Almost every single year at the World Juniors, the powerhouse teams remain the powerhouse teams. People can pencil in the medal round that will feature one of Canada, the United States, Sweden, and sometimes Finland. But every now and again, there are teams that surprise. That is the beauty of such a short tournament between young and inexperienced players on a big stage.
For the 2025 tournament, there are unfortunately not a whole lot of exceptional talent scattered through the bottom-half teams. We have had previous years where someone destined to go in the top-five of the following Draft or one of the better drafted prospects, drag their team to some respectable and entertaining results — but not this year.