ST. PAUL – Team USA will be without two of their best players in the final preliminary round game of the World Junior Championship. Cole Hutson (WSH), who was injured in Saturday’s game against Switzerland, and Max Plante (DET), who left Monday’s game against Slovakia with an apparent injury, will not play against Sweden in Wednesday night’s preliminary finale. Both remain listed as day-to-day.
First place is on the line with both the U.S. and Sweden winning all three of their previous games in regulation. A sellout crowd is expected at Grand Casino Arena, home of the Minnesota Wild for the showdown that will determine the top seed out of Group A.
Both Sweden and USA have clinched their spots in the quarterfinal with Sweden playing at Noon on Friday and USA playing at 5 p.m. CT. Their opponents will not be known until the day’s results are complete. But earning the top seed sets up a date with whoever finished fourth from the other group which includes Canada, Finland, Czechia and Latvia.
There are no easy games left in the World Juniors based on how this tournament has played out, and it only gets harder if USA is down two veteran players who were looked to in big roles on this team.
USA will have to shuffle its lines once again, which has been a common occurrence in this tournament.
Expect Adam Kleber (BUF) to play major minutes for the U.S. as their No. 1 defenseman, while 2026 NHL Draft-eligible Chase Reid takes on even more responsibility. He has been one of USA’s more impressive players early on and is likely to be running their first power play unit.
With Plante’s absence, USA is already thin at center. It is expected that Teddy Stiga (NSH) will end up playing in USA’s second-line center role in Plante’s place. Stiga is an all-situations player, but has had his upse and downs in this tournament.
Team USA will also be making a change in net as Caleb Heil (TBL) will not start. It could be either Nick Kempf (WSH) or Brady Knowling (2026). Kempf stated against Switzerland and played well, while Knowling has not yet been put into the net during the game. The 17-year-old is a realistic option to play in this game as USA has said before they would likely get all three of their goalies into games over the course of the tournament.
There’s no question that USA will come into this game diminished in terms of how the outcome will be predicted. Sweden has a loaded forward group and a strong goaltending group that can make things difficult. The atmosphere is expected to be as raucous as we’ve seen so far over the last week in St. Paul. Will the home crowd be enough to push USA past the extremely talented Swedes?
USA vs. Sweden is set for 5 p.m. CT. NHL Network has the broadcast in the United States, TSN will air the game in Canada.
2026 World Juniors Quarterfinal ScheduleFriday, January 2
- 12:30 p.m. ET – Relegation Game
- 2:00 p.m. ET – Quarterfinals Game 1 – Sweden vs. TBD
- 4:30 p.m. ET – Quarterfinals Game 2 – TBD vs. TBD
- 6:00 p.m. ET – Quarterfinals Game 3 – USA vs. TBD
- 8:30 p.m. ET – Quarterfinals Game 4 – Canada vs. TBD
2026 World Juniors Medal Round Schedule, Semifinals and FinalSunday, January 4
- 4:30 p.m. ET – Semifinals Game 1
- 8:30 p.m. ET – Semifinals Game 2
Monday, January 5
- 4:30 p.m. ET – Bronze Medal Game
- 8:30 p.m. ET – Gold Medal Game
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