Three Flyers Prospects Headed to 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase

The 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase, hosted by USA Hockey, will be from July 27 to August 4 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Hopefuls for 2023-24 IIHF Under-20 World Championship (World Junior Championship) will have the opportunity to start building their cases to earn roster spots on their respective national teams. Final roster decisions will be made in December after national team training camps conclude.

Forty-five American players will attend the 2023 Summer Showcase. They'll be divided into two rosters (USA Blue and USA White). The national hockey federations of Sweden and Finland will also send teams to the Showcase. The Swedes and Finland will send single-roster entries rather than larger split squads. The games will be played on an NHL-size rink. Three American-born Flyers prospects will attend the Showcase.

Cutter Gauthier:Barring injury, the Flyers 2022 first-round Draft pick (5th overall) is a virtual shoo-in for the final Team USA roster come December. He skated on Team USA's top line at the 2022-23 World Junior Championship and later played a very strong tournament for the national men's team at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. For Team USA, Gauthier has almost exclusively played left wing, although he mostly plays center at Boston College. The Flyers' long-term goal is for Gauthier to be a center. Gauthier, 19, will be a sophomore for the BC Eagles in 2023-24.

Devin Kaplan: As with Gauthier, the 19-year-old Kaplan is a graduate of the US National Team Development Program who was selected by the Flyers in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft (third round, 69th overall). A high-energy power forward, Kaplan moved around the Boston University Terriers lineup as a freshman last season. If he ultimately earns a spot on Team USA for the 2023-24 WJC, it will likely be in a third-line or fourth-line winger role. However, Kaplan has a deft touch around the net when he has offensive opportunities.

Cole Knuble: The 19-year-old Knuble, drafted by the Flyers in the fourth round (103rd overall) of the 2023 Draft. He'll be a freshman at Notre Dame in 2023-24. Another former USNTDP player, Knuble took a big step forward in his development last season in the USHL as a center for. His father, two-stint Flyers alum Mike Knuble, represented Team USA in both the IIHF World Championships (1995, 1999, 2001, 2005) and the 2006 Olympics.

Gauthier and Kaplan have both been assigned to USA White while Knuble will skate for USA Blue. The schedule of games is as follows:

July 29: USA Blue vs. Sweden (1 p.m. EDT), USA White vs. Finland (4 p.m. EDT).

July 31: USA Blue vs. Finland (7 p.m. EDT), USA White vs. Sweden (7 p.m. EDT)

Aug 2: Sweden vs. Finland (1 p.m. EDT), USA White vs. USA Blue (4 p.m. EDT)

Aug. 4: USA Blue vs. Sweden (1 p.m. EDT), USA White vs. Finland (4 p.m. EDT)