When things began a week ago, life was great for the LA Kings. They had six prospects in the World Junior tournament — just one fewer than the most by any other NHL club this year — and nearly all were representing countries that had a legitimate shot at winning a gold medal.
Now, as Friday’s opening playoff round is ready to get going, at least two LA prospects will be going home early.
What’s at stake today? Let’s take a look at how things are shaping up…
WJC: Quarterfinal Games
Games listed in the order they’ll be played. All four will air on NHL Network TV.
Quarterfinal 1, 11 a.m. Pacific
Quarterfinal 2, 1:30 p.m.
Quarterfinal 3, 3 p.m.
Quarterfinal 4, 5:30 p.m.
QF1: Sweden vs. Latvia
For starters, this is the only playoff game to not feature a Kings prospect — yet. There are several 2026 NHL Draft eligible players on Latvia, including Alberts Smits (6-foot-3 defenseman). This isn’t the time or place to get into all that, so put a pin in that conversation until June.
What is noteworthy for today is an upset here isn’t quite as crazy as it may appear. Latvia — definitely not an international powerhouse — has played a solid tournament thus far. They took Canada to overtime in their opening contest (losing 2-1); yet couldn’t capitalize on that momentum the next day, where they were pumped by Finland 8-0. Latvia rebounded a few days later with a win over Denmark and the next day were up early on medal favorite Czechia and trailed 3-2 with less than two minutes to go in regulation. They lost that game in heartbreaking fashion and are now well rested for the quarterfinals. Can they pull off the biggest upset imaginable? Watch the penalties here. Latvia’s power play is sneaky good. They’re converting at over 38%, which is third best in the entire tournament.
QF2: Czechia vs. Switzerland
This should be a very competitive game and one that Czechia is hoping to survive; putting away the Swiss is rarely an easy out at the WJC.
Kings prospect Vojtech Cihar leads the way for his country with 7 points (tied for second most in the tournament). He has two goals, five assists, and is a plus-5. He’s also a major minutes eater for Czechia. This has sort of been his introduction to North America, as the second rounder is headed to the WHL for the balance of 2025-26 beginning next week.
On the other side of the ice, Switzerland is the only team to not give up a power play goal yet. Need more? They’ve also given up the fewest goals in the tournament (8) and have the second-best save percentage (.913) thus far.
QF3: USA vs. Finland
Ugh, Finland — again! If you’re part of the USA group, this is probably the last team you wanted to see to open the playoffs. Going back to 2019, where Finland beat the USA for gold in Vancouver, these two countries have been developing quite a rivalry at the WJC. Today’s matchup is also hard to get a read on. Kings prospect Petteri Rimpinen, last year’s top WJC goalie, didn’t look particularly sharp against Canada on New Year’s Eve.
On the flip side, coach Bob Motzko (who usually has the golden touch) has been questioned quite a bit for starting a 17-year-old goalie in Team USA’s big matchup vs. Sweden; a game that had huge ramifications. If the Americans won that game, they would have drawn Latvia in round one. Instead, they get Finland.
Additionally, USA was missing a major piece of their defensive identity for their past two starts in Cole Hutson. He returns today, which is a seismic add on the blueline.
LA hopeful Brendan McMorrow has been outstanding up front for Team USA. He’s always buzzing around and has been a high-energy player for the Americans. To pull off a win today, he’ll need to be one of those guys who needs to help score a greasy goal.
One Kings prospect will be going home early when all is said and done in this game.
QF4: Canada vs. Slovakia
Well, we’re off to a strange start in Minnesota. Indications are Carter George will not start for Canada today.
Jack Ivankovic is the first goalie off the ice atskate
Looks like he gets the start in the quarterfinal tonight
@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 2, 2026
Resting George for future games is a gamble. You never want to look past the opponent directly in front of you, especially considering Canada’s recent history at the WJC. We’ll have to see how this all unfolds in the night cap.
Many have asked why Liam Greentree hasn’t played more. The simple reality is, they don’t seem to value what he brings to the table. It’s a fate several other Kings prospects have suffered at the WJC. Jordan Spence barely played when he went. Tyler Toffoli went out and led the OHL in goals and points and didn’t get a sniff from Canada in back-to-back years at the WJC. It’s a huge deal at the moment, it means nothing in the big picture when it comes to Greentree as an NHL prospect. He’s legit.
For Slovakia, they’ll have Kings prospect Jan Chovan on the ice a lot. He often leads the team in minutes played among forwards. Big No. 12 (listed at 6-foot-3) is still looking for his first goal of the tournament. He had one last year and is hopeful of finding the back of the net today.
Again, at least one more Kings prospect will be going home after this game, ending their 2026 medal hopes.
WJC Semifinals
Keep in mind the tournament re-seeds after the quarterfinals. Thus, the semifinal matchups aren’t predetermined in a traditional bracket format.
Preliminary Round standings:
1. Sweden
2. Canada
3. USA
4. Czechia
5. Finland
6. Switzerland
7. Latvia
8. Slovakia
As the No. 1 seed, if Sweden advances today, they’ll meet the lowest ranked team to win their quarterfinal game. That literally could be any of the teams ranked 4, 5, 6, or 8. While this may sound a bit confusing, it will sort itself out as the day moves along.
January 4
Semifinal 1, 1:30 p.m. Pacific
Semifinal 2, 5:30 p.m.
January 5
Third-place game, 1:30 p.m. Pacific
Championship game, 4:30 p.m.
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