Team Canada is off to a great start at the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship, kicking things off with a convincing win against Finland. On Wednesday, they’ll be back at it once more, taking on one of the weaker teams in the tournament, Latvia.
Bet on Canada vs. Latvia
CAN -5.5
LAT +5.5
Canada is an immense favourite in this one, to the point where bet365 and most other books are not carrying a moneyline.
Canada vs. Latvia odds
| Canada Moneyline Odds | N/A |
| Latvia Moneyline Odds | N/A |
| Puckline odds | Canada -5.5 (+100), Latvia +5.5 (-139) |
| Total | 7.5 goals (over -139, under +100) |
| Time/Date | Dec. 27, 1:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | Broadcast: TSN Stream: TSN+ (How to watch the NHL in Canada?) |
All odds courtesy of 
About Team Canada (1-0)
Canada hit the ground running in their tournament debut on Tuesday against Finland, with Nate Danielson opening the scoring late in the first period to give them an early lead to work with. Owen Allard gave them some insurance midway through the second, which proved valuable very quickly as Matt Savoie’s tripping penalty a little over a minute later led to a Finnish power-play goal.
In the third, projected 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini had a goal initially disallowed, though upon video review, the puck was seen crossing the line and the goal was credited to him. Matthew Poitras added an empty-netter with 2:26 to go in regulation, which like Allard’s goal, proved immediately useful after Jere Lassila brought the game back within two. Maveric Lamoureaux added another empty-netter with six seconds remaining and removed all doubt.
In the end, Canada outshot the Finns, who are seen as the tournament’s fourth-best team, by five and pulled out a relatively convincing win despite a lopsided power-play tally (six to Finland to Canada’s two). That sets them up pretty well for the days ahead.
About Team Latvia (0-1)
Latvia’s expectations for this tournament are pretty low, coming in as the team with the second-longest odds to win gold. But they’re famous for working hard, punching above their weight, and having a great fanbase behind them, so anything can happen on a given night.
Unfortunately for them, that ultimately wasn’t much help against Sweden, especially since they started getting in penalty trouble. The Swedes opened the scoring by converting on three of their first four power plays and added three more goals in the back half of the game for good measure.
Deivs Rolovs played through the whole game for Latvia, stopping 29 of 35 in the 6-0 defeat, so I would not expect him in against Canada.
Projected Lineups
| Team Canada WJC Lines | Team Latvia WJC Lines |
|---|---|
| Forwards Fraser Minten – Conor Geekie – Jordan Dumais Easton Cowan – Matthew Poitras – Matthew Savoie Owen Allard – Owen Beck – Nate Danielson Matthew Wood – Macklin Celebrini – Brayden Yager Carson Rehkopf Defence Denton Mateychuk – Maveric Lamoureaux Jake Furlong – Noah Warren Jorian Donovan – Oliver Bonk Ty Nelson Starting In Goal Samuel St-Hilaire 0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 0.000 SV% | Forwards Emils Veckaktins – Dans Locmelis – Eriks Amteiko Rinalds Vutkevics – Rodzers Bukarts – Sandis Vilmanis Davis Morozinskis – Rainers Rullers- Rainers Darzins Toms Mots – Rauls Ozollapa – Kristofers Krumins Kevins Stradnieks Defence Niks Fenenko – Renarts Berzins Ingus Locmelis – Peteris Bulans Darels Uljanskis – Kristers Urbanovics Viktors Kurbaka Starting In Goal Aksels Ozols 0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 0.000 SV% |
- Canadian team NHL Prospects on Canada: Fraser Minten (TOR), Easton Cowan (TOR), Owen Beck (MTL)
- 2024 Draft Eligible prospects on Canada: Macklin Celebrini, Owen Allard, Mathis Rousseau, Samuel St. Hilaire
- Canadian team NHL Prospects on Latvia: None
- 2024: Draft Eligible prospects on Latvia: All besides Dans Locmelis (BOS) and Sandis Vilmanis (FLA)
Total goals over 7.5
-139
2024 World Juniors Gold Medal Odds
Here are the odds to win the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship, heading into December 27th:
| Country | Odds | Country | Odds | Country | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | +175 | Canada | +187 | Sweden | +250 |
| Finland | +900 | Slovakia | +1500 | Czechia | +3300 |
| Switzerland | +10000 | Germany | +25000 | Latvia | +50000 |
| Norway | +75000 |
Top Scorers
Canada’s Top Scorers
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nate Danielson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Maveric Lamoreux | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Macklin Celebrini | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Owen Allard | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Matthew Poitras | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Latvia’s Top Scorers
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emils Veckaktins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kristofers Krumins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Rodzers Bukarts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ingus Locmelis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 Other Skaters | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Wagers To Consider
There still isn’t much available action in terms of player props, and this game is seen as so potentially lopsided that there isn’t a moneyline available for it on bet365. Your options are limited to the puckline, where Canada is the -5.5 goal favourite, and total goals, where the line is set at a whopping 7.5.
I would proceed with caution with this game, given the markets available. While Canada deserves to be heavy favourites and should be treated as near-guaranteed victors, all it takes is a standout goaltending performance to throw that all into a blender. Canada’s last round-robin game against Latvia was in 2022, and while they did beat them 5-2, that wasn’t their highest-scoring game of the round-robin, nor was it the biggest margin of victory, nor was it even the second-biggest of either.
Latvia’s loss to Sweden does imply that the line here is reasonable, but the juice might not be worth the squeeze. If you want to put money on a maple-leafed game, you might have more viable options with Toronto than Canada today – you can check out our Leafs/Senators preview if that interests you a little more!
