The 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase is starting this week in Minneapolis and several Philadelphia Flyers prospects are taking part.
It might be the middle of summer, but that doesn’t mean there will be no hockey being played. Oh, you thought we would need to wait until September to try and get a taste of the NHL preseason, or be so desperate enough to tune into the KHL? You are dead wrong.
The World Junior Summer Showcase is here, and it is filling the need to watch hockey. This warm-up tournament serves as a way for the four biggest nations to get a sense of their rosters before the real World Juniors in the winter. While during normal years it is typically time for only the true sickos of the sport to not go too long without watching our favorite ice sport, it should be of extra interest for Philadelphia Flyers fans this year.
After the substantial haul of new prospects coming into the organization last month at the 2025 NHL Draft, there will be several Flyers prospects at the tournament this year. It all kicks off on July 25 and goes until August 2 at Riddler Arena in Minneapolis.
Finland — Max Westergard, Heikki Ruohonen
Starting with Finland, the Flyers do have a couple prospects that should have some key roles on this team. Max Westergard, the Flyers most recent fifth-round pick, and Heikki Ruohonen, a center they nabbed in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, have been named to the roster to represent their country over in Minnesota this week.
Finland is not the powerhouse they once were when the likes of Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine, and Aleksander Barkov were destroying the junior international tournaments for the Suomi. There are no real top prospects on this entire roster, so given that this showcase could be used as a way to guarantee a spot on the team this winter, both Westergard and Ruohonen could find themselves in prominent positions by next week. All of that would lead to fairly good starts to make the World Juniors team and get a good opportunity.
Sweden — Jack Berglund
The lone Flyer that will wear the Tre Kroner this week is big center Jack Berglund, a second round pick from the 2024 NHL Draft.
Unlike Finland, Sweden is expected to be very good and Berglund could suddenly find himself higher up in the lineup than anticipated with Anton Frondell no longer participating. While Sweden’s wings are loaded with talent, down the middle it really is just Eric Nilson and Lucas Pettersson that are likely to be higher than Berglund in the lineup. But even then, Berglund provides so much more size and physicality than those two, and if he gels right with one of the 2026 Draft-eligible wingers like Viggo Bjorck or Ivar Stenberg, suddenly he is getting a whole lot of ice-time.
Berglund should be a bottom-six center on Sweden when the real tournament takes place this winter, but he should use this next week to maybe be considered as an offensive option, too.
United States — Jack Murtagh, Shane Vansaghi
While we love our Swedish and Finnish prospects, now we’re getting to the real meat of the Flyers’ pool. Two Americans that will be at the showcase for the next several days, are wingers Jack Murtagh and Shane Vansaghi, two of the Flyers’ four second-round selections last month. One of the other second rounders, defenseman Carter Amico, would be on this roster if he was healthy enough and not still nursing his knee injury from last season.
Like most Team USA rosters in the modern era, there is a whole lot of competition up front. James Hagens, Cole Eiserman, Trevor Connelly, Teddy Stiga, Brodie Ziemer, and Max Plante are the forwards that are returning from the 2025 World Juniors roster, so that’s half of the lineup most likely locked in. Then you take some high-profile 2025 prospects like Will Horcoff, Ben Kevan, Ryker Lee, Cole McKinney, LJ Mooney, Cullen Potter, and Kristian Epperson — the Flyers’ duo has some competition.
One has to assume than Vansaghi’s experience already playing a season in the NCAA and Murtagh’s top-tier speed and forechecking ability, should give them a leg up on some of the other forwards, but you never know.
Canada — Jett Luchanko, Porter Martone
These are the two of the most secure locks for any World Juniors roster in the entire tournament. Do we really need to explain why Porter Martone should be on this roster after just playing for the men’s World Championships team? Martone will be there this winter, but Canada has not officially named the roster for this summer showcase despite it starting this week.
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler did ask around about invites and he listed both Luchanko and Martone under the “don’t need to ask about” category. So, no official confirmation but just assumption. Would Martone forego this showcase after just committing to Michigan State and preparing for that season? Well, all the Americans are in the same boat, so that reasoning doesn’t really make sense.
Anyways, Luchanko is maybe the Flyers prospect that has the biggest opportunity. The World Juniors is a tournament for the 19-year-olds and given his minimal opportunity at the 2025 tournament, Luchanko should be dying to play higher up the lineup.
Could we see Luchanko’s seniority put him above Michael Misa in the center depth chart? Probably not. But over other 2025 draftees like Jake O’Brien, Caleb Desnoyers, and Brady Martin, and other prospects like Cole Beaudoin, Sascha Boisvert, Berkly Catton, and Michael Hage? Maybe. He should try to make himself seem like a clear step above those centers. He is the only player on this entire roster that has played multiple games in the NHL, after all.
While some people use the summer to take a break from hockey, we are certainly not. And if you’re reading this sentence right now, you’re right in the trenches with us. Stay tuned for more Flyers prospect updates from the World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis!
