer Michael Misa and Montreal Canadiens first-rounder Michael Hage, aren’t even factors for selection camp invites, let alone the roster.

Yakemchuk was the toughest cut, but our panel doesn’t expect all three of Sam Dickinson, Zayne Parekh and Yakemchuk to be on the team. Parekh and Yakemchuk may end up competing for one job running PP1, too, and both are righties. We lean Parekh after he had a better World Junior Summer Showcase (Sawyer Mynio and Parekh also played together there) and because his head coach in Saginaw, Chris Lazary, is on Canada’s bench (though Yakemchuk had a better NHL camp and it could well be him). Matthew Schaefer’s stellar play in Erie since returning from mononucleosis and standout performances with Hockey Canada also earned him a spot, with the seventh D job going to a defense-first type in righty Andrew Gibson, who could penalty kill and play on the third pairing if Schaefer or one of the 2006-born players falter.

Harrison Brunicke, after an impressive rookie tournament and training camp with the Penguins (and after he stepped up defensively for Canada at U18 worlds last spring) was also given consideration and has played his way into a selection camp invite, but is more likely a part of the 2026 team in Minnesota. This defense also excludes 19-year-old Leafs prospect Noah Chadwick, who plays for Team Canada management group lead Peter Anholt in Lethbridge (though there are concerns about Chadwick’s skating and so-so summer camp), Flames prospect Étienne Morin, and the Kraken’s Caden Price, who could all get selection camp invites.

Up front, Easton Cowan, Carson Rehkopf, Brayden Yager and Matthew Wood are four returnees, and Calum Ritchie and Jett Luchanko are also locks. Though Ritchie is a natural center and could play down the middle if they feel this group lacks size/experience with three 2006-born centers, he has played the wing for Hockey Canada over the years and we project him there to start. That really only leaves one top-six left-wing spot open, which likely comes down to Andrew Cristall and Gavin McKenna. We’ve started the 2026 phenom there but Cristall was a standout at the World Junior Summer Showcase, nearly made the Capitals out of camp and has been the most productive player in the CHL since returning to junior. Both should be on the team but both may not play atop the lineup.

Once you start to do the math, that leaves just four bottom-six roster spots left. Porter Martone, who has been a captain with Canada, adds size and plays on the Brampton Steelheads with Rehkopf, edged out Nadeau, Sennecke and Heidt for the last top-nine spot. Then we expect they’ll go with an energy line for the fourth, likely featuring two or all three of London captain Denver Barkey (one of the last cuts from last year’s team), penalty killer and U18 worlds standout Cole Beaudoin (Utah) and reigning QMJHL MVP Mathieu Cataford (Vegas), three natural centers who give the coaching staff flexibility.

Nadeau, Sennecke and Heidt are very much in the conversation though — more so than Iginla, we believe.

In net, Carter George was excellent for Canada at U18 worlds in the spring and Carson Bjarnason has the best numbers of their available goalies. Scott Ratzlaff is also the lone returnee and should be at selection camp, though Canada often takes just two goalies when the tournament is held in North America. Cut are top 2025 prospects Joshua Ravensbergen (who was at the World Junior Summer Showcase) and Jack Ivankovic (who has been a stud for Hockey Canada), as well Saskatoon’s excellent Evan Gardner. — Scott Wheeler

We’re being a little bold in projecting Will Smith onto this roster, considering he’s currently playing for the San Jose Sharks and has even seen a recent uptick in ice time. But it’s been a quieter NHL start for the 2023 No. 4 pick, and it seems at least plausible the Sharks could loan him out to Team USA for this tournament. If so, the Americans would surely welcome the chance to reunite the dynamic trio of Smith, Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, which would give them the most dangerous line in the tournament.

Add in their returning starting goaltender from their 2024 gold medal team, Trey Augustine; a dynamic blueliner in Zeev Buium; and the potential No. 1 pick in 2025, James Hagens; and the Americans certainly have a lot going for them as they look for their first ever back-to-back golds.

Their center depth — especially if Smith plays — looks excellent, with Danny Nelson and Oliver Moore offering an outstanding 3-4 combination, and certainly still a more-than-passable duo on the second and third lines if needed.

The blue line is a little light on returners beyond Buium and Drew Fortescue, with Aram Minnetian not playing at last year’s event, but he and Paul Fischer are a pair of reliable 19-year-olds on the third pair. Cole Hutson is off to a nice start at Boston University and EJ Emery complements him well with plenty of pedigree and a track record together at the NTDP.

