2026 World Junior Championship Group B preview
Misa, McKenna, Martone looking to help Canada bounce back after last year's quarterfinal elimination
© Dennis Pajot | Minas Panagiotakis | Dennis Pajot
Canada knows it needs two things if it's going to have any chance of having success at the World Junior Championship.
More scoring, and especially more discipline.
The players selected for the team should help with the former. Coach Dale Hunter said it's up to him and his staff to reinforce the latter.
"Watching last year, and the last game, discipline problems with some big hits," Hunter said. "The rules are a little different than our leagues. We've got to abide by the rules and play hard, but we've got to make sure we don't put ourselves in a predicament like that."
Canada was assessed 55 penalty minutes in its 4-3 loss to Czechia in the quarterfinals. Its 34 minor penalties and 113 penalty minutes in five games were the most in the tournament, and they were short-handed 27 times in five games, second to Czechia, which was short-handed 29 times in seven games.
"They're kids," Hunter said. "As much as you're coaching them, they're going to get revved up, and that's what happened. Not like the kids were intentionally taking a bad penalty, but they're revved up. Emotions are high in this tournament and it's our job to keep their emotions in check."
After scoring seven even-strength goals in five games at the 2025 WJC, the offense should be plentiful this time, led by a potential top line of Michael Misa (San Jose Sharks), Gavin McKenna (Penn State) and Porter Martone (Michigan State).
Misa has three points (one goal, two assists) in seven games with the San Jose Sharks this season after he led all Canadian Hockey League players last season with 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) in 65 games with Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League.
"I think my play on the ice is going to be real important for this team," Misa said. "I think I've got to step up. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I'm excited to get going."
McKenna certainly will be in the spotlight. The projected No. 1 pick of the 2026 NHL Draft scored one goal in five games at the 2025 WJC as a 17-year-old. He turned 18 on Saturday, and with his experience is embracing the pressure to be a driver for the team.
"I expect a lot," he said. "I expect to be one of the top guys. I want to lead this team. I want to be a leader, I want to show the guys what it takes. Hopefully lead us to a gold medal."
Canada will play in Group B at the 2026 WJC, along with Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, with preliminary round games at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. Group A consists of the United States, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland and Sweden, with preliminary round games at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Here's a look at each Group B team, in predicted order of finish:
Canada
Coach: Dale Hunter
2026 NHL Draft Watch: Gavin McKenna, LW, Penn State (NCAA); Carson Carels, D, Prince George (WHL); Keaton Verhoeff, D, North Dakota (NCAA)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Czechia (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 27, Latvia (4:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 29, Denmark (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 31, Finland (8:30 p.m. ET)
Outlook: Canada certainly has the most talent on paper, with 18 first-round NHL draft picks, and six players with NHL experience this season in defenseman Harrison Brunicke (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames), and forwards Braeden Cootes (Vancouver Canucks), Jett Luchanko (Philadelphia Flyers), Brady Martin (Nashville Predators) and Misa. There also are some future NHL stars on the team, led by McKenna, the supremely gifted forward favored to be the No. 1 pick of the 2026 draft. But Verhoeff (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) and Carels (6-1, 202) also could be top-10 selections. Each is big, strong, skates well and knows how to move the puck quickly and effectively. But Canada never lacks for talent, it's a matter of getting those players to buy in to roles needed for the team to have success. Hunter said he used Canada's victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off as an example, where top-line NHL players willingly took on fourth-line roles because it's what was needed for the team to win. "We showed them and that's what they have to learn," Hunter said. "We're trying to win. You're representing Canada, you're not representing yourself. You have to play for the team." Hunter has a track record of being able to get his message across to his teams. Combined with what should be a strong component of anger from back-to-back losses in the quarterfinals, and Canada looks like the best, and most motivated, team in the tournament.
Czechia
Coach: Patrik Augusta
2026 NHL Draft Watch: Adam Novotny, LW, Peterborough (OHL)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Canada (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 27, Denmark (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 29, Finland (3:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 31, Latvia (3:30 p.m. ET)
Outlook: Czechia, which won the bronze medal at the 2025 WJC, is a dark horse gold-medal candidate. There should be plenty of offensive firepower, led by two of the top scorers in the Ontario Hockey League. Adam Benak (Minnesota Wild), in his first season in North America, is fifth in the OHL with 43 points (15 goals, 28 assists) in 26 games for Brantford. Novotny, an A-rated forward who scored one goal in seven games as a 17-year-old at the 2025 WJC, should have a much larger role this season. He leads Peterborough with 35 points (19 goals, 16 assists) in 29 games. Also back from the 2025 team is forward Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals), the leading returning scorer with seven points (four goals, three assists) and a plus-10 rating in seven games. Keying Czechia's transition game should be defensemen Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues), who plays with Benak in Brantford, and Radim Mrtka (Buffalo Sabres), two puck-moving defensemen who are dominating with their Canadian Hockey League teams. Mrtka also has professional experience, playing four preseason NHL games and four games with Rochester of the American Hockey League before being returned to Seattle of the Western Hockey League. Czechia won't have goalie Jakub Milota (Nashville Predators), their expected starter, because of an injury, but Michal Orsulak (2026 draft eligible) could be an option. The 18-year-old is second in the WHL with a 2.34 GAA in 16 games with Prince Albert. After eliminating Canada in the quarterfinals each of the past two tournaments, Czechia has the talent and the confidence to push Canada for the top spot in the group.
