It’s December now which means one massive thing in the hockey calendar: It’s the season for the World Juniors and we get to ignore a whole lot of our families and watch teenagers play hockey instead of singing carols, or something.
The Philadelphia Flyers should be fairly well-represented and could even have the more prospects than any other NHL team up there in Minnesota, but that would take us looking at 31 other prospect pools and that’s annoying. It’s a mix of depth players on very good teams and players who could easily finish as tournament MVP and win a gold medal.
But who are these potential players? Who are the Flyers prospects that will head up to Minneapolis and St. Paul to represent their country and try their hardest to either push into the medal round or try to not embarrass themselves as tournament favorites? Let’s take a look.
Jett Luchanko, Canada
After basically being shunted to the fourth line and only the penalty kill in terms of any special teams opportunity, Flyers 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko should get an elevated role in what will be his final year of eligibility, but it might depend on who gets returned from the NHL.
If players like Berkly Catton, Michael Misa, Ben Kindel, and even Becket Sennecke (who plays a different position, but still) get sent to the world juniors it could mean Luchanko tumbling down the lineup and possibly playing in the same role as he did just last year. Basically, the three top available centers for Canada are all on NHL rosters so the situation is very fluid — but, Luchanko at the very least will be used to be that speedy and aggressive forechecking force to cause some havoc and be as responsible defensively as anyone on the ice.
Porter Martone, Canada
Porter Martone could absolutely be not only the best player on Team Canada but the best player in this entire tournament. He has just about everything going for him: The offensive tools to make use of the talent around him, the defensive work to possibly play in all situations, and the physical advantage to just dominate against fellow teenagers. He’s throwing the body around and getting mixed up in scrums against college players a few years into their 20s — some 150-pound player from Germany might experience Hell against Martone.
Out of every single player on this list, Martone is the biggest lock (besides players who have already been confirmed as part of the roster). There’s not even anything more to say other than we hope he’s on the first line and the first power-play unit — which, if those current NHLers don’t get sent back, will be even more of a guarantee that Martone will get those opportunities.
Shane Vansaghi, USA
Shane Vansaghi was officially named to Team USA’s preliminary roster so we know for certain that he will be at the very least getting a look, but he’s on a tier of potential depth players rather than really fighting to make his presence as one of the team’s top players.
He does certainly have the toolkit, as a physical menace that will hunt down just about every single puck in his sight, to be an impactful depth winger at this level and to just be absolutely annoying to play against for more skill-focused teams in Minnesota. But, there could be a scenario where Team USA prefers the high-end skill of a LJ Mooney to Vansaghi’s spot in the lineup due to it being such a short tournament and the Flyers prospect is either just an extra forward or is not on the roster at all.
Jack Berglund, Sweden
Jack Berglund has already been listed to Sweden’s roster, so we know for certain that he will be there. But, it’s just a question now as to what kind of role will he play? We have to assume that Anton Frondell and Eric Nilson are most likely going to be the two top-six centers for this team, but right after that, the 19-year-old Berglund has all the possible claim to be a solid scoring threat playing just below that duo.
It does help that at the World Junior Summer Showcase, Berglund really shocked a whole lot of people and shone offensively for Sweden when he was not expected to do so. That probably cemented him a spot on this team and now he will just need to take this opportunity to do it again.
Max Westergard, Finland
The undersized late-round pick of the Flyers this past June could certainly make some noise for the dark-horse Finland squad. This environment is kind of perfect for Westergard. He has split his season so far between the U20 Nationell and the SHL and whenever he’s playing amongst his peers, he’s lighting it up with almost two points per game, having scored four goals and 19 points in just 10 games. And then with Frolunda in the SHL, for 15 games he’s earned zero points but has barely played any minutes up there in one of the best leagues in the world.
Finland has a lot of responsible players but if they really think they need a pure offensive jolt in the top six, there is no reason why Westergard couldn’t take a spot up there.
Heikki Ruohonen, Finland
Speaking of more toned-down Finnish teenagers, Heikki Ruohonen has certainly become much more of a recognizable talent after having some good showings at Flyers development camp. And, in his freshman year at Harvard, the 19-year-old center has scored a goal and five points in nine games – certainly nothing to scoff at considering the school up in Boston doesn’t really have any dynamic offensive talents on its roster.
The only center we could really see playing above Ruohonen on Team Finland is Buffalo Sabres prospect Konsta Helenius — and if we want to buy into some hype, the 2026 Draft-eligible Oliver Suvanto has really had a good start to his season and could be given that opportunity to showcase some more upcoming Finnish talent for prospect pools around the NHL.
Flyers prospects that just missed out
We could certainly see all six Flyers prospects making their respective rosters and representing their respective countries when the tournament kicks off on Dec. 26. It wouldn’t shock anyone to see all of them as regular members of the lineup and having the most die-hard of Flyers fans scouring every single shift that they take at the World Juniors — watching the roughly 12 hours of hockey that will be on every day.
But, are there any that were left out? Or that we might have wondered about if they did make enough noise the last few months?
There is at least one. Jack Murtagh was invited to Team USA’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster and then not named to their preliminary roster just last week. It’s not that he really disappointed, but even this season at Boston University, his three goals and six points in 15 games isn’t jumping off the page — especially when he’s up against the likes of Ryker Lee, Max Plante, AJ Spellacy, and the like — just more established prospects who have always been near the top of the lineup.
Of course, there were other eligible players because players do come from countries. Carter Amico just didn’t do enough to break through after recovering from injury. Matthew Gard is up against Luchanko or Cole Beaudoin to be the fourth-line center and he’s not that. Caleb Desnoyers might not even be a regular in the lineup. And Spencer Gill is currently out with a long-term injury but even then, projected top 2026 Draft pick Keaton Verhoeff and Ben Danford or Kashawn Aitcheson, are some of the players who will feature on Canada’s bottom pairing.
If only Russia was participating and we could have watched Ilya Pautov actually play hockey not in low-quality streams from the MHL.