Flames prospect Cullen Potter named to American roster for World Junior Summer Showcase

Every year in late July, USA Hockey hosts an event known as the World Junior Summer Showcase, which serves as a summer evaluation camp for Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland in advance of the impending World Junior Championship tournament over the winter holidays.

This year’s edition of the World Junior Summer Showcase runs July 25-Aug. 2 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On Wednesday, USA Hockey announced their roster for the event. Among the 42 players invited to participate was Calgary Flames prospect Cullen Potter.

Born in Wisconsin but raised in Minnesota, Potter was a first-round pick by the Flames, 32nd overall, in the recent 2025 NHL Draft, selected with the draft pick the Flames received from the Matthew Tkachuk trade. While Potter departed the United States National Development Program early, moving to Arizona State University for the 2024-25 season as a 17-year-old, he’s no stranger to USA Hockey. In addition to his time in the National Development Program, he represented his country at the Under-17 Hockey Challenge (capturing silver) and the Under-18 World Championship (capturing bronze).

Potter will be vying to join an American national junior men’s team that had a ton of success last season. They won the gold medal at the World Juniors in 2025, and look to be potentially returning as many as nine members of that team: blueliners Logan Hensler, Cole Hutson and Adam Kleber, and forwards Trevor Connelly, Cole Eiserman, James Hagens, Max Plante, Teddy Stiga and Brodie Ziemer.

It’s worth noting that the World Juniors have a reputation as being a “19-year-old tournament,” which means that national teams have tended to skew their rosters towards the older players available for selection, since they’re usually a bit more seasoned and physically mature. Potter, a 2007 birthday, would likely be a bit of a dark horse to make this year’s roster, but would probably stand a better chance next year (when he’s 19). That said, USA Hockey isn’t going to leave off the best players, so Potter can force their hand with a strong camp and start to his sophomore college season.

The 2026 World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026 and is being hosted, coincidentally enough, in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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