World Junior Championship: United States remain favorite after strong preliminary round

The United States World Junior hockey team began its tournament as the favorites, and with a strong preliminary round remain just that heading into the quarterfinals. 

The defending champions began the World Juniors in the strong Group A, which featured the usual stalwarts of Finland and Canada. An opening 10-4 win against Germany saw Boston College forward Gabe Perreault (New York Rangers, 2023 23rd overall) named player of the game with two goals and one assist.

The United States then followed that up with a 5-1 win over Latvia, a 4-3 overtime loss to Finland and a 4-1 victory over the rival Canadians on New Year’s Eve.

Defender Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals, 2024 43rd overall) of Boston University leads the team with eight points and is tied for the tournament lead with Red Wings defensive prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka. His power play goal Tuesday against Canada broke the ice, giving the United States a 1-0 lead.

Also on the back end is University of Denver product Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild, 2024 12th overall), who has played a two-way role for the team, adding one goal and one assist along with solid defensive play.

The strength of the team, however, is with its forward group. In addition to Perreault, the offense features four other first round picks: Boston College’s Ryan Leonard (Washington, 2023 eighth overall), University of Minnesota’s Oliver Moore (Chicago, 2023 19th overall), Boston University’s Cole Eiserman (New York Islanders, 2024 20th overall) and Providence College’s Trevor Connelly (Vegas, 2024 19th overall). 

Centering the top forward line is James Hagens, the 18-year-old Boston College product who is projected to be the first overall pick in 2025. He has six points in four games so far.

A large reason why the United States was a favorite going into the tournament is starting goaltender, Trey Augustine of Michigan State (Detroit, 2023 41st overall). In last year’s tournament, Augustine went 4-0 with a .936 save percentage and a 1.75 goals against average. He’s continued his stellar play this tournament, with a .914 save percentage in three games (38 of 39 in saves against Canada).

The United States has also been solid on special teams: its 27.78% success rate on the power play is third overall while their 81.25% penalty kill is fifth. 

By securing first place in Group A, the U.S. will face a Swiss team that finished fourth in Group B. While upsets do happen at the World Juniors, the Swiss struggled on both ends of the ice, scoring just 10 goals so far (seventh out of 10 teams) while allowing 15 (third most in the tournament). 

With an excellent forward group, solid goaltending and strong special teams, the 2025 United States World Junior team is primed to repeat last year’s performance.

The quarterfinal game between the United States and Switzerland will take place on Jan. 2 at 2:30 pm EST (NHL Network).