Welcome back to our predictions segment, but today it isn’t the NHL variation, it is for the World Juniors, live from Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is the 2026 World Junior Championship predictions, with us here at Last Word On Hockey. What better way to spend your holiday season than to carry on this annual tradition with us. So, for our first Canadian game of the tournament, it is the Boxing Day Classic, Canada and Czechia, who do you have?
2026 World Junior Championship Predictions With Canada vs Czechia
Time: 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), 5:30 Pacific
How to Watch: TSN, NHLN
Location: 3M Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota
This is a definite revenge game, and it was set up that way, with the two teams being scheduled to face one-another first. Team Czechia has managed to eliminate Canada in the quarterfinals of the past two tournaments. Both times Czechia would go on to capture the Bronze medal. Meanwhile, Canada’s expectations are to win, thus the pressure mounts with every tourney they do not do that thing, as D.J. Khaled used to say, win. Needless to say, Canada will be hungry in this one.
The Story for the Team from Czechia
Team Czechia has seven players returning, three defence and four forwards. They also have 13 players that are drafted by NHL clubs. In any case, they are sending one of the best teams they have ever sent to the World Junior tournament. So, although they may not be quite up there with the favourites like Canada and Team USA, they’re right there.
Czechia has a few players to keep an eye on in this game and throughout the tournament. Names like Adam Jiricek, Max Curran, and Vaclav Nestrasil come to mind.
For instance, Jiricek had a big pre-tournament game against Latvia. He had two assists for Czechia in the 3-2 victory. Adam is the younger brother of David Jiricek. David has 77 games of NHL experience under his belt. Meanwhile, Adam is in his second season with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs. He has 29 points in 25 games on the season. Finally, he is a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues from 2024.
Max Curran is in his third WHL season, and plays with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The 6’3 centre is doing well with 35 points in 28 games, thus far. Furthermore, he is a fifth-round selection of the Colorado Avalanche in 2024. He scored the winner for Czechia their last time out. They downed Slovakia 2-1 in pre-tournament play, with the goal coming on the empty net, as Slovakia strangely decided to pull the tender.
Finally, we discuss Vaclav Nestrasil. Nestrasil has good upside and the surroundings to see it through. He was the 25th-overall draft pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Moreover, he has been having a good season in the NCAA, as he has 20 points in 18 games with UMASS-Amherst. Last year, he won the USHL title as a member of the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Plus, consider the team that drafted him, the Chicago Blackhawks. At 6’5″, needless to say, the possibilities with this guy are seemingly endless.
Suffice to say, this is a talented Czechia group. They are multi-faceted, and should give Canada a good test to start the tournament.
The Canadian Revenge Story
Meanwhile, what is the story for Canada? As a Canadian hockey fan, we all know what happened last year. However, this year, the type of guys that were left off the roster in 2025, like a Tij Iginla or Zayne Parekh are a year older, and there was no excuse to leave them off the roster.
Both of their goaltenders are returning, in Carter George and Jack Ivankovic. Meanwhile, Joshua Ravensburgen joins them as the presumptive third-stringer. Goaltending is a definite strength this year for Team Canada, and it helps being a year older. This isn’t always true for a Canadian side, but is this year.
The Intangibles
As we enter the tournament, we will say that a trait of a strong Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, is the influence of NHLers. All 14 forwards selected for this year’s team are a first-round NHL draft selection. A note, that we will give Gavin McKenna the benefit of the doubt, as he is battling for first overall in ’26.
Aside from that, there are, kind of, two perspectives why there is NHL influence on Team Canada, and that it is a trait of a strong Canadian contingent. The first reason is, who do they have on their roster with NHL experience? The names on that list include Braeden Cootes, Jett Luchanko, Brady Martin, Michael Misa, Harrison Brunicke, and Zayne Parekh. Sometimes they only have one-or-two, but having that many is a sign of strength. These are guys who have played against the best players in the world. Not only are they skilled, strong, but they also need that element of making decisions at the fastest pace. In a tournament like this, when every game, especially the elimination round ones, can have that feel, it ends up as a huge advantage.
Next, the other perspective from an NHL influence on the Team Canada roster, for hockey fans it is always a marvel, but who isn’t on the team? Sam Dickinson and Berkly Catton are a couple examples of that perspective. Matthew Schaefer is a weapon, and we won’t even mention Macklin Celebrini.
As we are hinting at, this tournament does seem to be a fine balance for Team Canada. They need to decide between taking 19-year-olds and the best available talent. It shouldn’t be a hard decision, but since it is, it means they have a deep talent pool to draw from. At the end of the day, for this 2026 squad, since they have a lot of high-end talent, and with experience, they will be tough to beat.
One last note, is that the Canadians downplayed the Michael Misa injury. He left the Denmark game early from pre-tournament action, but thinks he will be good to go in this one.
Prediction
We are left with the prediction. Canada doesn’t want to lose and what better way to fuel their fire, than against a team, like Czechia, they want direct revenge against. Czechia has skill and decent size, with many guys playing in North America. It will be a good test for Canada, but we think Canada is too focused, and is triumphant.
Prediction: Canada 5 – Czechia 2
Main Photo Credit: Photo by Andy Devlin/ Getty Images
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