Welcome back, loyal prospect report readers! We have a nice little pocket of summer prospect happenings to talk about, so buckle in, we’re back (for a hot second at least).
We’ll kick things off with a little news update. It’s been reported that Alex Bump has asked for his release from Vermont, and intends to enter the transfer portal. Now, under normal circumstances this would be a late move, and Bump would have to sit out for a year before joining his new team, but because there was a coaching change at Vermont, if his transfer to another team goes through, he’ll still be allowed to play for them this season. Now we just have to wait and see who that ends up being!
But now to the bigger update. In case you missed it, the World Junior Summer Showcase got underway on the weekend, with three Flyers prospects – Cutter Gauthier and Devin Kaplan on Team USA White, and Cole Knuble on Team USA Blue – taking part to get in their first impressions ahead of December’s World Junior camps.
For those keeping track at home, here are how the first four games have shaken out:
Sweden 7 – USA Blue 0
Finland 4 – USA White 2
USA Blue 4 – Finland 2
USA White 10 – Sweden 1
And as far as the individual performances go, it’s been a little bit of a mixed bag. Both Devin Kaplan and Cole Knuble are still waiting to get themselves on the scoresheet (though Knuble should have a good opportunity, as he’s been getting regular reps on USA Blue’s second power play unit), but we’ll see how things go for them in their final two games coming up.
The real star of the show, unsurprisingly, has been Cutter Gauthier. He had a quiet first game, and a little bit of a slow start to his second, but was able to pick up a whole lot of steam as their game against Sweden went on, and the USA White team was able to get rolling on the whole. All told, he came out of this one with two very nice goals to his name.
Fresh off of sitting in the penalty box, Cutter Gauthier scores to make it 7-1. #WJSS pic.twitter.com/D4mUa1NS05
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 1, 2023
A big scramble in front eventually results in Cutter Gauthier scoring his second.
Ryan Leonard with the original chance. USA now leads 9-1. #WJSS pic.twitter.com/o1h8hltOdk
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 1, 2023
As we mentioned, there are two more days and four more games’ worth of action left to go with the Summer Showcase, and as all of the players continue to settle in with these new teams and lineups, things just keep getting more and more exciting. For those looking to tune in for the remaining games, the schedule is as follows, with games being streamed on USAHockeyTV.
Wednesday August 2
1:00 PM, Finland vs. Sweden
4:00 PM, USA Blue vs. USA White
Friday August 4
1:00 PM, Sweden vs. USA Blue
4:00 PM, Finland vs. USA White
And, as always, we’ll be back next week to discuss the tournament as a whole, once it’s all said and done.
