USA vs Germany Prediction, Odds & Projected Lineups – World Junior Championship

• Team USA opens up World Junior Hockey Championship pool play tonight against Germany at 6 p.m. on NHL Network.
• The Americans have won 14 of 15 meetings against the Germans and are 5.5-goal favorites.
• I’ve got all the details on USA vs Germany tonight, including the latest odds, prediction and a look at the rosters for both teams.

Team USA starts its drive for a historic third straight gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships, taking on Germany tonight at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 10-team World Junior hockey championships have two pools of five teams, with the top four in each group advancing to the quarterfinals.

The Americans are favored by 5.5 goals against Germany, featuring a team that includes 22 players who have already been drafted and 21 currently playing college hockey.

I’ve got the latest odds and a USA vs Germany prediction for tonight’s clash.

USA vs Germany Prediction

• Germany +5.5 (-112 at FanDuel)

Don’t worry, Team USA will have no problem tonight, but I think 5.5 goals is too many. Last year, Team USA walloped the Germans 10-4 in this round. Germany won the ‘relegation’ game and finished in ninth place.

The US brings back eight players from last year’s championship team, including star defenseman Cole Eiserman and James Hagen. Teddy Stiga returns after scoring the gold-medal-winning overtime goal over Finland last year.

The Americans are coached by University of Minnesota coach Motzko, who guided the team to gold in 2017. One other US name fans might recognize is Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen in red, white and blue. His mother, Manon, was the first woman to appear in an NHL game in net for Tampa Bay. Dakoda is a defenseman.

What about the Germans? They have a pair of NHL draftees in forwards David Lewandowski (Edmonton) and Maxim Schafer (Capitals) and a pair of twins, the Kose brothers, playing elite amateur hockey in Germany. They also have an edge in net with returning goalie Linus Vieillard.

The Germans don’t have the depth and firepower to stay with the Americans, but I expect them to keep it as close as they can.

USA vs Germany Odds

Odds as of Saturday morning at FanDuel. Jump over the boards at FanDuel with our special FanDuel promo code.

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The spread is 5.5 goals for the Americans at BetMGM and FanDuel. BetMGM doesn’t even have a moneyline value for Team USA.

Team Canada is -105 to win the tournament. They’re in Pool B. Team USA is +220, while the Germans are the longest of long shots at +25000.

Canada won the tournament in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The last non-North American team to win the gold medal was Finland in 2019.

USA vs Germany Rosters

Team USA

Defensemen – Asher Barnett, EJ Emery, Logan Hensler, Cole Hutson, Adam Kleber, Luke Osburn, Chase Reid, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen

Forwards – Kamil Bednarik, Cole Eiserman, James Hagens, Will Horcoff, Ryker Lee, Cole McKinney, Brendan McMorrow, LJ Mooney, Max Plante, AJ Spellacy, Teddy Stiga, Shane Vansaghi, Will Zellers, Brodie Ziemer

Goalies – Caleb Heil, Nick Kempf, Brady Knowling

Team Germany

Defensemen – Max Bleicher, Fabio Kose, Manuel Schams, Carlos Handel, Max Hense, Moritz Kretzschmar, Matthias Pape

Forwards – Elias Pul, Maxim Schafer, David Lewandowski, Tim Schutz, Nick Maul, Mateu Spath Mariscal, Lenny Boos, Dustin Willhoft, Clemens Sager, Timo Kose, Elias Schneider, Tobias Schwarz, Simon Seidl

Goalies – Linus Vieillard, Lennart Neisse