2025 World Junior Championship: Day Two Preview

Day one of the 2025 World Junior Championship is in the books. Sweden, the USA, Czechia and Canada all took home wins on the first day of the competition. Today’s slate of games will see Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany and Finland look to redeem themselves after yesterday’s loss while Kazakhstan and Latvia make their 2025 debuts.

Related: A Quick Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship

With that all said and done, let’s take a look at today’s slate of games.

Slovakia vs Switzerland (Noon CST)

Switzerland and Slovakia are both looking for their first win when it comes to the World Junior tournament. Switzerland lost 5-1 to Czechia while Slovakia lost 5-2 to Sweden. Switzerland ran into a hot goaltender in Michael Hrabal, but it was Leo Braillard who scored the lone goal for the Swiss.

In the game where the Slovaks lost to Sweden, they played a tight, close game, but they ran into a red-hot Axel Sandin Pellikka. Both teams are on the hunt for their first win of the tournament and look to avoid a disastrous 0-2 start.

One Player to Watch for Each Team

The Swiss team have a strong contender for their leadership, but they are likely going to be overwhelmed by the Slovak offence. I said yesterday that Christian Kirsch would be make or break for the Swiss, but Leo Braillard was the strongest performer on the scoresheet, while teammate Lars Steiner had a quite good game when it comes to the basic mechanics of the game. Steiner, if he can find the back of the net, will be a strong presence for the Swiss team who look to snap their early losing drought.

For the Slovak squad, they are complimented with a deep group but were overwhelmed by Sweden. Luka Radivojevic was my player to watch yesterday, and I can attest that he’s a player worth watching the entire tournament, but it’s guys like Maxim Strbak and Dalibor Dvorsky who emerge a little higher.

If the Slovak’s offence kicks into high gear, Dalibor Dvorsky will most likely be one of, if not the top player on the scoresheet. He’s got all the tools to help the Slovaks fight into the top five, but it’s a team game and Dvorsky, an NHL first-round pick, will need his teammates to contribute too.

Finland vs Germany (2:30 PM CST)

In yesterday’s preview, I said that Germany’s game against the USA wasn’t going to be pretty, and it wasn’t. Germany lost 10-4 and they don’t have an easier challenge against Finland today. Both teams are looking for their win against each other today, but they are looking to avoid that dreaded second loss.

Finland was shut out by Canada 4-0, so they will look to get their first goal of the tournament where goals matter a lot. It’s a story to watch within the games and Germany won’t keep Finland scoreless unless their goaltender gets red hot.

Everyone is likely doubting Finland to post a big number, but they’ve produced some of the best NHL talents and will rely on their talent to push them to the top four of this year’s tournament.

One Player to Watch for Each Team

Finland has a strong group of players to watch, and for me, it’s Julius Miettinen to watch today. He looked sharp and played the dirty areas even in a loss. He’ll make a strong presence for Finland against Germany and look to be the driving force in their goal-scoring outburst.

Germany will most likely rely on Nico Pertuch to have another solid performance against Finland if Germany wants to have a strong chance. If he starts, he will be on the watch list, but if he’s got the night off, which is likely, David Lewandowski is the German’s biggest player to watch and will catch the eyes of scouts.

Kazakhstan vs Sweden (4:00 PM CST)

Kazakhstan is one of two teams playing today that wasn’t involved in any competition on opening day. They aren’t likely to make a big splash on the scoresheet either. The recently promoted squad will look to avoid relegation, anything more is gravy to this group.

Sweden, who is undefeated across one game, is the heavy favourite in this game and will most likely emerge victorious against Kazakhstan. If Kazakhstan can post a couple of goals against Sweden, that’s more than what bargained for.

One Player to Watch for Each Team

While it would be easy to say to watch Axel Sandin Pellikka, I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised by Victor Eklund in Sweden’s opening match. He’s been a strong player and didn’t hit the scoresheet, but he played with energy and was a strong player on his feet. Once Eklund hits the scoresheet, he’ll continue to turn heads with NHL scouts.

The Kazakhs, who have only been a part of six top-level World Junior Championship tournaments since 2000, have won at minimum one game in their attempt to stay up for a second year. A win against Finland would give them a ton of momentum and would be a massive upset. In this case, Kazakhstan will be relying on goaltender Vladimir Nikitin to perform big on the biggest World Juniors stage.

Canada vs Latvia (6:30 PM CST)

Canada just posted a bloodbath against Finland, the Latvians will be wondering how to manage the overwhelming group that is the Canadians. Latvia faces the USA and Finland in other games which they likely won’t emerge victorious, but they won’t back down at all.

If the Latvians want to stay alive in the top division of the World Juniors, they’ll have to win big against Germany on December 30th. In their opening game, they’ll have to keep their opponents goalscoring at a minimum. Without any big game-changing players or NHL-drafted players in their lineup, it will be a massive factor if Latvia wants to finish higher than eighth.

One Player to Watch for Each Team

Defender Darels Uljankis will be bringing his experience from the 2024 tournament to raise his draft stock. The Anaheim Ducks prospect is a mobile defender and has a strong two-way game, and while this won’t be on display entirely against Canada, he’ll have his flashy moments and will be Latvia’s biggest player to watch.

Canada is in a situation where you can watch the entire team and make a case for every player to be a player to watch. Captain Brayden Yager will bring a strong scoring prowess and be a massive it factor when it comes to Canada looking to remain undefeated throughout the tournament.