Canada Favoured to Earn Redemption at 2026 World Juniors

When the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championships get underway on Boxing Day in Minnesota, Team Canada will set off for their record-extending 21st gold medal — and a chance at redemption after back-to-back quarterfinal eliminations.

According to the World Juniors oddsmakers, a return to the podium should be the absolute minimum expectation. Canada have the shortest odds to win this year’s tournament, at +110. The defending gold medal winner and this year’s host, the USA, slot in behind Team Canada at +225, while 2025 fourth-place finisher Sweden (+400) and silver medallist Finland (+900) round out the quartet of countries with odds shorter than 20/1. 

Despite Canada’s fifth-place finish a year ago, their 27-man pre-tournament roster featured five returning players from the 2025 squad. Of that group, the headliner is Gavin McKenna, who was long presumed to be the first pick in next June’s NHL Draft. Though McKenna has endured a difficult first season in the NCAA with Penn State, he’s still averaging over a point per game for the Nittany Lions and is expected to take on a key role for Team Canada this time around. 

McKenna is set to be joined by six players who have appeared in the NHL already this season, with the most prominent member of that group being 2025 second overall pick Michael Misa, who is expected to skate alongside McKenna at the tournament.

There will also be Hockey Canada royalty among the fray, with Tij Iginla -- son of two-time gold medal winner Jerome Iginla -- set to make his World Juniors debut. The younger Iginla was the sixth pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, taken with Utah's first ever selection, and has 27 points through 17 games with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets this season. 

Fittingly, McKenna and Canada's quest for redemption will begin against Czechia, who bounced Canada in the quarterfinals in each of the last two tournaments -- after they fell to the Canadians in the gold medal game in 2023. It’s a tournament that Canada have historically dominated, but now, redemption awaits – get ready for puck drop on Boxing Day.

Click here to see World Junior odds at BET99.

Odds as of December 22, 2025.