Standouts from the U18 Five Nations Tournament in Zuchwil, Switzerland

ZUCHWIL, Switzerland – The annual U18 Five Nations tournament in Zuchwil doesn’t draw much attention. For starters, it kicks off the same day as the World Juniors. Then there’s the fact that it includes none of the powerhouse nations, Canada, USA, and Sweden. Plus, several of the participating countries’ top players are active in North America and therefore missing from the tournament, too.

But that’s exactly what makes this tournament so interesting from a scouting perspective: It’s a chance to fully focus on the “second wave” of draft-eligible talent from smaller hockey nations as well as underage prospects getting their first looks at the U18 level. 

Despite top 2026 NHL Draft prospects Oliver Suvanto, Juho Piiparinen, and Vilho Vanhatalo missing from Finland’s roster, the Finns still dominated this tournament, winning all four of their games with a combined score of 18-3. 

The remaining games were a bit more competitive, though not necessarily in a good way. Czechia took second place with just one regulation win and a combined score of 9-7. Switzerland took three of their four games to OT or shootouts, winning two and losing one of them, which was good enough for third. Germany and Slovakia each won just one game and got outscored 7-16 and 9-16, respectively. 

With that, it won’t be surprising to see the list of standouts featuring predominantly Finnish players, but a few others managed to stand out positively even in lower-quality games. 

Let’s take a look.

Samu Alalauri, D, Finland, 2026 NHL Draft

Samu Alalauri was not only the best Finnish player, he was the best player at the tournament overall. The UMass commit was our only C-rated skater for the 2026 NHL Draft at this tournament, but he did what he could to prove he’s even more than that. With fellow draft-eligible Juho Piiparinen at the World Juniors, Alalauri took on the No. 1 role on Finland’s defence, reliably breaking up opposing rushes, battling in the D-zone, and consistently getting the puck back up ice. A very strong showing in all three zones, and he was the most consistent performer through all of the games I watched. 

From our game report on his performance against Switzerland: 

In a lower-level tournament like this, Alalauri is nearly unstoppable. Consistently displayed high-end mobility. Made a fool of any forechecker trying to stop his breakouts, using very quick fakes and feints to send them flying in one direction and head the other way himself. Tons of pinches in the O-zone followed by passes into the slot – some hope plays but also some high-danger tape-to-tape setups. He is a step above everyone else at this tournament, living up to the fact that he’s our only C grade playing here – but he even looked more like a B grade. His play the rest of the season and the U18 World Championship will be the real test to determine how his play holds up against higher-end opposition.

Roni Kuukasjärvi, D, Finland, 2027 NHL Draft

Roni Kuukasjärvi is quickly establishing himself as Finland’s top 2009-born defenceman. He’s already appeared in a couple of Champions Hockey League games with Ilves and made his Liiga debut in November. Here, he not only made his U18 national team debut, he instantly became one of the team’s best players too, averaging 18:19 of ice time per game according to InStat Hockey – second to only Alalauri. 

Kuukasjärvi was a consistent contributor at both ends of the ice, as highlighted in our report from the game against Switzerland: 

Kuukasjärvi was solid the previous night but he was among the standouts here. Clearly younger and not as mature as 08 teammate Samu Alalauri, but Kuukasjärvi looked like a player who’ll be capable of reaching at least Alalauri’s level in a year. An extremely mobile player with and without the puck. Did a great job reading forechecking pressure and using his feet to escape. Constantly activated offensively, including sequences where he skated around the O-zone in circles. Lots of smart pinches that led to slot setup passes. His defensive game was good too, with good gaps, stick and body work, as well as a high compete level – he just needs to mature physically and get stronger to reach his potential.

Luca Santala, F, Finland, 2027 NHL Draft

Like Kuukasjärvi, Luca Santala made his debut for the Finnish U18 team, and he quickly proved he belongs, finishing with a tournament-leading four goals and seven points in four games. Through all three games I saw here, he showed high-end upside as a goal scorer, playmaker, and two-way centre. An incredible debut tournament. 

Santala was one of the most complete players here, as summarized after the game against Czechia: 

Santala led all Finnish forwards with 17:45 of ice time in this one, according to InStat Hockey, and had a solid performance overall. Against Germany, he showed his scoring upside with a hat-trick; against Switzerland, he picked up an assist and was a consistently dangerous playmaker; in this last game against Czechia, it was mostly his two-way work ethic and defensive support. So in summary, Santala was a very complete forward for Finland and among the best of the tournament overall. While he didn’t have any points to show for it, he still flashed his offensive abilities in this one, too, most notably his strong deception. Very good vision and puck skills, allowing him to look for shot lanes while keeping an eye out for passing options, then loading up his shot but passing instead. There’s a lot to like about this player.

