Philadelphia Flyers 2020 World Junior Championships Guide

The Philadelphia Flyers will have a couple of prospects representing their home countries at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Christmas is now in the past, and the month of December is winding down, which means it’s time for one thing: The Under-20 2020 World Junior Championships (WJC). That’s right, folks, it’s time to watch some of the best, young prospects in the world flaunt their stuff and try to lead their respective country to a gold medal. The Philadelphia Flyers have had their fair share of players perform in this just over week-long tournament throughout the years, with names such as Carter Hart, Tanner Laczynski, John St Ivany, Joel Farabee, Noah Cates, and Jay O’Brien leading their teams to either gold or silver in the past. Four prospects will look to mimic some of that success in the Czech Republic this time around as the group of potentially future Flyers will represent three different countries at this year’s event.

2019 First and Second Round Draft Selections Cam York and Bobby Brink highlight the section of Flyers prospects attending the 2020 World Juniors and will suit up in Red, White, and Blue for Head Coach Scott Sandelin. The two 18-year-olds have played well in their freshman campaigns in the NCAA so far, as Brink has netted 13 points (7 Goals, 6 Assists) in 18 games with the University of Denver while York’s tallied nine points (4 Goals, 5 Assist) in 14 contests with Michigan. This will mark the first time both skaters have played for the under-20 squad at this stage and hopefully, they’ll impress while performing alongside other talented prospects like Cole Caufield, Oliver Wahlstrom, and K’Andre Miller.

Defenseman Adam Ginning will be the lone Flyers representative for Team Sweden this year, participating in his second and final World Juniors tournament as he’ll age-out next month. The 2018 Second-Rounder didn’t have the best start to his 2019-20 season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), posting just one goal in nine games and getting loaned to the Allsvenskan league after the fact. He’s produced a bit more offensively since the loan, registering four assists in 17 games with HC Vita Hästen thus far.

It’s worth noting that Ginning’s more known for his abilities in the defensive end of the ice and his low offensive numbers shouldn’t be too concerning at this stage of his career. It’ll be interesting to see how the 6’4 D-Man will fair in a leadership role with the Swedes, as he was named Captain of the team a few days before pre-tournament action took place.

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, blueliner Egor Zamula will play for Team Russia in his first and final stint with the Under-20 club at the WJC. Zamula has been nothing short of phenomenal in his second full season in the Western Hockey League, netting at a point-per-game pace with 28 points (7 Goals, 21 Assists) in 28 contests for the Calgary Hitmen.

That scoring total leads all Hitmen defensemen by a wide margin and ties for fifth among all blueliners in the league, showing how much growth the Russian made since being signed as an undrafted free agent back in 2018. Of all the Flyers prospects participating in this international tourney, Zamula’s the one I’m most excited to watch as I’ll look to see if he can dominate the competition and prove he’s truly ready for the next step in his development as a player.

The first Flyers-related game will take place today (Thursday, December 26th) as Zamula and the Russians will take on Team Czech Republic to kick-off preliminary play at 9 am EST on the NHL Network. For your convenience, here’s the full list of games the NHL Network will air.