Flyers lead the way with 9 prospects at world juniors
It's a good time to be a Philadelphia Flyers supporter.
The club sits 20-12-4 at the holiday break, firmly in possession of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, and Wayne Simmonds pace one of the league's top offenses, while teenagers Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov have 31 points between them.
The present is bright, but so is the future: The Flyers have nine prospects set to compete at the World Junior Hockey Championship, which begins Monday in Toronto, writes NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. And that's without Konecny and Provorov, who are eligible to play but will remain with Philadelphia. That's about as stocked as a system gets.
| Player | Country | Position | Drafted |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Bernhardt | Sweden | D | 199th in 2016 |
| Carter Hart | Canada | G | 48th in '16 |
| David Kase | Czech Republic | RW | 128th in 2015 |
| Tanner Laczynski | USA | C | 169th in '16 |
| Philippe Myers | Canada | D | Undrafted |
| German Rubtsov | Russia | C | 22nd in '16 |
| Felix Sandstrom | Sweden | G | 70th in '15 |
| Matej Tomek | Slovakia | G | 90th in '15 |
| Mikhail Vorobyov | Russia | C | 104th in '15 |
The last two drafts will be on display for the Flyers, and it says a lot about their scouting when five of the nine listed players were drafted 100th overall or later, or - in the case of Myers - not drafted at all.
Hart, the highest pick of the bunch as a second-rounder, is the best goalie in the WHL and will play an integral role in Canada's success at the tournament.
The Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, and Tampa Bay Lightning each have five prospects set to play in Montreal and Toronto from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.