With six prospects playing for five countries – not to mention two team captains – the Flames will have quite the representation at the 2018 World Junior Championships.

Dillon Dube, Juuso Valimaki, Adam Fox, and Adam Ruzicka will headline for Teams Canada, Finland, USA, and Slovakia as returning players, while first-timers Linus Lindstrom and Eetu Tuulola will suit up for Sweden and Finland in their final year of eligibility for the tournament.

Valimaki and Ruzicka are the only ones who will be eligible to return in 2019.

It’s a pretty good haul of players that will be sure to gives Flames fans a lot to watch for throughout the entire tournament, even if five of six are playing in one group (Lindstrom is the Flames’ lone representative in Group B, so he won’t see any action against fellow Flames prospects until the medal round, assuming all parties make it that far).

How does the 2018 group compare to Flames prospects who have represented their countries in years past?

In 2017, the Flames were represented by five of their prospects:

Parsons, Kylington, and Karnaukhov have aged out of the tournament, while Dube and Fox, who played somewhat limited minutes before, are back and poised to take on bigger roles as part of their respective teams’ leadership groups.

Dube registered just three assists in seven games for Canada in the 2017 tournament, but that was when he was playing primarily a fourth line, penalty killing role. This year, he’s not only likely to get top line minutes, but he’s serving as Canada’s captain. It’s yet another feather in his cap to what’s been a great season so far, building off of not just a stellar preseason with the Flames, but 39 points in 27 games for the Kelowna Rockets.

Fox, meanwhile, had four points in seven games for the Americans – second in team defence scoring, behind just Charlie McAvoy – all the while getting limited minutes and powerplay time. Now that he both has more experience and an alternate captaincy, he’s probably going to get more opportunity to score this time around. He has nine assists in 10 games for Harvard this season.

Parsons may have been the Americans’ biggest factor in their gold medal victory, particularly as Canada absolutely peppered him with shots in an overtime battle he refused to relent during. He posted a .917 save percentage over five games for the Americans. Now a professional, Parsons has a .907 save percentage for the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks in 19 games – but he has faced an unholy amount of pucks this season, and still remains one of the Flames’ top goaltending prospects.

Kylington posted four assists in eight games for the Swedes in last year’s tournament, leading all their defencemen in scoring. This year, he has two goals and 16 points for the Stockton Heat – already his third season in the AHL. Kylington is up to 55 points in 134 AHL games already, making it easy to forget he’s still just 20 years old. He remains one of the Flames’ top prospects on the blue line.

Karnaukhov had two goals and four points for the Russians in 2017’s tournament. Once a forward for the Calgary Hitmen, he’s now playing his second straight season back in Russia. Alternating between the KHL and VHL – two points in 11 games; 27 in 25 – it’s uncertain if he’ll have any future in North American hockey.

Bonus: Though not yet drafted by the Flames, Juuso Valimaki and Adam Ruzicka both suited up for this tournament, as well.

Valimaki scored two goals in six games for the Finns. With five goals and 20 points in 19 games for the Tri-City Americans, Finland’s new captain will no doubt be looking for redemption after a disappointing ninth place finish for his country last year.

Ruzicka scored one goal in five games for Team Slovakia last year. This season is looking to be a much better one for him – he’s gone from 46 points in 61 games for the Sarnia Sting to 39 in 34 so far – and may be able to translate some of that increased scoring potential to this tournament.

In 2016, the Flames were represented by three of their prospects:

McDonald posted a disappointing .861 save percentage for the Canadians over two games. This season, he’s sharing the net with Parsons for the Mavericks – but with just a .882 save percentage over 15 games in the ECHL, it’s difficult to see if he’ll be able to further elevate his game at all.

Hickey went pointless in five games for Canada. His rights have since been traded to the Arizona Coyotes as part of a package for Mike Smith; if you were curious, he’s currently captaining Boston University and has three goals and five points in 14 games.

Ollas Mattsson scored a goal and an assist during his turn at the World Juniors. He’s now playing his first full season in North America, though through 14 games for the Heat, he’s gone pointless.

Bonus: He hadn’t been drafted yet, but Matthew Tkachuk also suited up for this tournament.

Tkachuk scored four goals and 11 points over seven games this tournament, tying Auston Matthews for the American scoring lead. He’s got eight goals and 21 points in 34 games for the Flames this season. He’s turned out alright.

In 2015, just one prospect represented the Flames:

Wearing an ‘A’ for the Russians in 2015, Rafikov scored a goal and three points in seven games – tied for the lead in Russian defencemen scoring – en route to the Russians’ silver medal finish. He’s since pretty much never come back to North America and is still playing for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL – a goal and 11 points in 36 games this season – so the ship has probably sailed on this one.

Bonus: They hadn’t traded for him yet, but Curtis Lazar played in this tournament, as well.

Lazar captained the Canadians to gold and put up five goals and nine points over seven games, good for fifth in team scoring. He’s got four assists in 24 games for the Flames this season, so that hasn’t exactly translated.

In 2014, just one prospect represented the Flames:

Gillies started for the Americans in 2014, but a .892 save percentage over four games only got them to a fifth place finish. He’s put up pretty good numbers everywhere else, though, including a .923 save percentage for the Heat over 17 games as their starter so far this season.

Bonus: Lazar played in this tournament, too!

Lazar had three goals and seven points for Team Canada over seven games. He was third in team scoring that year.

In 2013, the Flames were represented by five of their prospects:

Granlund scored five goals and 12 points over six games for the Finns, tied for their lead in scoring en route to a seventh place finish. (The Finns got to beat up on Germany, Slovakia, and Latvia in the relegation round, so some of their scoring got out of whack.) He plays for the Vancouver Canucks now. He has seven goals and nine points in 36 games.

Wotherspoon scored a goal and an assist in six games for Team Canada. He’s still chipping away at his game in the AHL, wearing an ‘A’ for the Heat. With 18 points in 27 games, he’s already matched his points totals from last season in almost half the number of games played. The big question for him is if he’ll be able to translate his game to the NHL level, still – or if he’ll even get the chance at all, since Brett Kulak and Rasmus Andersson both seemed to have passed him by.

Gillies backed up John Gibson in this tournament. He got just part of a game in, but he didn’t let in any goals, at least.

Sieloff had an assist in six games for the Americans. He has a goal and three points for Ottawa’s farm team this season. And 58 penalty minutes.

Gaudreau scored seven goals and nine points over seven games for the Americans, tied for the American lead in scoring as he helped lead them to gold. This season, he has 13 goals and 41 points over 36 games for the Flames. You’ve probably never heard of him.

Bonus: He wasn’t a Flame yet, but Dougie Hamilton suited up for Team Canada in this tournament.

Hamilton had a goal and an assist in six games, the same stat line as Wotherspoon. This season, he’s got four goals and 16 points over 36 games for the Flames, so he’s doing a fair bit better.