2026 IIHF World Junior Championship: Canada vs. Slovakia Quarterfinal Odds, Prediction
Team Canada is on to the knockout round of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship as they prepare to face Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
Canada remains undefeated at the tournament and claimed top spot in Group B with three regulation wins and one overtime win. Slovakia avoided the relegation round with a win and three losses in Group A action.
Team Canada is a heavy -3000 favourite to win on the WJC odds, with the puckline set at 3.5 goals and the total pegged at 7.5.
2026 IIHF World Junior Championship Betting Odds
This will be the fourth and final quarterfinal, so each team will know their potential semifinal matchup ahead of puck drop. The semis are re-seeded so if all four top seeds win in the quarters, Canada would face the United States next.
Head-to-head history is pretty one-sided as Slovakia has never beat Canada at this tournament. The Canadians have won 16 of 17 all-time meetings. The other game was a 0-0 draw in 1999, the only scoreless tie in tournament history.
These teams last met in 2023, with Connor Bedard opening and closing the scoring in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win for Canada. Bedard went on to lead the tournament with a staggering 23 points as Canada won their tournament-record 20th gold medal.
While Team Canada has always been a powerhouse in this tournament, the Slovaks have also maintained staying power in the top division. Slovakia has remained in the top division since being promoted in 1996 and they have medalled twice, winning bronze in 1996 and 2015.
Heading into the knockout round, Canada remains favoured to win gold at -110 on the World Junior futures board. Slovakia has the second-longest tournament odds at +20,000, just ahead of Latvia at +25,000.
Team Canada
Canada closed out preliminary round play on New Year’s Eve with a wild 7-4 win over Finland. The game went off the rails early with the score tied 2-2 less than six minutes in, while the first period finished 3-3. Canada pulled away in the final 40 minutes, outscoring Finland 4-1 to secure top spot in the group.
The player I have circled for the quarterfinals is Cole Beaudoin. One of four returning players on Canada’s roster, Beaudoin led the way against Finland with a goal, which proved to be the game-winner, and two helpers. It was the first time Beaudoin found the back of the net in eight World Junior games and it should provide some confidence for the first-round draft pick of the Utah Mammoth.
Team Slovakia
Slovakia has remained extremely competitive in this year’s tournament, losing by just a single goal against Sweden, the United States and Switzerland, while cruising to a 4-1 win over Germany. One thing to watch out for with Slovakia is their resiliency as they nearly erased a 3-0 deficit in their last game against Switzerland, scoring twice in the third period.
The four players tied for the scoring lead in this tournament will be in this quarterfinal matchup and one of them is Slovakian. Tomas Chrenko paced Slovakia in the preliminary round, racking up eight points (5G, 3A) to tie Gavin McKenna, Zayne Parekh and Michael Hage for the scoring lead. Chrenko is projected to be taken late in the first-round of the 2026 NHL entry draft.
