The World Junior Summer Showcase is usually a great place for prospects to start getting in front of NHL scouts. The short event, that this year will be held in July, is a battle between junior-aged players trying to make their respective national rosters ahead of the IIHF World Junior tournament that starts in December and gives some of them their first chance to test themselves against the best in their age group. This year, Canada is not expected to take part in the event, but the U.S., Sweden, and Finland will all field teams.
Yesterday, Finland revealed their roster for the event (via Corey Pronman of The Athletic):
G Joel Blomqvist (52nd overall, PIT)
G Juho Markkanen (112th overall LAK)
G Leevi Merilainen (71st overall, OTT)
D Karri Aho (undrafted)
D Valtteri Koskela (2021 draft eligible)
D Rami Maatta (undrafted)
D Topi Niemela (64th overall, TOR)
D Ville Ottavainen (undrafted)
D Kasper Puutio (153rd overall, FLA)
D Ruben Rafkin (undrafted)
D Matias Rajaniemi (183rd overall, NYI)
D Christoffer Sedoff (undrafted)
D Eemil Viro (70th overall, DET)
F Samuel Helenius (2021 draft eligible)
F Roni Hirvonen (59th overall, TOR)
F Aatu Jamsen (190th overall, LAK)
F Roby Jarventie (33rd overall, OTT)
F Oliver Kapanen (2021 draft eligible)
F Ville Koivunen (2021 draft eligible)
F Brad Lambert (2022 draft eligible)
F Eetu Liukas (2021 draft eligible)
F Juuso Maenpaa (undrafted)
F Aatu Raty (2021 draft eligible)
F Samu Salminen (2021 draft eligible)
F Kasper Simontaival (66th overall, LAK)
F Oliver Suni (undrafted)
F Iivari Sakkinen (undrafted)
F Samu Tuomaala (2021 draft eligible)
The Finns will bring a young group to the event, especially up front with a number of 17 and 18-year-olds working for a place on the roster. Still, they’ll also have WJC veterans like Niemela, who not only took part but was named the tournament’s best defenseman earlier this year. Perhaps the name to watch here is Lambert, who also has a U20 appearance under his belt already despite only turning 17 last December. He won’t be eligible to draft until 2022 but should be among those in early first-round contention at that point.
Today, Sweden followed up with their own roster (via Pronman):
G Jesper Wallstedt (2021 draft eligible)
G Calle Clang (77th overall, PIT)
G Carl Lindbom (2021 draft eligible)
D Leo Loof (88th overall, STL)
D Emil Andrae (54th overall, PHI)
D Anton Olsson (2021 draft eligible)
D Mans Forsfjall (undrafted)
D Simon Edvinsson (2021 draft eligible)
D Joel Nystrom (undrafted)
D Helge Grans (35th overall, LAK)
D William Wallinder (32nd overall, DET)
F Daniel Ljungman (154th overall, DAL)
F Jeremias Lindewall (200th overall, EDM)
F Alexander Ljungkrantz (90th overall, NYI)
F Ake Stakkestad (undrafted)
F Victor Stjernborg (2021 draft eligible)
F William Eklund (2021 draft eligible)
F Zion Nybeck (115th overall, CAR)
F Isak Rosen (2021 draft eligible)
F Elliot Ekmark (198th overall, FLA)
F Isak Garfve (undrafted)
F Simon Robertsson (2021 draft eligible)
F Theodor Niederbach (51st overall, DET)
F Oskar Olausson (2021 draft eligible)
F Daniel Torgersson (40th overall, WPG)
Sweden on the other hand is bringing an older squad, but even this group doesn’t have their most dynamic skaters. Names like Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz are missing, despite still being eligible for the World Junior tournament. Of course, there absence is just an opportunity for someone else and there are plenty of names in the Swedish group that stand out. Edvinsson actually tied for second on Bob McKenzie’s midseason draft rankings for TSN, which is created by polling active scouts around the league. The Frolunda defenseman should be off the board quite quickly later this summer.
These groups will be paired down to create the final roster for the event, which will then be taken into consideration to make the roster for the World Junior Championship later this year. If a player was not included here, that doesn’t necessarily disqualify him for competition at that tournament.
Note: “undrafted” in this case means that the player was not selected in his first year of eligibility. Many of the players in this category will be chosen this year.