Four Flyers Prospects to Participate in Rescheduled World Junior Championship

With final rosters being announced for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, four Flyers prospects will take part in the tournament. The original tournament was postponed in January after numerous positive COVID tests forced teams to forfeit.

Tournament rules stated that a single positive test would be grounds for a team to forfeit their upcoming game. With enough taking place to not safely proceed with the tournament, it was rescheduled and set to run from August 9th to the 20th. It is being held in Edmonton.

Three of the four Flyers prospects participating were already a part of their nation’s teams during the originally scheduled tournament.

Team Canada

Tyson Foerster

Foerster was unable to participate in the original tournament as shoulder surgery in November took him out for most of the season. He would return to his junior team, the Barrie Colts, for the latter part of the year. He posted six goals and 11 assists in 13 games.

This will be the first time that Foerster is representing Canada in any capacity. Likely looking to have a strong tournament, Foerster could use that to jump start his chances of making an impression on the Flyers ahead of training camp.

Elliot Desnoyers

Desnoyers is coming off a breakout campaign as captain of the Halifax Mooseheads. He has thrived since an off-season trade from the Moncton Wildcats. In 61 games, Desnoyers posted 42 goals and 88 points. He lead the Mooseheads in goals and was second in points.

He was already a part of Canada’s roster in January. He had three assists in two games. This isn’t the first time that Desnoyers has represented Canada in some capacity. He was on the Canada Red U17 team for the World U-17 Hockey Challenge during the 2018-19 season. Desnoyers had one goal in six games.

Desnoyers is certainly a dark horse candidate to make the Flyers roster this upcoming season. But a strong tournament could have him firmly on the team’s radar.

Canada will not begin preliminary play August 8th, one day regular play is underway. They will take on Sweden.

Team Sweden

Emil Andrae

Andrae has spent his entire career among the various leagues in Sweden and has plenty of experience with the national teams as well. He spent last season as a full time member of HV71 in HockeyAllsvenskan.

Now playing full time for the team, Andrae posted nine goals and 33 points in 41 games played. He was also a part of Sweden’s roster in January. He had one goal and one assist in two games as captain of the team, something he will remain as for the rescheduled tournament.

A fixture of various Sweden national squads, Andrae has appeared with the U16, U17, U18, and U20 teams throughout his career. This includes the WJC, WHC, and International-Jr teams.

Andrae remains unsigned, though he was only drafted in 2020. It is unknown if or when he may decide to come to North America.

Preliminary play for Sweden will begin on August 4th as they face off against Finland.

Team Switzerland

Brian Zanetti

Up until this last season, Zanetti had spent his entire career in Switzerland. Coming over to play junior hockey, he spent last season with the Peterborough Petes in the OHL. The defenseman posted four goals and 26 points in 56 games.

Among defensemen, he was second in goals and points. He was also teammates with Jon-Randall Avon who signed with the Flyers last September.

Zanetti appeared in one game for Switzerland during the original tournament. Prior to that, he has appeared for his country mostly in the Internarional-Jr. In 52 total games between the different age groups, Zanetti has three goals and 25 points. With the U18 team at the WJC during the 2020-21 season, he had one assist in five games.

Having only played in North America for one season, Zanetti will certainly need some more developmental time before turning professional.

The Swiss will begin preliminary play on August 5th when they take on Slovakia.