Former Los Angeles Jr. King Jack St. Ivany was named to the final 23-player roster for the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, which will be contested from Dec. 26, 2018-Jan. 5, 2019 in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

St. Ivany, a 1999-born defenseman who was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, is patrolling the blue line this season as a freshman at Yale University.

The Manhattan Beach native has two goals and six assists in the first 12 games of his NCAA Division I career with the Eastern College Athletic Conference program.

There were 29 players named to Team USA’s preliminary roster earlier this month.

“We've said from Day 1 that this is a selection process, and as a staff we're thrilled with the 23 players selected to represent the United States in one of the greatest tournaments on the hockey calendar,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey.

“By no means did we come to this decision easily, and that’s a credit to the players. It’s easy to say our talent pool is deeper than it’s ever been, but so too is the character of these young players, and now it’s time for these 23 selected players to come together and represent our country with pride.”

Prior to Yale, St. Ivany played two seasons of junior with the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Sioux Falls Stampede earning All-USHL Third Team recognition last season.

In his final season with the Jr. Kings in 2015-16, St. Ivany, who played his entire youth career with the Toyota Sports Center-based club, helped the program’s 16U AAA team capture a Pacific District championship. That squad included 2017 NHL draft picks Cole Guttman (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Jake McGrew (San Jose Sharks).

Team USA will begin play in the World Junior Championship on Wednesday (Dec. 26) in Victoria, B.C., against Slovakia. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. PT and can be seen live on NHL Network.