Who will win the 2023 World Juniors? Odds, predictions and more to know about all 10 teams

The best time of the year is here. No, we're not talking about Christmas or New Year's. We're talking about the World Juniors. 

The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is set to begin on Dec. 26 as the best U20 players from around the globe are going to be competing for the right to be crowned the World Juniors champion. 

Canada enters the tournament as the reigning gold medalist. It won a thrilling gold-medal game against Finland in August at the 2022 competition thanks to a sensational goal-line stop by Mason McTavish moments before Kent Johnson scored the game-winning goal. 

There has not been a repeat winner in over 12 years. The last team a country won consecutive World Juniors was when Canada ripped off five in a row from 2005 to 2009. 

MORE: When is the 2023 World Juniors?

Will Canada get the repeat, or will someone else win gold? Here are The Sporting News' predictions for the 2023 World Juniors. 

2023 World Juniors preliminary round predictions

Pool A standings

1. Canada
2. Czechia
3. Sweden
4. Germany
5. Austria

Pool A is Canada's to lose. The home team is far and beyond the most talented team at the World Juniors and should make fairly easy work of this group. While Czechia and Sweden both produce tough matchups, it should be four wins for Canada. 

I have Czechia over Sweden here based on Sweden's weak blue line. I think the Swedes are going to struggle defensively, relying on a lot of inexperienced defensemen. On the other side, Czechia is bringing back more returners than any other team. 

Germany and Austria round out the group. I expect that they will make things difficult for the top three teams, but ultimately the positioning in the standings will be determined by their matchup against each other, which I think the Germans come out on top of.

Pool B standings

1. USA
2. Finland
3. Slovakia
4. Latvia
5. Switzerland

Finland and the USA are going to be battling it out for the top spot. There are small concerns with both teams on offense, but I think the Americans have a deeper back end than the Finns. The USA beats Finland in their head-to-head to win the division. 

Slovakia is going to be a much better team at the 2023 tournament than in 2022. They failed to make it to the knockout stage in the summer, but they should beat Latvia and Switzerland this time around to get the No. 3 seed. 

MORE: Where is the 2023 World Juniors?

To end the group, put some respect on Latvia's name. I don't expect them to make as much noise in 2023 as they did in 2022, but that has to do more with teams expecting a hard game against them. I think they take down the Swiss and earn their second consecutive spot in the knockout stage. 

Elimination round and medal games predictions

Quarterfinals

1A Canada defeats 4B Latvia

1B USA defeats 4A Germany

2A Czechia defeats 3B Slovakia

2B Finland defeats 3A Sweden

Both Canada and the USA should make easy work in their quarterfinal matchups. They are simply just that much better that even if they are off their A-game, they can get wins over Latvia and Germany, respectively. 

I think the Czechia vs. Slovakia matchup is an intriguing one. I wouldn't be shocked either way, but I like the depth of the Czechs a lot better than Slovakia's. With a ton of returners, they have experience playing in the knockout stage that Slovakia doesn't, which I also think helps Czechia.  

The true test of the quarterfinals will be Finland vs. Sweden. It's two teams that should be playing for a medal, but since I have Sweden finishing lower in the standings, it sets up a powerhouse matchup early in the knockout round. Sweden has the advantage offensively, but I just don't see how their defense can contain the top forwards on Finland. The Finns get by in a close one. 

Semifinals

1A Canada defeats 2B Finland

1B USA defeats 2A Czechia

In the semifinals, we get two rematches of games in the 2022 knockout stage. We'll start with Canada vs. Finland in a rematch of the 2022 gold-medal game. The Finns play a tough, defensive system, which we saw in that final. However, they don't have the power at the forward position like last time. Canada is the most complete team at the Maritimes and should rely on their depth scoring to best the Finns. 

On the other side, the Americans face a Czech team that upset them in the quarterfinals in the summer. Not only are the USA a better team on paper, but you can't look past the motivation factor to get revenge for a few months prior. Sure, a majority of the team is gone, but don't think that Logan Cooley, Luke Hughes and the other returners have forgotten who was responsible for their early exit. The Americans get the win to advance to the final. 

Medals

Gold: Canada

Silver: USA

Bronze: Finland

A rematch of the 2021 World Juniors gold-medal game is my prediction for the 2022 competition, and I think we see a different result. After the USA defeated Canada two years ago in the final, I see the Canadians going back-to-back to win gold in 2023. Canada's offense is going to be too powerful for the Americans to match.

Finland earns a bronze by beating Czechia in the bronze-medal game. 

2023 World Juniors individual award predictions

MVP: Connor Bedard, Canada

Best Forward: Connor Bedard, Canada

Best Defenseman: Aleksi Heimosalmi, Finland

Best Goalie: Trey Augustine, USA

It feels inevitable that Bedard earns a World Juniors MVP at some point right? He didn't get it in 2022 and likely won't be playing in 2024. It feels like it's his time now to light up the tourney. 

There are a few strong candidates for Best Defenseman between Canada's Olen Zellweger, Slovakia's Simon Nemec, USA's Luke Hughes and Czechia's David Jiricek, but I think Aleksi Heimosalmi gets the nod. The Finns are going to rely heavily on him to lead their back end and their defensive system. It would be the third tournament in a row that a Finn receives the honor. 

There is no clear "stud" among the goaltenders like Sweden's Jesper Wallstedt or Canada's Dylan Garand at the 2022 games. But I'll go with USA's Trey Augustine. It's a risky selection considering he's not even a lock to be the USA's No. 1 goalie, but I like him over Kaiden Mbereko to win the role. The talk will be of the USA's offense, but don't overlook Augustine in net, who has excelled with the Americans at the international level before. 

2023 World Juniors odds

According to Sports Interaction, the 2023 tournament is a four-horse race. 

Canada, Finland, the United States and Sweden are the clear frontrunners to win this year's tournament, with the Canadians holding the best odds at -125. 

Here are the odds entering the 2023 tournament.