The season may be over for the Philadelphia Flyers — and most teams across the NHL, for that matter — but the action is just getting started at the 2026 World Championships in Switzerland.
After a few pre-tournament games earlier this week, the tournament officially opened on Friday with a handful of games, including one featuring two prominent Flyers prospects.
The Flyers have three players in total playing at the World Championships. Porter Martone is once again joining Team Canada, with Carl Grundstrom and prospect Jack Berglund representing Sweden.
Martone and Berglund faced off on Friday as Canada and Sweden battled to open the tournament, while Grundstrom was not in the lineup for the Swedes.
Jack Berglund impresses in fourth-line role
Berglund started on the fourth line for Sweden, centering NHL wingers Rasmus Asplund and Jakob Silfverberg.
Berglund’s first assist came midway through the second period with Sweden trailing 2-0.
Sweden had pressure in the offensive zone, cycling the puck around the outside. Berglund (#15) battled with Morgan Rielly in front of the net, then dropped back and kept in an attempted clear by Canada. He batted the puck out of mid-air, fended off Gabriel Vilardi, and found Jacob Larsson, who got Sweden on the board with a nice shot.
Jacob Larsson gets Sweden within one against Canada.#MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/mxSf4ursSR
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 15, 2026
It’s nice to see Berglund’s line generate that type of pressure, especially against the likes of Ryan O’Reilly and John Tavares. And his willingness to go to the front of the net is something that will surely help the Flyers whenever he makes the jump to the NHL.
Despite playing on the fourth line, Berglund is getting a chance on Sweden’s power play as well.
The centerman won a faceoff and immediately swung around to the front of the net. He used his 6-foot-2 frame to screen Jet Greaves as Lucas Raymond tied the game at two.
TIE GAME.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 15, 2026
Sweden's Lucas Raymond scores on the powerplay to make it 2-2 against Canada. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/9WS5rgi87b
The Flyers’ power play has struggled mightily in recent years, and they had trouble winning offensive-zone faceoffs to get set up as well. Berglund showed on that play that he can win a faceoff and then get to the dirty areas, both of which can be huge additions for the Flyers in the coming years.
Berglund finished the game with those two assists and a -1 rating in 12:04 of ice time.
The Swedish center has been making his way up the Flyers’ prospect ranks in recent years. He played in the SHL as a 19-year-old for most of the season, putting up 12 points in 40 games and 3 assists in 7 playoff games. He also captained Team Sweden to the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in the winter, recording 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) in 7 games.
Porter Martone picks up two primary assists
Like Berglund, Martone is also playing on the fourth line for Canada alongside youngster Fraser Minten and veteran Connor Brown. He, too, didn’t play too much in the game, finishing with 12:57 of ice time across 15 shifts, but he was a +1 and had two primary assists.
The first helped give the Canadians a 4-3 lead just a few minutes into the third period.
Minten entered the zone and dropped a pass off to Martone flying down the right wing. Martone astutely one-timed the puck across to Brown, who was all alone and beat Magnus Hellberg.
TIC-TAC-TOE.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 15, 2026
Connor Brown restores the lead for Canada! #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/Nt5VdK11xa
The puck was only on Martone’s stick for a split second as he knew exactly what to do with it once Minten dropped it to him. He saw Brown alone on the other side of the ice and threaded a pass across to his tape.
Just under 10 minutes later, Dylan Cozens had a great individual effort to restore Canada’s two-goal lead. But Martone had a nifty pass to find the streaking Cozens, who did the rest.
WHAT AN EFFORT BY DYLAN COZENS.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 15, 2026
CANADA LEADS 5-3 OVER SWEDEN. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/ad3M31KBPU
The first replay shows how Martone saucered the puck so it couldn’t be easily intercepted by the backchecking Swedes. It was a nice little play that Martone showed flashes of during his time with the Flyers this season as well.
We already know what Martone can do at the NHL level. He was one of the reasons why the Flyers made the playoffs after leaving Michigan State, and he’s hoping to keep that going with Canada at the World Championships.
