World Juniors predictions: Best Bets for Germany vs. Canada

Photo: Hockey Canada/X

The 2025 World Junior Championship continues with Germany and Canada facing off in their second-last game of the round-robin.

Germany has yet to earn a win and looks destined for the relegation round while Canada is hoping to rebound from a shocking shootout loss to Latvia.

My best bet calls for a high-scoring game between two teams that should be motivated to bounce back.

Below are my Germany vs. Canada WJC predictions for Sunday, December 29.

Canada vs. Germany Odds, Puck Line, Over/Under

Below is an odds breakdown of the game between Canada and Germany on Sunday. Odds are provided by FanDuel Sportsbook, but are currently available across most hockey betting sites.

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Germany vs. Canada Analysis

Canada suffered what will likely go down as the upset of the tournament on Friday as they fell 3-2 to Latvia in a shootout. Jett Luchanko and Calum Ritchie scored Canada’s goals while goaltender Jack Ivankovic stopped 24 of 26 shots.

The Canadians outshot their opponents 57-27 but couldn’t solve Latvian goaltender Linards Feldsbergs until midway through the game. Discipline was also a big problem for Canada as they took eight penalties with Latvia capitalizing on two power plays.

Canada’s roster was criticized for lacking scoring punch heading into the tournament. Plenty of big names like Tij Iginla, Andrew Cristall, Bennett Sennecke, Zayne Parekh, and Michael Misa, among others, were overlooked in favour of players who fit more of a two-way, defensive mould. Those criticisms only got stronger following Canada’s shocking defeat.

The team also lost arguably its top pro prospect, as defenceman Matthew Schaefer has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament after suffering an injury running into the goalpost. The Hamilton, Ont. native was considered to be in the running to be the top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Germany narrowly avoided relegation at the 2024 WJC with an overtime win against Norway and they’ll likely be in the same boat this year as they’ve started the tournament with two straight losses.

The Germans were pummelled 10-4 in their opening game against the United States — the highest-scoring game of the tournament thus far. Germany followed that up with a much better performance in their second outing on Friday as they narrowly fell to Finland by a score of 3-1.

In terms of players to watch, defenseman Norwin Panocha represents Germany’s only NHL draftee. The six-foot-one blueliner was selected in the seventh round by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2023 NHL Draft and is skating with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. He’s averaged about 22 minutes per game through Germany’s first two contests.

Canada holds a significant advantage in their head-to-head history against Germany with an all-time record of 17-0-0 at the WJC and has outscored the Germans 107-26.

Germany vs. Canada Best Bet

With Germany searching for its first win and Canada aiming to bounce back from what was possibly one of its worst defeats ever at a WJC tournament, both teams should be highly motivated to come out hot on Sunday night.

The Germans are certainly a more talented team than Latvia and will be inspired to shock the host nation again. Germany has also shown some offensive firepower in the tournament with five goals in two games, including four against a United States team that’s one of the favourites to win.

Meanwhile, Canada needs a huge bounce-back effort to get back on track and they can only do that with a convincing, high-scoring victory against Germany.

The top dogs for Canada were far too quiet against Latvia, with Easton Cowan notching just one assist and Gavin McKenna held off the scoresheet completely. The pair did combine for 16 shots on net, but Canada’s forwards will have to do a much better job of getting to the front of the net if they’re going to run up the score.

Clearly, the Canadians are capable of doing just that as they netted seven goals against Switzerland in the pre-tournament and a total of 14 tallies over those three games.

Germany’s goaltending has been hit or miss through the first two contests, with Nico Pertuch getting shelled for 10 goals on 56 shots in the opener (.821 SV%) and Linus Vieillard stopping 40 of 42 shots (.952 SV%) against the Finns.

It’s unclear who the Germans will start against Canada but either way, the Canadians will need to be more determined to create high-danger chances and capitalize on those opportunities.

My best bet: Over 8 goals (-139 at SIA)