Much has already been said about Canada’s disappointing finish at the 2024 World Junior Championship. Most fans knew this roster wasn’t quite as strong as last year’s gold-medal-winning squad, but no one expected it to be one that would go home without a medal at all. But, in the end, the team’s best players didn’t rise to the occasion and, when the chips were down, couldn’t make it past Czechia in the quarterfinal. The only thing left to do is to look forward and focus on the future.
The good news is that the future looks pretty good. After having just one player with World Junior experience in 2024, Canada could have up to seven returning players in 2025, and although that’s bound to fluctuate depending on whether any make the NHL, it gives the team a wealth of experience to draw on. Hockey Canada also won’t have any problem filling out the rest of the roster, too, as plenty of talent was left at home due to a variety of reasons. Possibly the best part of the 2025 tournament is that it will be played on home ice with Ottawa, Ontario slated to host for the first time since 2009. In front of a hometown crowd, Canada will have a major advantage as well as a little extra desire to not repeat their failures of the past.
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So, who makes Canada’s team next year? As previously mentioned, there are a lot of options, but given that Canada struggled to score goals, it seems logical that the 2025 roster will be made up of plenty of dangerous puck movers. Here’s my prediction for Canada’s 2025 World Junior team.
The 2024 World Junior Returnees
Although Canada can have seven potential returning players for 2025, that number is somewhat deceptive since it includes the expected first-overall pick, Macklin Celebrini. After watching him in 2024, there’s little chance he won’t make the NHL as an 18-year-old, although he could decide to remain in college for one more year like the Buffalo Sabres’ Owen Power. However, for this prediction, we’ll assume he’s unavailable for this roster.
That leaves six players: Brayden Yager, Carson Rehkopf, Oliver Bonk, Matthew Wood, Scott Ratzlaff, and Easton Cowan. Yager was one of Canada’s better forwards despite playing most of his minutes on the fourth line, putting up two goals and five points in five games, which ranked second on the team in both categories behind Celebrini. The same goes for Wood and Rehkopf, who slotted into the bottom six and each finished with two goals and four points. If they’re all available next season, they’ll likely get a nice little upgrade to the top line.
Cowan, on the other hand, was one of the more disappointing players on the team. Despite putting up 39 points in 23 games with the London Knights, he finished the tournament with just a goal and an assist despite playing alongside Rehkopf and Yager. Regardless of his performance, though, he is a highly intelligent and competitive player and will be a shoo-in to return.
Bonk didn’t see much playing time compared to the rest of Canada’s defencemen in 2024, often registering the fifth-most minutes any given night. But he still came away with three assists, which was more than both Jake Furlong and Noah Warren. Ratzlaff, despite coming into the tournament as the expected starter, found himself as Canada’s third-string option and spent most of the tournament in the stands. However, being part of the team — no matter how limited the role — gives a player a big advantage if they return.
Getting a Second Chance to Play for Canada
Tanner Molendyk should be included as a returning player, but after accompanying the team to Gothenburg, he injured his wrist in a pre-tournament game, which took him out of the tournament before he could play an official game. His speed and awareness were sorely missed on the blue line and having him available in 2025 will give Canada a dangerous weapon on defence. Denver Barkey could also almost count himself as a returnee after playing three exhibition games in Sweden. Unlike Molednyk, he never made it onto Canada’s official roster before getting sent home. Still, some thought he should have made the team, especially after a strong camp where he was one of the most energetic players. Canada won’t make the same mistake twice.
Canada also left off some very talented players at home when it announced its selection camp, with the list headlined by the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) top scorer, Riley Heidt. There was speculation his poor performance at the 2023 U18 World Juniors left a bitter taste in Hockey Canada’s mouth, and it didn’t help that Canada had plenty of centre depth, but his performance this season is impossible to ignore. As of this article, he’s on pace to hit 132 points in 66 games. Team Canada will make room for him in 2025.
Fellow WHLer Andrew Cristall should also be at the 2025 tournament after surprisingly being left off Canada’s selection camp roster. His absence was all that more noticeable as Canada struggled to score in 2024; in 29 games this season, he has 21 goals and could hit 45 by the end of the season. Another that could have helped in that area is Bradly Nadeau, another surprising omission. As a freshman at the University of Maine, he’s already at almost a goal a game, which is bound to improve next season.
