Nine LA Kings Prospects Selected to Upcoming 2021 World Juniors

For the second year in a row, the LA Kings will have the most prospects represented at the World Junior Championship. Nine Kings prospects are set to suit up for their home country's beginning on December 25th.
This is the second consecutive year that nine Kings prospects will be showcased at the WJC.

"We were in a position that we needed to build, and we needed to add assets and go that way," Kings director of player personnel Nelson Emerson
said to Adam Kimmelman
.
"We've been fortunate enough to be able to accumulate those draft picks and now those kids that are being rewarded by playing in these events," Emerson said. "We are excited to watch these players, we're excited to watch them develop and hopefully have success, not only there in junior and at this tournament but as they move forward as pros."
Of the nine Kings prospects, five will be returning for their second WJC appearance and in total the prospects will represent six nations: Canada (2), Czech Republic (1), Finland (1), Slovakia (1), Sweden (1), United States (3).

The Kings prospects represented at the 2021 WJC are: Quinton Byfield, Center (CAN), Jordan Spence, Defense (CAN), Lukas Parik, Goalie (CZE), Kasper Simontaival, Right Wing (FIN), Martin Chromiak, Right Wing, (SVK), Tobias Bjornfot, Defense (SWE), Brock Faber, Defense (USA), Arthur Kaliyev, Right Wing (USA), Alex Turcotte, Center (USA).
A total of six preliminary-round games will feature Kings prospects matching up against one another.

Highlighting the Kings vs. Kings matchups will be the New Year's Eve tilt between Sweden (Bjornfot) and USA (Faber, Kaliyev, Turcotte). The two teams last met in tournament play in 2019 where the U.S., captained by Kings prospect Mikey Anderson, rallied from a 4-goal deficit to force overtime before falling, 5-4.
In addition to Anderson, three other Kings prospects skated in that game, including Samuel Fagemo (SWE), Tyler Madden (USA) and Johan Sodergran (SWE).

The last four IIHF World Junior Championship gold-medal games have featured at least one Kings prospect. In total, five players have captured gold medals while last year's tournament also saw Kings prospect Samuel Fagemo, lead the tournament in scoring with 13 points (8-5=13) while helping Bjornfot and Team Sweden to a bronze-medal effort.

The 2021 WJC is scheduled for Dec. 25 through Jan. 5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The tournament will be held without fans in a secure environment, similar to what the NHL used for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. All games can be seen on NHL Network.