Cutter Gauthier named to Team USA’s preliminary roster for the World Juniors

USA Hockey announced its 29-man training camp roster ahead of the World Junior Championship on Monday and to nobody’s surprise, Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier was included.

Gauthier, 19, played in last year’s World Juniors and is expected to be one of the big wheels at the tournament for Team USA this time around. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft, Gauthier is having a huge sophomore season at Boston College. The forward is tied for second in the NCAA with 12 goals and has 19 points in 16 games (1.19 per game).

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The World Juniors will be played in Gothenburg, Sweden, this year and will run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. Last year, the United States won the bronze medal with Gauthier collecting four goals and 10 points in seven games. Gauthier also played in the senior World Championship this past summer, tying for second in the tournament with seven goals despite being one of the team’s youngest players, as the U.S. finished fourth. The U.S. camp will take place in Plymouth, Mich., and the team will need to trim its 29-man roster down to 25 (22 skaters and three goalies) before the tournament begins.

Fellow 2023 Flyers draft pick and Boston University Terrier Devin Kaplan did not make the cut. Kaplan, 19, has three goals and 10 points in 16 games and was thought to be on the bubble to make the team.

Alex Čiernik, a fourth-round draft pick of the Flyers in June, was recently named to Slovakia’s preliminary roster. Canada has yet to announce its roster, but 2023 Flyers draft picks Denver Barkey (third round, No. 95) and Oliver Bonk (first round, No. 22), both of the London Knights, are in consideration, as is goaltender Carson Bjarnason (second round, No. 51). Barkey has made a particularly strong case this season, as the diminutive center has been one of the top players in the Ontario Hockey League with 15 goals and 35 points in 26 games.

The Flyers’ top pick in 2023, Matvei Michkov, will not play in the tournament as Russia remains banned from International Ice Hockey Federation tournaments because of the country’s involvement in the war with Ukraine. Michkov, who has 11 goals and 26 points in 30 games this season in the KHL, would have been a lock to make Russia’s team if the nation was eligible. Russian goaltender Egor Zavragin, a third-round pick in June, also would have been an option for Russia.