Newcomers to the World Juniors
So far, Canada’s roster for 2025 has a lot of skill on the top two lines, but not a lot of size. Wood and Rehkopf are the only players who stand over 6-foot-0. Even though size isn’t everything, Hockey Canada loves to have a strong, gritty bottom six. That gives Calum Ritchie an advantage to make the team. While not the most offensively gifted, the 6-foot-2 centre was one of Canada’s best players at both the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky and U18 World Juniors. He has the intelligence to know when to throw a big hit, too, which makes him a valuable depth player at the international level.
Cayden Lindstrom provides another big body in the bottom six. The 6-foot-4 winger has been rapidly rising on the 2024 Draft boards thanks to his impressive blend of skill and physicality. It’s not every day you find a player who is projected to finish his draft season with 54 goals, 92 points, and 132 penalty minutes. Joining him is Ethan Gauthier, who may not have the size, but plays a very Canadian-like game, meaning that he’ll do whatever it takes to win regardless of the role he’s handed. He’s no slouch with the puck either as he led Canada’s 2023 U18 team with six goals in five games. That leaves just one forward spot left and I gave it to Berkly Catton, a projected top-10 pick in 2024 who has incredibly offensive instincts but is defensively inconsistent. Still, he’s a player you don’t want to leave at home.
Related: Celebrini Clearly Atop 2024 Draft Class with WJC Performance
Part of Canada’s scoring woes came from the lack of involvement from the team’s defence, but that’s an easy fix for 2025. Sam Dickinson is another projected top-10 pick with scouting reports praising his maturity and poise while sitting at nearly a point per game in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He should be joined by fellow 2024 prospect Carter Yakemchuk, the 6-foot-3 Calgary Hitmen defender who can skate well and has a cannon of a shot. His 39 points put him fourth among all defencemen in the WHL, but his 16 goals sit first. While his defensive abilities have been questioned, there’s no question he has elite skill with the puck.
Rounding out the defence should be Lukas Dragicevic and Zayne Parekh, both of whom are dangerous offensive presences on the blue line. Dragicevic, the top-ranked defenceman at last year’s draft, is a dangerous puck mover and a great skater and could pair up well with Molendyk. Parekh has a similar ability to control the play effortlessly and create turnovers, which makes up for some defensive inconsistencies.
Goaltending will be, as always, the most difficult position to predict, but one name jumps off the page. Carson Bjarnason was the highest-drafted Canadian goalie in 2023, going 51st to the Philadelphia Flyers, and was solid as Ratzlaff’s backup at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He’s easily the highest-profile netminder left off the 2024 team and should be a lock for 2025. Canada frequently only brings two goalies when they host the tournament, but if they choose to bring up one more for the experience, Carter George is an interesting third-string option. As Canada’s starter at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he posted a .889 save percentage but still won a gold medal. He should be a mid-round draft choice in 2024.
As a final note, two names to keep an eye on are Michael Misa, who is projected to be a very early pick at the 2025 NHL Draft, and Gavin McKenna, who’s likely to go top-three at the 2026 Draft. Both players are dynamic offensive threats as Misa currently leads the Saginaw Spirit with 17 goals while McKenna led Team Canada at the 2024 U17 World Hockey Challenge. Canada doesn’t usually take undrafted players unless they are either valuable depth pieces like Owen Allard or generational talents like Celebrini or Connor Bedard. These two certainly fall into the latter category, but will it be enough to usurp some of the more experienced talent?
2025 is All About the Offense
With both the Americans and Swedes set to lose a lot of their top talent, Canada’s 2025 club immediately becomes a medal favourite and should erase the bitter memory of the 2024 World Juniors for Canadian fans.
| Matthew Wood | Brayden Yager | Easton Cowan |
| Andrew Cristall | Denver Barkey | Carson Rehkopf |
| Bradly Nadeau | Riley Heidt | Calum Ritchie |
| Berkly Catton | Cayden Lindstrom | Ethan Gauthier |
| Tanner Molendyk | Lukas Dragicevic | |
| Oliver Bonk | Carter Yakemchuk | |
| Sam Dickinson | Zayne Parekh | |
| Scott Ratzlaff | Carson Bjarnason | Carter George |
Already, this Canadian team is vastly different from the 2024 roster, which relied heavily on blue-collar, grinding hockey. While there are some concerns with size and defensive consistency, that shouldn’t be too big of a problem. This is an offensively-charged team that will worry about scoring more than the other team, not preventing the others from scoring on them. After all, physicality got Canada into trouble in 2024, so shying away from that a bit might not be the worst thing. In any case, this roster promises to be a lot of fun, which is exactly what the World Juniors should be.
