World Junior Championships Preview: 9 Flyers Prospects Participating

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Last week, we took a look at some of the prospects making noise as World Junior teams were being formed. The rosters are in and the tournament begins on Monday with four games.

Nine Flyers prospects will be participating in the tournament for their respective countries. Here is the list again.

  • G Carter Hart, Canada
  • D Philippe Myers, Canada
  • F David Kase, Czech Republic
  • F German Rubtsov, Russia
  • F Mikhail Vorobyov, Russia
  • G Matej Tomek, Slovakia
  • G Felix Sandstrom, Sweden
  • D David Bernhardt, Sweden
  • F Tanner Laczynski, USA

Kase, Rubtsov, Vorobyov, Bernhardt and Laczynski are all expected to have modest roles with their teams. Tomek will be the backup goalie for Team Slovakia. Sandstrom is one of three goalies with Team Sweden, so his work will also be scattered.

The two prospects to watch are both for Team Canada. Carter Hart is Team Canada's leading netminder and expected to see a bulk of the work. Philippe Myers is on Canada's top defensive pairing for the tournament.

The top game to watch, at least during the Round Robin stage, could come on Monday night when Canada faces Russia. In that game, Hart, a 2016 second-round pick of the Flyers, and Myers will take on Rubtsov, the Flyers first-round pick in 2016, and Vorobyov. 

The Flyers nine prospects are by far the most of any NHL team. Four teams are tied for the next highest total at five. As TSN's Gord Miller points out, that number of nine prospects is even more impressive when you consider that 19-year-olds Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny are both age-eligible for the tournament, but obviously not playing because of their place on the Flyers roster.

Monday's games kick off with Sweden facing Denmark at 1 p.m. and will be followed by USA-Latvia, Czech Republic-Finland and Canada-Russia.

Round Robin games will run from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31. The quarterfinals will be held next Monday on Jan. 2. The semi-finals will be on Jan. 4. The tournament closes on Thursday, Jan. 5, with the Bronze Medal Game at 3:30 p.m. and the Gold Medal Game at 8 p.m.

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