Five Kings Prospects Compete In World Junior Summer Showcase

The World Junior Summer Showcase is currently being played in Kamloops, British Columbia, featuring teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. Canada and the US field two teams each during the preliminary games, and then cut rosters down to one team each for the final games. Games began on July 30 and wrap up on Saturday, August 4.

The Kings have several prospects participating this year:

• Canada: Markus Phillips (defense, 2017 draft), Jaret Anderson-Dolan (forward, 2017 draft), Matt Villalta (goaltender, 2017 draft). Gabe Vilardi and Akil Thomas were also selected to participate; Vilardi withdraw before the tournament due to lingering back issues, and Thomas was injured in a practice and is being held out of remaining games. Neither injury is reported to be serious, and the Kings organization says that Vilardi will be ready for the Kings’ training camp next month.
• United States: Mikey Anderson (defense, 2017 draft)
• Finland: Rasmus Kupari (forward, 2018 draft)

Mikey Anderson has made an impression in the showcase. He was named player of the game after the US’s 5-2 win over Finland on Monday. Anderson has one goal and one assist in three games.

Rasmus Kupari has two assists in three games for Finland and has made a big impression with his speed. He’s spent time centering Finland’s top line.

For Canada, Matt Villalta has played part of one game, stopping 12 of 13 shots. Akil Thomas, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, and Markus Phillips so far have registered no points.

Team USA takes on Finland this afternoon, and Canada plays Sweden later in the evening. The tournament ends on Saturday with USA/Canada and Finland/Sweden — two big rivalry games to end a week of action. If you’re in Canada, the games are on TSN. If you’re in the US, the final games are being aired on the NHL Network. If you’re elsewhere, Chris Peters is tweeting out some good content.