The final game of the preliminary round for the 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC) was one between two bitter rivals. Canada and the United States went toe-to-toe, with the Americans coming out on top 4-1. The victory clinched first place in Group A for them, while their Canadian counterparts fell to third. What were some takeaways?
United States’ Cole Hutson Making His Case as Tournament’s Best Defenseman
The United States’ Cole Hutson is admittedly being boosted by a five-assist performance against Germany to open the WJC, but his first-period goal and a huge third-period assist against Canada put him up to eight points in the four-game preliminary round. No player has more. As a result, he could have a shot as the tournament’s best defenseman. At the very least, he’ll be in the discussion.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
The left-shot defender was taken by the Washington Capitals 43rd overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. They acquired the pick from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for depth forward Beck Malenstyn. So far, it’s looking like Washington made out well.
The best defenseman from 2024, Sweden’s Axel Sandin Pellikka, has as good of a chance as anyone to take the title—he is the only other player with eight points. However, a chance at a repeat might be derailed. Hutson’s playmaking ability is a huge asset, but it’s his shot that has given the United States some life recently. He has goals in back-to-back contests.
George Continues to Give Canada a Chance
Throughout the preliminary round, Canada showed they aren’t exactly an offensive powerhouse. While they will possess the puck a lot and hound the opposition with shots, there won’t be many high-danger ones. Even though they’ve had a sizable shot advantage throughout the tournament, Canada is playing a style where not a ton of those will go in. As a result, they need goaltender Carter George to be on his best behavior. His two-game shutout streak was broken by Hutson in the first period but he still gave his team a chance to win.
While he did allow three goals in this game, all of them were on the power play. Canada’s discipline was as bad as it has been all tournament (foreshadowed in their loss to Latvia). George was perfect at 5-on-5 and only has three goals against in three contests, anyhow. He’s been a rock between the pipes and has kept them in games.
Allowing zero non-power-play goals against the two best teams in Group A (United States and Finland) says everything about George, a second-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 2024. Without his exceptional play in the net, it would be somewhat difficult to go into the Quarterfinal versus Czechia with any confidence. However, he is a glimmer of hope in what has otherwise been an underwhelming four contests for the Canadians.
United States’ Trey Augustine Had Vital Bounce-Back Game
Sure, a large portion of Canada’s shots weren’t too threatening, but netminder Trey Augustine was even struggling with those entering this contest. With a .879 save percentage through two games in the 2025 WJC, that’s not gold-medal goaltending. However, the Michigan native turned it around in the most important match of the tournament. His performance gave the United States first place in Group A.
Just because Canada’s high-danger chance generation was subpar doesn’t mean Augustine wasn’t challenged. Because he was. He remained calm and composed between the pipes when breakdowns occurred, turning aside 38 of the 39 pieces of rubber he saw.
Heading into the Quarterfinal, this is a huge confidence booster for a netminder who needed it. The Americans’ 5-on-5 offense wasn’t superb by any means, so having a strong goaltending performance shows they can win in multiple ways when push comes to shove.
Canada’s Power Play Is Improving
In their first two games, Canada’s power play did not look great. Despite their numerous opportunities on the man advantage (including versus a Latvia team they were expected to dominate), they struck once and didn’t look all that intimidating aside from that. Then, they flipped a switch in their third contest—not perfect, but noticeably better. The same could be applied to their effort against the Americans.
They scored just once, but those quality chances were more plentiful than against Finland or Latvia (Canada’s first two games). The Carolina Hurricanes’ Bradly Nadeau tied the game 1-1 in the third period on the man advantage on a good sequence. His team had several of those in the contest but couldn’t find the back of the net.
There’s a big difference between not scoring because you’re not getting to scoring areas and not doing so in spite of that. On the power play, it was the latter for the most part—that’s a good thing. As Canada prepares for the Quarterfinal, that’s something to build on.
What’s Next for Canada & USA?
Next up, Canada will face a dangerous Czechia team in the Quarterfinal. That’ll take place at 7:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 2. It’ll be hosted at Canadian Tire Centre. The United States will do battle against Switzerland at 2:30 p.m. EST on the same date and at the same location.
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