Aug 3, 2024; Plymouth, MI, USA; The beginning of the game between USA and Canada during the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase at USA Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Not the holiday season per se, but World Junior season! With the 2025 tournament set to kick off in Ottawa this afternoon, we're here with a preview of the action. And while some of us are true sickos and want to take in absolutely every tiny bit of action in the tournament, we recognize that not everyone shares this fervor. So, for the folks who just want to get their Flyers prospect updates and keep it moving, we've got the essential details for you.

We'll get the bad news out of the way right off the bat -- it was supposed to be five prospects that we would get to watch in this tournament, but it's already been knocked down to four, as Jack Berglund took an injury in the final bit of pre-tournament action, and has been ruled out for the whole of the regular tournament. That's some real tough luck, but he should be pretty close to a lock to make next year's team.

But the Flyers will still be represented well by the healthy players remaining in the mix. The Flyers have one prospect on the Finnish team -- Heikki Ruohonen, who built on a really solid Summer Showcase performance and landed himself a spot on the final roster for the World Junior team, and should be in the mix for some pretty meaningful minutes as well.

All the rest of the Flyers prospect group, then, is hanging out over on the Canadian team. Oliver Bonk is one of the returnees from last year's team, and should be given a bigger role to work with. He had a tough go of things last time out -- he had his minutes a bit limited as one of the younger players on the team, and saw his tournament end when a shot deflected in off of him in the quarterfinal game against the Czechs. Bonk has shown some nice unflappability already so far in his young career, and this tournament will be a test of that. He'll be leaned on heavily this time around, for both his play and his experience, and he has a chance to make a big impact and statement.

On the other side of the coin, we'll see Jett Luchanko making his World Junior debut with Canada here. As a player who played actual NHL games this season, and as one who's been on a tear to the degree that he has been since his return to the OHL, it was hard to think he wouldn't be a lock for this team, but he still made sure to earn his spot. All the same, though, like Bonk last year, Luchanko has seen his minutes a bit limited, has been playing in the bottom-six through the bits of pre-tournament play, while the older players are given the bigger workloads. That's just the way it goes in these tournaments, but it will be interesting to see both how Luchanko will fare in a more limited role, how he can make the most of it, and if he'll be able to perform well enough to force his coaching staff's hand and earn himself some more ice. We're keeping our expectations reasonable, but his is an interesting case, no matter how you slice it.

Something strange is happening over on the Canadian side as well. Despite being announced as having made the final roster for this year's team, when the final registration was submitted to the IIHF, Carson Bjarnason wasn't on it. Whether that's just some kind of situation where the team is holding a place in case they can get a last-minute loan of an NHL player, or if his absence is more meaningful is yet to be seen, but this is certainly a situation we'll be monitoring.

The first of the games kicks off this afternoon, and while the complete schedule for the tournament can be found here, we're going to close things out by highlighting the notable games featuring our notable players:

And with the end of the month comes the end of the round robin and the knockout round will begin on January 2. We'll check back in before that, before we get to the games that really matter. In the meantime, enjoy the introduction to yelling at teenagers on the television (or however it is that you engage with this tournament).