This year’s U18 5-Nation tournament was held just 20 minutes from where I live, in a small town called Ulricehamn in Sweden. It consisted of Sweden, USA. Finland, Czechia and Switzerland. Despite top guys like Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Björck not attending, there was still a ton of talent put on display. As Sweden stood as the champions of this year’s 5-Nations, there were quite a few Swedish prospects that stood out. However, the other countries had some standouts as well, and I will be covering the top 5 players from the European countries that popped out to me more than others.
Marcus Nordmark, Wing, Sweden
Marcus was one of the best players in the tournament and the reason why is just how prolific he is offensively. He’s pushing play, driving towards the net and making incredibly accurate seampasses for his teammates, simply creating a ton of chances for his team. His shot also stood out positively. The puck comes off his stick rapidly from his wrist shot and is quite deceptive that way. Marcus is always active in the offensive zone, driving play and will be a part of making plays develop. Amongst his peers, his size is a big standout. Already very bulky and he’ll utilize reverse hits and is overall hard to knock off the puck. Marcus had a bit of a slow start and didn’t look very engaged early on in the season. But his performance as the top scorer together with Alexander Command, in addition to being the most productive first-year eligible player in the U20 Nationell league shows that he is one of the premium offensive players in this year’s draft.
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Does a great job by pushing play, driving hard towards the net to pull defenders toward him and then makes the pass at the perfect moment, eventually earning an assist.
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Marcus puts poise and vision on display here, holding onto the puck until his defenseman can jump up into play and get a great scoring chance.
Alexander Command, Center, Sweden
Alexander has been flying under the radar for a lot of people for quite some time but maybe this tournament performance will change the perspective on him. He was the co-leading scorer for the tournament together with Marcus Nordmark with 3 goals and 4 assists. Command is the type of player that can do everything at a good level. But what stands out the most is his compete, board play and defense. He never takes a shift off, forechecks and backchecks well, is physical along the boards to win puck battles, and is good in his puck retrievals. One area of his game that is unique for a young Swedish forward is his game along the boards. He already plays the cycle game well and has great puck control behind the net. Even though Alexander was the leading scorer, his playmaking is simple yet effective. It’s the quantity of his passes that stands out, as he creates a lot of scoring chances for his teammates. With the World Juniors coming up, there’s a chance that Alexander gets a call up to Örebro’s SHL team and with his great two-way play there’s a real chance for him to crack the lineup permanently.
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Alexander sneaks towards the boards and makes a smart stick lift on the puck recovery. He then shields the puck well, able to make some give-and-goes with his linemates to drive play.
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This is what I mean by “simple” playmaking. Alexander is strong on the puck and is able to get the puck up to his defenseman, who then puts a shot towards for a goal.
Axel Elofsson, Defense, Sweden
No goals in this tournament for Axel Elofsson but he was still able to contribute with 5 assists in 4 games. He may not have scored any goals but he wasn’t far off multiple times. He’s unique by driving play as a defenseman and his mindset is always to get towards the slot. By not only being a rover at the point, he’s able to open up passing lanes with his skating and can create a lot that way. His skating ability elevates every part of his game, combining his edgework with bodyfakes to be hard to check and can make things happen in limited space. Elofsson has the ability to open up his hips and move laterally, displaying great crossovers in his skating. He’ll evade forecheckers well during his zone entries and rush creation, but will also contribute to his team’s transition by making sound breakouts from his own end. The lack of size is always going to be a con in his career, but if he can continue to show elite offensive capabilities then he’s going to have a long NHL career.
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Here it is evident that he needs to gain some more power in his lower body, but is still able to start the breakout and lead the rush thanks to his overall good skating ability and edgework.
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Axel displays his offensive dynamism, making sharp turns with his edgework and finishes it off with a smooth saucer for a scoring chance.
Filip Novak, Wing/Center, Czechia
Czechia was not the favorite coming into this tournament, but Filip Novak was able to differentiate himself from the pack. Something that he has done consistently is being a threat on the powerplay, which he also showed during the 5-Nations. He plays well along the half wall, threatens with a good shot and challenges the defense constantly. Playing against Sweden, Czechia had a hard time having puck possession. But playing against the other teams, Filip showed good play driving ability 5v5. The Czech born forward is also a dangler, has great finesse with the puck, lures in poke checks to immediately pull his blade back, can stickhandle in high speeds by weaving in small crossovers and create opportunities that way. Back home in Czechia, Filip has gotten a solid start and has even gotten a game with the pro club. Making a stop in Sweden as well and doing a good performance bodes well for the upcoming 2026 draft.
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Here’s an example of Filip mixing in crossovers and stickhandling ability to gain entry and a shot on net.
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First he makes a good zone entry on the powerplay, then moves the puck at the half wall, passing around to eventually make a pass to his teammate in a good scoring area.
Viljo Kähkönen, Wing, Finland
Viljo is not breaking any records with his play in the SM-sarja and will probably never be a high end scorer. But the reason why I have Viljo in my top 5 players at the 5-Nations is simply because of his off-puck game. Viljo is a blue-collar type of player who works hard each shift and brings solid skating ability with it. As a winger he supports the breakout well thanks to his defensive work and is able to transition through the neutral zone with his line. While not possessing elite hockey IQ, he plays consistently well and smart. He is detail oriented and is smart in his defensive work by making timely stick lifts. Viljo plays center as well but his player type is close to a Logan O’Connor at the NHL and for me this is someone that is worth taking a shot at in the later rounds to potentially get a bottom 6 energy winger. Continuing to play in the Finnish junior league is a good route for him as he could also work on his offensive game to increase his potential ceiling as a winger.
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His work ethic is put on display here, makes a smart stick lift on the puck recovery and gets the cycle going.
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This is where Viljo is going to get his points, around the net. He is not a high end offensive player but making good plays like taking shots or putting pucks around the net is translatable to the NHL.