New York Rangers Have High Expectations For Their Two Prospects During World Juniors
Photo credit: Amy C Irvin
This year's 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase will take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Ridder Arena. Two Rangers prospects,EJ Emery and Malcolm Spence, will be battling it out for a spot on their respective countries' teams as selections for the IIHF World Junior Championships take place here.
The event will feature Canada, Team USA, Sweden, and Finland as they go head-to-head in Ridder Arena. The event will help each country's respective leadership groups decide who to take to the 2026 IIHF World Championships.
EJ Emery will be competing for a spot on the Team USA roster, while Malcolm Spence will be aiming for a spot on Canada's roster.
The week consists of practices every day, and four games a piece for each country.
Team USA, the defending IIHF Champions, will have 42 players at Ridder Arena and will have to split the team into blue and white. They'll each play two games before combining for the last two in the week.
What will the Rangers be looking at from Emery and Spence?
EJ Emery
EJ Emery will be taking part in the competition at this year's WJSS for the second year in a row. While he didn't make the final cut last season, this year could find him suiting up for Team USA with Rangers prospects like Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue.
«Coming in as a bit of an older guy to the '07s (players born in 2007) here - younger guys, new guys - just try to show them that we're all one team and we're all trying to do the same thing,» the Rangers first-round pick (No. 30 overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft explained. «Obviously, there's a final team everyone wants to make, but we're all here to win Gold at the end of the day.»
Nine players from the Gold Medal-winning 2025 squad will be returning, and the 19-year-old sophomore will have to compete with three gold medal defensemen.
The Rangers will want to see him make the team and stand out as a top-six defenseman, playing his shutdown game. The Rangers will want to see what kind of leadership qualities he possesses, along with offensive capabilities, as he's only scored 1 point in 31 games in his career at North Dakota.
Malcolm Spence
Spence was the Rangers' 43rd overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and will be one of 20 forwards competing for a spot on Canada's roster. The odds are in his favor depending on how he shows up in Minnesota, along with a strong start in Michigan.
Spence will be competing with other forwards this season, while invitees like TJ Iginla, Bennett Sennecke, Roger McQueen, and Caleb Desnoyers won't be showing up to the showcase.
Putting the ball in Spence's court to make an impact in 2025. The Rangers need him to stand out as a middle-six forward in Canada's roster and play a solid 200-foot game.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 29 | 63 ANSWERS New York Rangers Have High Expectations For Their Two Prospects During World Juniors Which New York Rangers prospect will make Team USA or Canada's IIHF roster? | ||
| EJ Emery (Team USA) | 34 | 54 % |
| Malcolm Spence (Canada) | 29 | 46 % |
| List of polls | ||
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