Flyers to have nine at World Junior Championship

The Philadelphia Flyers will have an NHL-high nine players taking part in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The tournament starts Monday and runs through Jan. 5, with games at Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal.
Among the Flyers prospects taking part in the tournament are Russia center German Rubtsov, the No. 22 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. After going without a point in limited ice time in 15 games with Vityaz in the Kontinental Hockey League, he has 15 points in 15 games with their team in Russia's top minor league.

The Flyers also will have two players with Canada, goaltender Carter Hart and defenseman Philippe Myers.
Hart, who plays for Everett in the Western Hockey League, was the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year in 2015-16 and the Flyers chose him in the second round (No. 48) of the 2016 draft. This season he leads the WHL with a 1.85 goals-against average and four shutouts, and is second with a .928 save percentage in 24 games.
"[General manager] Ron [Hextall] talked to [Hart] after he left [training] camp and asked him to do what he did last year and be the best player he can be and he's lived up to his word so far," Flyers assistant general manager Chris Pryor told the Courier-Post.
Hart is one of three Philadelphia goaltending prospects who will be playing in the tournament. He is joined by Felix Sandstrom of Sweden and Matej Tomek of Slovakia.

Other future Flyers playing in the tournament are Sweden defenseman David Bernhardt, Czech Republic right wing David Kase, Russia center Mikhail Vorobyov, and United States center Tanner Laczynski.
Five teams will have five prospects each at the tournament, among them the Tampa Bay Lightning, which will have all five with Canada: Goaltender Connor Ingram, right wings Mathieu Joseph and Taylor Raddysh, and centers Anthony Cirelli and Mitchell Stephens.
The Boston Bruins also will have five prospects at the tournament, including U.S. defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Ryan Lindgren. Goaltender Daniel Vladar and defenseman Jakub Zboril will play for Czech Republic, and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon with Canada.
Three centers will be among the five Ottawa Senators prospects playing in the tournament, Jonathan Dahlen of Sweden, Filip Chlapik of Czech Republic and Colin White of the U.S. Also taking part will be Sweden left wing Filip Ahl and Czech Republic defenseman Thomas Chabot.
The Calgary Flames will have two of their five prospects playing for the U.S., goaltender Tyler Parsons and defenseman Adam Fox. Other Flames prospects in the tournament are Sweden defenseman Oliver Kylington, Canada center Dillon Dube and Russia left wing Pavel Karnaukhov.

The Dallas Stars' five players in the tournament will play for five teams: Finland goaltender Markus Ruusu, Sweden center Fredrik Karlstrom, Russia right wing Denis Gurianov, Czech Republic defenseman Ondrej Vala and U.S. defenseman Joseph Cecconi.
All 30 teams will have at least one player taking part in the tournament, and there will be 28 first-round NHL draft picks. That includes the No. 3 pick from each of the past two drafts. Each will be playing for Canada: center Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes) and left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (Columbus Blue Jackets).
The 10 WJC teams will be split into two groups in preliminary round.
Group A
will consist of the defending champion Finland, along with Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland and play its games at Bell Centre.
Group B
will have Canada, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia and the U.S., and play its opening-round games at Air Canada Centre.
NHL Network will televise each of the games involving the United States, as well as select other games.