The Philadelphia Flyers have not had many prospects invited to the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in the last few years. Defenseman prospect Shayne Gostisbehere made the cut last year and won a gold medal with Team USA, but aside from his appearance, there have not been many others to attempt similar claims.
The 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships will mark the first time in years that the Flyers have a comparable number of top prospects invited as most other NHL organizations.
Gostisbehere is too old to compete for Team USA, but goaltender Anthony Stolarz will once again be competing for a roster spot. His competition for the team are 17-year old (and 2014 NHL draft eligible) goaltender Thatcher Demko and Calgary Flames prospect Jon Gillies. Unless Demko has a phenomenal, no goals-against type of camp, he is a longshot for this year’s squad.
Gillies, on the other hand, is currently one of the best goaltenders in college hockey, boasting a 10-1-2 record and 0.945 save percentage this season. Stolarz has played well for the London Knights of the OHL, owning a favorable 17-3-1 record and 0.930 save percentage himself. It will be interesting to see who earns the starting position, but Stolarz has a shot.
Team Canada passed on Scott Laughton last season, but the former first round pick has been on a tear with the Oshawa Generals since the Flyers returned him there. His 21 goals and 42 points in 26 games puts him 2nd on the Generals (behind 2014-eligible and future top 10 pick Michael Dal Colle) and 10th in the OHL in scoring.
Laughton also served as captain for Team OHL as part of the “Subway Super Series” and may even captain Team Canada at the World Junior’s.
Laughton will be joined at camp by fellow Flyers prospect Taylor Leier. Leier, drafted in the 4th round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, has proven that he can score at the junior level (22 goals, 42 points in 30 games this season), but his role on the team (and likely the role he will best be suited for whenever he competes for a Flyers roster position) will be as a bottom six, penalty killing forward.
Across the Atlantic, defenseman Robert Hägg has once again made the cut for Team Sweden while defenseman Valeri Vasiliev will be making his World Junior’s debut for Team Russia.
The two defensemen couldn’t be more different in styles. Hägg is known as more of a puck-moving defenseman while Vasiliev serves as a crease-clearing, shutdown style defenseman.
Hägg began the season on the top defensive pairing for MODO of the Swedish Hockey League, but was quickly demoted to third pairing after a rough start. Some further tumbles saw him demoted to their junior team, but injuries to the big club prompted his return. He currently has 1 goal and 5 points in 28 games; not the type of development one would hope for, but the Flyers have four years from his drafting to decide whether to sign him or not, so there’s plenty of time for him to mature.
Vasiliev has two assists in 23 games played in the KHL this season. He has made comments in the past that he would consider joining the Flyers in a few years once he progresses, but who knows with Russian talent. In any event, because there is no transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL, the Flyers hold his rights indefinitely.
The tournament opens on December 26 in Malmö, Sweden and concludes on January 5.
bad day in Dallas for the Flyers —
is Santini making the world juniors USA roster? Many thought the Flyers should have taking Santini instead of Hagg in the 2013 entry draft. Also many thought Flyers should have taken Pulock instead of Morin. Wasn’t Hagg the caption last year for Sweden? It is nice to read Laughton and Stolarz playing well in the OHL in addition to the interest in their young talent for the worlds.