Last summer, the Blackhawks’ pipeline made headlines when seven of its prospects were invited to compete at the World Junior Championship, with four players for Team USA and three from Team Canada. For Team USA, that meant Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, and Gavin Hayes received invitations to the World Juniors Summer Showcase, playing a series of games against squads from Sweden and Finland as well as one between themselves. Strong performances at the Summer Showcase allowed the four of them to win gold in January.
Over the next week, USA Hockey is hosting their 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan, and two Blackhawks prospects will be skating on the Blue team. Moore, who is one of ten returning players from last year’s victorious campaign, will be looking to win another gold medal. The fastest skater in the 2023 draft class was solid in last year’s tournament, notching three points in seven games.
Moore is joined this summer by forward AJ Spellacy, the No. 72 overall pick of the Blackhawks in this year’s draft. He was scouted as a power forward, especially after turning down college football offers to stay in hockey. The 18-year-old was impressive last year in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires, putting up 21 goals and 17 assists. The Blackhawks will certainly be keeping an eye on Spellacy this week, hoping he can develop quickly and contribute at an NHL level in a few years.
Team USA is scheduled to play scrimmage games this week against teams from Canada, Finland, and Sweden. Chicago doesn’t have any prospects playing for Canada or Sweden, but defensive prospect Janne Peltonen will be skating against Team USA for Finland. The speedy 19-year-old blueliner was drafted by the Blackhawks in the seventh round (No. 195 overall) and skated for Finland in the most recent tournament, logging two goals and two assists in nine games. Each of the three Blackhawks prospects is at a different stage in his development and will look to make a big impact in this week’s big opportunity.
After two days of practice, today and tomorrow, games will be played from Sunday to Saturday. The 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will take place from Dec. 26, 2024, through Jan. 5, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario.
