Flyers Prospects End World Junior Summer Showcase with a Bang

Unheralded Flyers prospect Heikki Ruohonen made a name for himself at the World Junior Summer Showcase this week. (Photo: David Reginek, Imagn Images)

Few NHL teams saw their prospects' stocks increase more at the World Junior Summer Showcase than the Philadelphia Flyers did this week.

Nearly every day, it seemed as though the Flyers had at least one of their top prospects stand out amongst the rest, and that was with some players missing.

Defenseman Spencer Gill didn't draw into every game as a fringe player for a rather deep Canada team, and forward Jett Luchanko didn't suit up due to injury; Canada and the Flyers really are just playing that one safe this late in the summer.

Newly drafted winger Max Westergard, too, was in and out and featured in a bottom-six role for the most part.

Centers like Jack Berglund and Heikki Ruohonen, though? Those two took to the Summer Showcase exhibition like fish to water, and the results followed.

On top of being Sweden's captain, Berglund, 19, exploded for four goals, three assists, and seven points in the brief tournament, regularly earning marks from prospect experts for his involvement in plays, even if he wasn't the one doing the scoring or making the play.

For a center, it's important to always be in the right place at the right time, and that's exactly what Berglund did all week long in Minnesota.

The 6-foot-4 pivot capped his Summer Showcase with an important goal, bringing the Swedes within one at 2-1 in what ultimately became a 3-1 loss.

Said Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis: "Berglund should have no issue making Sweden’s World Junior team, especially after the week he had. His consistency was impressive, and he was in the right spot at the right time to make it 2-1. I was surprised he didn’t score another – he had a couple of other good looks throughout the game. I like how hard he is to move from the crease, and he’s tough to contain."

The Flyers' 2024 second-round pick made Sweden's World Junior team last year, but his tournament was ended before it even began due to a broken hand.

This year will be Berglund's last chance to represent Sweden at the World Juniors, and so far, he's taken all the right steps in his preparation to make it count.

On the other side of the 3-1 score line was 2024 draft classmate and Finland center Heikki Ruohonen, who scored a decisive power play goal after staking claim to the blue paint and going to work in close.

Neither Berglund nor Ruohonen are the fastest or most skilled guys out there, but they do everything with purpose and know exactly where they need to be and when.

That'll help them survive and make the NHL ranks someday, which means only good things for the Flyers and their perceived lackluster center pool.

This kind of drafting has been a theme for the Flyers recently, too.

Just look at the additions of Jack Nesbitt, Jack Murtagh, and Shane Vansaghi, for example.

The latter two also featured at the Summer Showcase for Team USA on a rotational basis and should be in contention for a spot on the final roster.

But, all three players share the dog-on-a-bone mentality, and, so far, it's been paying off.

How it plays out for the Flyers in the long haul remains to be seen, but it appears they've built a group that's quite difficult to play against in only a few years' time.