2019 IIHF World Championship Group-Winner & Quarterfinal Odds

• Sportsbooks list Canada and Russia as co-favorites to win the 2019 IIHF World Championship
• Both Canada and Russia are odds-on favorites to win their respective groups, as well
• Bettors can only wager on lesser teams to advance to the quarterfinals

Neither Canada or Russia finished in the medals at the 2018 IIHF World Championship. Regardless, the two hockey super powers are joint favorites to win the gold medal at the 2019 tournament in Slovakia (Apr. 29 – May 5). Both countries are also the chalk to win their respective divisions, Canada in Group A and Russia in Group B.

Canada most recently won the World Championship in 2016. Russia’s last world title win came in 2015. The Russians have won four golds and eight medals in total since 2008.

Sweden are the two-time defending world champions. The Swedes edged surprise finalist Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout in the gold-medal game last year.

2019 IIHF World Championship Group A Winner Odds

*Odds taken on 04/29/19

Canada is solidly favored to come out on top in Group A at odds of -130. The Canadian team was announced Monday and includes 47-goal scorer John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs and two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But, overally, it’s a relatively young and inexperienced team that will represent Canada, especially on defense and in goal. Just seven of them have previously played in a World Championship.

https://twitter.com/HC_Men/status/1122917079982727169

The roster includes three World Championship gold medal winners (Sylvain Couturier – 2015; Sam Reinhart – 2016; Mark Stone – 2016) and three returnees from 2018 (Thomas Chabot, Darnell Nurse, Kyle Turris).

Four players – Tyler Bertuzzi, Bradley Montour, Jonathan Marchessault and Troy Stecher – are representing their country for the first time at any level.

Canada finished third in pool play last year with losses to both the Finns and the USA. Jeff Blashill, who guided the USA to a win over Canada in last year’s bronze-medal game, is back in charge of the US squad. Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin offer a dynamic 1-2 punch at center.

We like the more experienced Americans to win Group A, despite their historic struggles at this tournament. (The last US gold came in 1960 and the last silver was in 1952.)

The Pick: USA (+200)

2019 IIHF World Championship Group B Winner Odds

The misfortune of the Washington Capitals is good fortune for Russia at the World Championship. When the defending Stanley Cup-champion Capitals were upset in the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes, it freed up captain Alex Ovechkin and teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov to play for their country at the worlds.

So team Russia will have Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Malkin, Kucherov, Gusev, Sergachev, Orlov, Zaitsev, Provorov (contract talks pending), Kovalchuk, Kaprizov, Grigorenko, Vasilevskiy, Yakovlev, Sorokin, Georgiev, Nesterov, Lyubushkin and Anisimov in its roster for the #iihfworlds2019

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) April 26, 2019

But that’s barely scratching the surface of the Russian roster in Slovakia. The shocking sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opening round was also a boon for Russia.

Hart Trophy favorite and NHL scoring champion Nikita Kucherov and Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy both joined in the pursuit of a world title when the Lightning were struck down.

Also on the team will be Ilya Kovalchuk of the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, Buffalo’s Mikhail Grigorenko and KHL MVP Nikita Gusev, who recently signed with the Vegas Golden Knights. Gusev was named top forward at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Russia should run away with the Group B title.

The Pick: Russia (-105)

2019 IIHF World Championship Quarterfinal Qualification Odds

Bettors cannot wager on every team to advance to the quarterfinals. The big five of Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden and Finland are such certainties to go through that books won’t even offers odds on those countries advancing.

Logically, that leaves three spots up for grabs in quarterfinal play.

Put a checkmark next to the Czech Republic. The Czechs always advance to the final eight. They’ve not won a medal since a bronze in 2012 but they will be part of the playoff picture.

Henrik Lundqvist (SWE), Alexandar Georgiev (RUS), Filip Chytil (CZE) and potential future Ranger Kaapo Kakko (FIN) will all participate at the Carlson Games in Brno this weekend. It's the final tournament before the #iihfworlds2019 #NYR @MSGNetworks @NYRangers pic.twitter.com/LaYNQIoe04

— Stat Boy Steven 🇳🇱 🇿🇦 (@StatBoy_Steven) April 29, 2019

Switzerland has grown to be a lowercase hockey power in the past decade. The Swiss made it to the gold-medal game last year and also in 2013. They’ve been part of the playoff round in five tourneys since 2010.

After that, it gets dicey. Latvia was a quarterfinalist last year and recently fell 2-1 to Russia in a pre-tournament game. Germany was in the gold-medal game at the 2018 Winter Olympics and has been in the World Championship quarterfinals twice in the past three tournaments.

Unfortunately, the Latvians equalised in regulation, before the hosts then scored the winner in the ensuing overtime period to claim a 2:1 victory.

The two sides will meet again at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia in May. #TeamRussia pic.twitter.com/bWFHPmX8ZT

— Russia Hockey (@russiahockey_en) April 25, 2019

Host team Slovakia last advanced beyond the group stage in 2013. It’s also been awhile since Denmark (2016), France (2014) or Norway (2012) saw quarterfinal action.

The Picks: Czech Republic (-3300), Switzerland (-400), Germany (+250)