The participating teams will be known after the end of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship held in Bratislava & Kosice, Slovakia. They will include the best 14 teams from that tournament as well as two teams promoted from the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A that will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Also the groups will be announced after the end of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.