It’s maybe the best time of the hockey calendar for prospect freaks like (some of) us. The IIHF World Junior Championship is right around the corner and we get to spend our holiday seasons ignoring a large portion of our family and watch teenagers represent their country on ice.
And thankfully, there will be a large portion of Philadelphia Flyers representatives at this year’s tournament taking place in Ottawa.
Team Canada announced their final 25-player roster on Friday evening and while for the neutral prospect enjoyers, there were plenty of big names either cut from the camp roster or just left off completely, there are a total of three Flyers prospects that will be making the trip to Canada’s capital.
Defenseman Oliver Bonk, forward Jett Luchanko, and goaltender Carson Bjarnason, have all claimed spots on Canada’s final roster and should be in good positions to make an impact.
Of course, this means that one Flyers prospect that was in Canada’s camp was cut. Forward Denver Barkey has suffered the same fate as last year: The 19-year-old London Knights center was part of the final cuts for the World Juniors roster and will be sent back to go play in the OHL while his buddies all go and wear Red and White (and black).
Despite scoring over 100 points in the OHL last season and having some stellar performances for one of the league’s top programs, Barkey will not be able to play for Canada. But this has been a thing. He has been able to put up loads of points and impress in juniors, but whenever the opportunity comes for Hockey Canada, Barkey just does not make it. He has yet to put on a sweater for Canada in his young career.
Now, on to the players that actually did make it. Bonk is in his final season of eligibility so he should have a fairly large opportunity to play at the top of the blue line for one of the tournament favorites. Either beside teammate Sam Dickinson or 2025 top prospect Matthew Schaefer, Bonk should be in the top four for Canada and could get some time killing penalties. Players like Schaefer and Dickinson should get the spots running the power play, but we could be surprised.
Moving up and younger, Jett Luchanko might not be the star of this roster, but he will play a crucial role. Behind some centers like Calum Ritchie and Berkly Catton, Luchanko could find himself in the bottom six and be one of the best at it. He probably fits that two-way role in a short tournament almost perfectly. And, if he plays well enough he could maybe overtake some of those older prospects.
And finally, Carson Bjarnason is really going to be battling it out. He has been absolutely stellar for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings this season with a .913 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average and will directly be battling it out with Los Angeles Kings prospect Carter George for the starting role. Bjarnason has the edge in age and current season performance, so he might be able to start as the No. 1. And the third netminder is 2025 draft-eligible Jack Ivankovic, who might just get some pre-tournament action but shouldn’t pose as a threat for Bjarnason.
The Flyers might really have the starting netminder, a top-pairing defenseman, and at least the middle-six center for a very good World Juniors team. No one can really complain about that, even though it definitely is unfortunately for Barkey to suffer the same fate once again.
As always, the 2025 World Juniors start on Dec. 26 and Canada’s first game is that night against Finland. Should be a fun tournament and we’ll have all the coverage here for you at Broad Street Hockey.
