Let’s play some hockey!
The World Juniors Summer Showcase gets underway later on today, as teams from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States gather in Windsor, Ontario to play a series of exhibition and evaluation games, designed to help teams select their rosters for the 2027 World Junior Championships in December and January.
The tournament begins with five teams, as Canada, Sweden and Finland will each field a team, while Team USA splits up into two squads – blue and white – for the first two games. Then, USA Hockey will pair down its roster into one squad and the tournament concluding with three games per team, one against each of the other competing nations.
In total, four LA Kings prospects have been selected to participate in the event, with each country represented by one player.
Defenseman Henry Brzustewicz, the Kings’ first-round pick in 2025, will play for Team USA, the second straight summer he’s attended this showcase event. Brzustewicz was the final cut on the blueline for the United States for the final tournament last winter but in what would be his only remaining season of eligibility, he is expected to make the team this time around. Brzustewicz will be one of the most experienced blueliners in the group, having attended last summer’s showcase event and practiced with the full WJC team in December for pre-tournament exhibition games, in addition to his Memorial Cup and OHL Championships in 2025 with London.
Forward Elton Hermansson will make the jump to the U-20 level with Team Sweden, giving the Kings a pair of first-round picks attending the showcase event. Hermansson was selected as the Best Forward at the 2025 IIHF U-18 World Championships, in addition to securing a place on the All-Tournament Team. Hermansson amassed 12 points (4-8-12) in seven games played at that tournament, tied for the most points at the event. He’ll now try and make Team Sweden in what would be the first of two seasons of eligibility to play at the U-20 level. I would expect Hermansson to make that team and be an influential player up front as Sweden looks to build on a gold medal performance one season ago.
Also attending his first Summer Showcase is Hermansson’s fellow 2026 Kings draft pick, defenseman Vertti Svensk. Svensk played at the U-18 World Championships in 2025, a year early, but has yet to make the jump to the U-20 level in a formal tournament. He’ll certainly be heavily in that mix this summer, heading into the World Juniors in the winter. Svensk’s skating ability is his standout trait and should be in the mix to make Team Finland for this season’s tournament. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares one age group higher.
Lastly, forward Jimmy Lombardi will attend the event as well, announced yesterday morning on the roster for Team Canada. Good for him. Lombardi had a huge season in the OHL, as he led his team with 36 goals, tied for the ninth-most in the OHL. He collected 72 points in 65 games played last season and was a point-per-game in the playoffs as well. Lombardi signed his entry-level contract midway through last season and he’s now primed to insert himself into the conversation to make Team Canada. There’s two-way awareness in his game and he was in the OHL’s Top-10 in shorthanded goals last season. For players competing for depth spots, that is important when filling out the bottom-six at this kind of tournament. Good on Lombardi for playing his way into the conversation.
Making the summer showcase roster does not mean that a player will make the team for the tournament. Not being there also does not mean that a player won’t make the team. Forward Brendan McMorrow was not there last season but made Team USA for the tournament and was an impact player in the bottom six. Additionally, the Kings have a few prospects who are expected to represent countries at the World Juniors that are not at the summer showcase. Forward Vojtech Cihar – the reigning tournament MVP – will be a key player on Team Czechia, while forward Jan Chovan and defenseman Adam Goljer will both likely make Team Slovakia and forward Tobias Krestan should be in the mix with Team Germany.
See below for the full game schedule –
Sunday, July 26
USA White vs. Finland
USA Blue vs. Sweden
Monday, July 27
Finland vs. USA Blue
Sweden vs. USA White
Wednesday, July 29
Finland vs. USA
Canada vs. Sweden
Thursday, July 30
Sweden vs. USA
Canada vs. Finland
Saturday, August 1
Sweden vs. Finland
USA vs. Canada
Will follow up with some recap coverage as the week goes on!
All games from the WJSS will be streamed live HERE. I do not believe there is any subscription required beyond just creating an account, but I apologize if that is incorrect.