One name to watch here could be draft-eligible Logan Hensler. We went with the more experienced Adam Kleber for now but Hensler could make sense as a seventh D, getting him some experience with an eye toward the 2026 tournament.

There are some lingering questions, though. The most controversial omission here will be Sharks prospect Quentin Musty, who Wheeler advocated should be on the roster. But with Cole Eiserman and Trevor Connelly already in the mix, we ultimately felt there were too many consistency questions with the middle-six winger group — although Eiserman’s excellent start at Boston University should clear away any lingering hesitation around his so-so camp this summer.

We instead gave the nod to Red Wings prospect Max Plante, who, while injured early this season, had a very good camp showing in the summer and can still bring offense via his hockey sense.

We also considered projecting Blackhawks prospect AJ Spellacy onto the roster, after a strong preseason performance, although that would have been in a fourth-line role. — Max Bultman

Sweden has several key returners from its 2024 silver-medal team, particularly on defense where Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Theo Lindstein and Tom Willander should give them one of the best top-four collections at this tournament. Lindstein led all defensemen in scoring at last year’s event, Sandin-Pellikka is off to a roaring start in the SHL and Willander brings the two-way game that should translate into a big-minutes role at this tournament.

Their top forward line, too, is made up of three returners, slotting a pair of productive scoring wingers alongside a complete, big-bodied center in Edstrom. That line has plenty of familiarity together and will likely need to be relied upon heavily for scoring, though it’s worth noting Nashville prospect Felix Nilsson is off to a strong start in the SHL.

We debated the final forward spot, ultimately deciding on Herman Traff who has spent all of this season playing against men, but Pronman preferred Noel Nordh, who has more of a track record with the national team. We also considered Simon Zether and Lucas Pettersson for the final forward spots.

There are two potential 2025 draft eligibles in this projection: Victor Eklund, who has been highly productive in the Swedish Allsvenskan, and Anton Frondell, who came into the season looking like a potential top-five pick but has been quieter to begin the year. We’re less sure of Frondell’s place in the team, particularly because he’s currently out with injury. — Max Bultman

The Finns haven’t medaled at the last two World Juniors and will need big performances from their top dogs to do so this year.

The return of Konsta Helenius from AHL Rochester is a must but not a given. Aron Kiviharju (Minnesota) and Emil Pieniniemi (Pittsburgh) will log big minutes on their blue line. And they’ll need their core of 19-year-old forwards, led by Rasmus Kumpulainen (Minnesota), Kasper Halttunen (San Jose) and his one-timer, and Jesse Kiiskinen (who has worn the ‘C’ for them), to step up.

Our final cuts were 19-year-old Golden Knights prospect Tuomas Uronen and 18-year-old Habs prospect Aatos Koivu, as well as goalies Noa Vali and Veeti Louhivaara (New Jersey). Utah third-rounder Veeti Väisänen, who was a big part of their U18 team, has also likely played his way out of the mix in Medicine Hat. — Scott Wheeler

After several years of Czechia contending with the big boys at the World Juniors and three consecutive medals, this looks like a typical Czech group. They have good players in first-round picks like Eduard Sale and Adam Jiricek and potential first-rounder Radim Mrtka. Their blue line could be relatively competitive, but I think this group will struggle to score due to a lack of high-end skill. Michael Hrabal has the tools to be the best goalie in the tournament and the ability to steal a game, which Czechia will likely need out of him to upset a top team. — Corey Pronman

This would have been a competitive Russian team that could have contended for a medal. Nikita Artamonov, Daniil But and Ivan Demidov have all been excellent scorers at the KHL level this season. Their blue line would have been the second-best in the tournament sporting three first-round picks, two of the top-10 variety in Dmitri Simashev and Anton Silayev. In net, Yegor Zavragin has emerged as a top prospect and could have contended for top goalie honors.

As has become a common theme for Russian age groups, their issue would be at center. Yegor Surin is a legit World Junior top-six center, but after that, they would be asking either a 17-year-old Ivan Ryabkin or more mid-range talents to play a major role. It’s possible they would be forced to even try Demidov at center in this scenario. — Corey Pronman

(Top photos of Gabe Perreault and Matthew Wood: Bjorn Larsson Rosvall / TT News Agency / TT Nyhetsbyrån / AFP via Getty Images and Adam Ihse / TT / TT News Agency / AFP via Getty Images)