Paavo Fugleberg, F, Finland, 2028 NHL Draft

Second to Santala in tournament scoring was fellow ‘09 Paavo Fugleberg, who picked up five points in four games – all assists, which wasn’t a coincidence. Throughout the tournament, he stood out with his slick puck-handling, excellent vision, and passing skill, both off the rush and inside the offensive zone. An October-born player, he will be eligible for the 2028 NHL Draft, so he’s got plenty of time to grow, mature, and develop into a top prospect in his draft season. 

From our report on his performance in the game against Switzerland: 

Fugleberg has been one of the most consistently dangerous players on this team. He’s such a slippery puck-handler, reliably finding his way out of pressure situations. I’ll need a few more viewings to evaluate if it’s more head-down troubleshooting vs. proactive planning, but either way, the tools are there and highly promising. He’s an excellent passer too, once again distributing pucks both off the rush and inside the O-zone. Frequently involved in give-and-go plays. Able to carry the puck with speed, delay upon entry, and find a smart next play. His best individual scoring chance came early in the game, as he carried the puck to the slot for a high-danger shot from in close. His best playmaking play may have been his secondary assist, delivering an excellent pass off the rush to create the chance. Another very promising performance by the 09.

Atte Vuori, F, Finland, 2026 NHL Draft

Atte Vuori was a W grade on our November watchlist for the 2026 NHL Draft. While his play since – including this tournament – has positioned him more as a Liiga prospect than an NHL draft option, he’s still been a valuable contributor to the Finnish U18 national team. He didn’t make the biggest impact in the games against Germany and Czechia, but his performance against Switzerland was the best I’ve seen from him: 

This game was probably the best I’ve ever seen from Vuori. A great combination of quickness, playmaking, and a high two-way work rate. He’s such a smooth skater with very good quickness. Able to use quick crossovers to pick up speed with the puck on exits and entries, and he was consistently able to beat opponents with speed in open ice. An excellent passer off the rush. Very aware of his surroundings, consistently delivered accurate passes while pushing the pace. Strong in-zone vision and passing as well. He scored the 3-2 game-winning goal and had another high-danger chance where he smartly moved into the slot for a tap-in attempt. Worked hard defensively as well and quickly turned back up ice after winning possession. The NHL projection remains difficult because of his size and there’s a good chance he won’t be a pick, but he has high-end Liiga upside. Gave me some Vanhanen vibes in the sense that he may go undrafted but go on to find a lot of success as an 18- and 19-year-old.

Jakub Floriš, D, Slovakia, 2026 NHL Draft

Sticking with the Finnish theme, our biggest standout on Team Slovakia was Jakub Floriš, who plays for Lukko Rauma in the Finnish U20 SM-sarja, and made his men’s debut for the club in the Champions Hockey League in November. Here, he was the best and most consistent player on a struggling Slovak team that was missing other top ‘08 prospects for various reasons and finished last in the tournament. He was strong as a rush defender, utilizing his mobility, reach, and physicality, and reliably carried the puck up ice to create offence. 

From our report on his game against Czechia: 

Floriš is Slovakia’s clear No. 1 D and the most promising skater for the NHL draft. Showed flashes of physicality, using his massive frame to his advantage. Good gap control and strong D-zone play in this one, too. The really interesting part is his puck play, though. Plays with a lot of swagger and confidence, like trying to carry the puck right through two forecheckers in front of his net – and succeeding. Constantly rushed the puck up ice or jumped up without the puck. Not all of his carries were successful and he ended up turning the puck over in traffic here or there, but he also didn’t get a whole lot of help in the process. I’ve been a bit up and down on him this season, but he looked like a pick here.

Samuel Hrenák, G, Slovakia, 2026 NHL Draft

Samuel Hrenák, a C grade on our watchlist for the NHL Draft, only started one of the games I watched – but it was Slovakia’s only win of the tournament and the goaltender saved 37 of the 38 shots he faced, carrying his team to a 2-1 win. A single performance worthy of a standout mention. From our report:

A great game for Hrenák, saving 37 shots to carry Slovakia to a 2-1 win over rival Czechia. His size, quickness, and athleticism continue to mesh well to make him a promising goaltender for the NHL Draft. He’s still more reactive than proactive, seldom checking for back-door threats and focusing more on what’s directly in his sight, but with his excellent quickness, length, and recovery ability, he made it work. His edges look like an improvement area, as he can end up off angle after lateral movement, though more frequent vision-checks and more proactivity could reduce this issue too. He looked like a C-grade prospect here.