Finland
Coach: Lauri Mikkola
2026 NHL Draft Watch: Juho Piiparinen, D, Tappara (FIN); Oliver Suvanto, C, Tappara (FIN)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Denmark (3:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 28, Latvia (4:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 29, Czechia (3:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 31, Canada (8:30 p.m. ET)
Outlook: Finland will have 11 players back from the team that left Ottawa with the silver medal at the 2025 WJC, including Petteri Rimpinen (Los Angeles Kings), who was voted the tournament's best goalie after going 5-2-0 with a 2.34 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and one shutout while playing every second of Finland's seven games. With top center Konsta Helenius not released for the tournament by the Buffalo Sabres, a larger share of the offensive burden will fall on Suvanto (6-foot-3, 207 pounds), an A-rated player on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list. The 17-year-old center has seven points (two goals, five assists) in 30 games with Tappara in Liiga, Finland's top professional league. NHL scouts also will be watching Piiparinen (6-1, 201), a right-shot defenseman who also is an A-rated prospect for the 2026 draft. The 17-year-old has three assists and is averaging 10:42 of ice time in 26 games for Tappara. Without Helenius, who was on the team at the 2025 WJC and had six points (all assists) in seven games, offense could be tough to come by. It might be up to another strong tournament for Rimpinen and a stout defensive effort to get Finland back into the medal picture.
Latvia
Coach: Artis Abols
2026 NHL Draft Watch: Alberts Smits, D, Jukurit (FIN)
Schedule: Dec. 27, Canada (4:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 28, Finland (4:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 30, Denmark (4:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 31, Czechia (3:30 p.m. ET)
Outlook: Latvia returns 13 players from the team that shocked Canada in an eight-round shootout victory in the preliminary round in 2025 and nearly upset Sweden in the quarterfinals, losing 3-2. Forward Bruno Osmanis (2026 draft eligible) had two assists in the win against Canada and a goal and an assist in a 4-3 overtime win against Germany as Latvia won twice in the preliminary round for the first time ever. He'll be back, as will forward Olivers Murnieks (2026 draft eligible), who had four points (one goal, three assists) in five games, including a goal and two assists against Germany. But the player most in the spotlight will be Smits (6-3, 205), an A-rated player who is expected to be the third Latvia-born player selected in the first round of the draft, following Zemgus Girgensons (2012, No. 14) and Viktor Tikhonov (2008, No. 28). The 18-year-old left-handed shot has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 29 games with Jukurit in Liiga, and is third on the team with an average ice time of 20:17. Latvia will start the WJC with a rematch with Canada, but its most important game could be against Denmark, with a win needed to avoid the relegation game.
Denmark
Coach: Martin Struzinski
2026 NHL Draft Watch: Emil Saaby Jakobsen, D, Karlskrona Jr. (SWE-JR 2)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Finland (3:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 27, Czechia (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 29, Canada (8:30 p.m. ET); Dec. 30, Latvia (4:30 p.m. ET)
Outlook: Denmark returns to the top level of World Juniors for the first time since 2019 after winning the 2025 IIHF Division IA World Junior Championship. Nine players are back from that team, among them forward Mads Kongsbak Klyvo, a fourth-round pick (No. 112) by the Florida Panthers in the 2025 NHL Draft who had three assists in five games at that tournament, and forward Anton Linde (2026 draft eligible), who tied for the team lead with three goals, including one in the third period of a 5-4 win in the championship game against Austria. Denmark does have several players with North American experience, including Linde, who has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 26 games with Chicoutimi of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and forward Tristan Petersen (2026 draft eligible), who has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 31 games with Penticton of the Western Hockey League. An interesting prospect to watch could be Saaby Jakobsen (6-2, 176), who was born Sept. 13, 2008, one day before the cut-off for the 2027 NHL Draft. He has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 19 games for Karlskrona's team in the second division of Sweden's junior league. Getting back to the top level of the World Juniors was a significant achievement for Denmark, but avoiding the relegation game almost certainly will require a win against Latvia on Dec. 30.
