Six prospects from the Philadelphia Flyers have been selected to play for their national teams at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, from December 26 to January 5.
Porter Martone and Jett Luchanko will join Team Canada. Heikki Ruohonen and Max Westergård were named to Team Finland. Jack Berglund will represent Team Sweden, and Shane Vansaghi will play for Team USA.
Porter Martone, a forward who was the Flyers’ first-round pick (6th overall) in 2025, is one of 13 forwards for Team Canada and will serve as captain. The 19-year-old is participating in his second World Junior Championship after previously scoring a goal in three games at the 2025 tournament. Martone has also played in the World Under-18 Championships in both 2023 and 2024, where he captained his team to gold in 2024 with 17 points (five goals and twelve assists) over seven games—ranking second on his team and third overall in the tournament. Across two U-18 tournaments, he recorded a total of 23 points (eight goals and fifteen assists) in fourteen games, breaking Connor Bedard’s Canadian record for most career points at the event. Currently, Martone is in his first season with Michigan State University (NCAA), leading his teammates with eleven goals and twenty points. His average of 1.25 points per game ranks third among NCAA freshmen.
Jett Luchanko, also a forward and the Flyers’ first-round pick (13th overall) in 2024, returns to Team Canada for a second year as one of fourteen forwards. Last year he scored one goal in five games at this tournament and contributed seven points (two goals and five assists) during Canada’s gold-winning run at the 2024 World Under-18 Championships. Luchanko began this season on the Flyers’ NHL roster, appearing in four games to bring his career total to eight before returning to junior hockey with the Guelph Storm and Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. There he recorded four goals and twenty-one assists over seventeen games. After last season’s junior campaign, he joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL), posting three assists in nine regular-season contests plus six more assists across seven playoff games.
Max Westergård was chosen by Philadelphia as their fifth-round pick (132nd overall) in 2025. The Finnish forward is making his first appearance at the World Junior Championship after leading Finland’s U-18 team with six points over five games earlier this year. In professional play during the current season, Westergård has skated fifteen times with Frölunda HC of Sweden’s top league while also tallying twenty-one points across twelve matches for their U20 squad.
Heikki Ruohonen was selected by Philadelphia as a fourth-round pick (107th overall) in 2024 and joins Finland’s roster as an alternate captain for a second consecutive year. He helped Finland earn silver at last year’s championship with four assists—including one during the gold medal match—finishing tied for fourth on his team in scoring. Ruohonen is currently a freshman at Harvard University where he has notched one goal and four assists through eleven games.
Jack Berglund represents Sweden as captain after being picked by Philadelphia fifty-first overall (second round) in 2024. Although initially named to last year’s Swedish roster but sidelined due to injury, Berglund previously helped Sweden secure bronze at the U-18 Worlds with five points over seven games. This season he has played primarily with Färjestad BK of Sweden’s top league.
Shane Vansaghi was drafted by Philadelphia forty-eighth overall (second round) in 2025 and will make his debut for Team USA at this tournament after earning silver at last year’s U-18 event. Vansaghi previously spent two seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program before joining Michigan State University where he has posted one goal and five assists so far this season.
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team that competes in the National Hockey League since its expansion era beginning in 1967. The organization plays home games at Wells Fargo Center and maintains its full roster online, while providing entertainment through competition as well as community outreach initiatives.