Liron-Alec Pellizzari, D, Germany, 2027 NHL Draft

Liron-Alec Pellizzari is one of just two U17 players who’ve appeared in DEL games this season (the other being top 2027 draft prospect Max Penkin), and he was one of three 2009-born defencemen on Germany’s roster here. And while that defensive group also featured 2008-born Tobias Krämer, a W grade for the NHL Draft on our watchlist who made his national team debut here and was a standout in the game against Finland, it was Pellizzari who was arguably Germany’s best defenceman over the course of the tournament. 

Throughout the three games I saw, Pellizzari stood out with his defensive aggressiveness and offensive activity rate, as evidenced by his three-point performance in a 5-3 win against Slovakia:

Good game for Pellizzari, who picked up two secondary assists and the empty-net goal. His extremely high offensive activity rate continues to stand out the most. He constantly tries to make plays with the puck, jumps in on attacks, and even tries to recover some of his own dump-ins. Able to wheel around the net and use powerful crossovers to pick up speed. Good passing skill across various distances. Seemed to know when to play it safe and go glass-and-out vs. trying to make risky plays for the sake of playing with control. Able to walk the blue line and get shots on net. His compete level was a bit of a concern when I saw him in league play, but it hasn’t been here. The coaching staff seems to like what they see from him too – he led the team with almost 22 minutes on ice in this game, according to InStat Hockey.

Jonas Schwarz, F, Germany, 2027 NHL Draft

Jonas Schwarz was among Germany’s best players at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August, so I was excited to see him again and came in with high expectations. Though Germany had the expected struggles overall, finishing fourth in tournament standings, Schwarz had plenty of exciting flashes again. Heading into this tournament, he played his first four games for Lukko’s U20 team in the U20 SM-sarja, and I’d expect him to start producing there soon, too.

From our report on his performance against Switzerland:

Schwarz continues to look raw and he has plenty of maturing to do, but given the tools he already shows, that’s a positive. He played the fourth-most minutes among German forwards at this tournament according to InStat Hockey, including plenty of PP time. In this game against Switzerland, those PP minutes showed some of the most promising flashes, as he constantly used his quick feet and hands to create space for himself and make plays with a high level of deception. Very deceptive from a standstill and he can gain separation with his excellent first steps. He’s a high-end handler with very good passing skill and a quick wrist-shot release, giving him offensive upside in a variety of ways. There were too many times where he stickhandled himself into oblivion, always trying to go all the way and work his way through multiple opponents before finding a passing option, but in fairness to him, there were also many times when his line mates simply couldn’t keep up. This wasn’t nearly as much of an issue when I last saw him at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he got to work with fellow 09 top prospect Max Penkin as his centre. 

Lukáš Kachlíř, D, Czechia, 2027 NHL Draft

I’ll admit: It was difficult to select a standout on Team Czechia. While they finished the tournament in second place, the combined four-game score of 9-7 says a lot about the excitement of their games. If I have to pick someone, though, it’s easy to jump to a familiar name: Lukáš Kachlíř. Simply put, he’s the most dynamic player with the highest-level tools on this roster, and while it wasn’t always productive, he was hard to miss with the puck on his stick.

From our report of Czechia’s 2-1 loss against Slovakia: 

In this game, Kachlíř did what he’s known to do. Constantly applied offensive pressure. Used his quick feet and sharp edge work to walk the blue line, draw in opponents and escape. Constantly activating offensively. Extremely dynamic on breakouts and in the O-zone. His defensive game has been in progress, but it was fine here – he was a reliable rush defender and often shut down plays early and aggressively. It will be interesting to see how far this part of his game can come along at higher levels in his draft year.

Janis Grossniklaus, F, Switzerland

Switzerland came in with four W-graded prospects on our November watchlist for the 2026 NHL Draft, but they disappointed overall. Instead, the biggest standout was a player we recently dropped from the watchlist: Janis Grossniklaus. But while the NHL projection may be difficult, he still showed once again that he deserves a spot on this roster, even if it’s in a bottom-six role. From our report: 

Grossniklaus was a surprise omission from previous U18 rosters this season after being a regular with the U16 and U17 national teams, but he was the biggest standout in both Swiss games I watched here, against Finland and Germany. A steady two-way centre, he provided value especially as a smart, aggressive forechecker and a quick rush creator. Flashed slick puck-handling skill, able to beat defenders one-on-one and get out of tight areas. Displayed solid quickness on his carries and stood out as a smart passer, utilizing hook and slip passes to beat defenders and get the puck to the inside. Against Germany, he scored the 1-1 goal burying a rebound, set up a net-front chance off the forecheck, and displayed strong passing deception from the right flank on the power play. The tools may not be good enough for an NHL draft projection at 5-foot-11, but I liked what I saw from him here.