Hlinka Gretzky Cup Tournament
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is an annual U18 best‑on‑best showcase for next‑draft‑class prospects. The 2025 edition, held in Czechia and Slovakia, provided NHL scouts a critical first look at 2008‑born players in a high‑pressure international setting. Finland advanced from Group A, fell in an overtime semifinal to Sweden, and ultimately placed 4th after a bronze‑medal loss to Canada on Aug. 16.
Finland Game-by-Game Breakdown
Finland opened the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a 5–3 loss to Canada on August 11, despite early goals from Oscar Hemming and Jiko Laitinen that briefly gave them the lead. The Finns rebounded the next day, controlling play in a 4–1 victory over Czechia, before dropping a 4–3 overtime decision to Switzerland on August 13.
Those results were enough to propel Finland into the semifinals, where they nearly upset their rival, Sweden. In one of the tournament’s most entertaining games, Finland rallied late but fell 6–5 in overtime on August 15.
The loss set up a bronze-medal rematch with Canada, but the Finnish offense ran dry. Canadian goaltender Gavin Betts turned away all 22 shots in a 3–0 shutout, securing bronze for Canada and leaving Finland in 4th place.
The other semifinal saw the United States defeat Canada in a shootout, followed by a 5–3 win over Sweden in the gold medal game. It marked the Americans’ first Hlinka title since 2003.
Finland vs Canada — L 3–5 (Aug. 11)
Finland vs Czechia — W 4–1 (Aug. 12)
Finland vs Switzerland — OTL 3–4 (Aug. 13)
Semifinal: Finland vs Sweden — OT L 5–6 (Aug. 15)
Bronze: Finland vs Canada — L 0–3 (Aug. 16)
Standout Players
Oscar Hemming — Left Wing (Kiekko-Espoo U20, 2026 Draft Eligible)
Pre-tournament expectations: Featured prominently in McKeen’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup Preview as Finland’s top offensive weapon. Hemming, with his rare blend of 6-foot-4 size, high shot volume, and a scoring touch, was considered their “offensive catalyst” and linchpin on the power play. Scouts emphasized that while his skating needed refinement, his spatial awareness and quick release stood out. He led the U18 SM-Sarja with 63 points in 31 games last season.
On-ice performance: Hemming scored a key goal in Finland’s opening 5–3 loss to Canada, demonstrating poise in high-pressure moments. Although Finland failed to reach the podium, Hemming’s presence remained noticeable.
Draft outlook: Projected as a 2026 NHL Draft candidate with pop-up potential if he continues to dominate domestically and against stronger competition.
Scouting Thoughts: His size and release are NHL-ready, but his skating remains a developmental hinge. His flashes have shown that Finland continues to produce power wingers, although the team’s depth scoring beyond him was inconsistent.
Juho Piiparinen — Right Defense (Tappara U18, 2026 Draft Eligible)
Pre-tournament expectations: Piiparinen was highlighted in McKeen’s Preview as a stabilizing veteran with solid positioning and penalty-kill reliability. Analysts praised his composure and his ability to log big minutes in high-stakes games.
On-ice performance: One of the most consistent defensive presences throughout the tournament. He played top minutes, excelling in shutting down opposing attacks and maintaining structure in Finland’s breakout attempts.
Draft outlook: Viewed as a 2026 sleeper: not flashy offensively, but likely to interest NHL teams for his game maturity and reliability.
Scouting Thoughts: Piiparinen logged top-four minutes, anchoring Finland’s defensive structure. He validated pre-tournament billing as a penalty-kill stabilizer. While not flashy, his consistency epitomizes Finland’s “system-first” approach, which has kept them competitive at U18 tournaments, even against higher-skill opponents.
Samu Alalauri — Right Defense (Pelicans U20, 2026 Draft Eligible)
Pre-tournament expectations: Alalauri was also featured in McKeen’s as a reliable, mobile right-shot defender with sound decision-making and low-risk passing.
On-ice performance: He was recognized by Daily Faceoff as Finland’s most consistent defenseman in at least one game, earning praise for his blend of offensive awareness and defensive reliability even against elite competition.
Draft outlook: Alalauri is projected to be drafted in the middle rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft as a dependable top-four defender with sound fundamentals and consistent ice behavior.
Scouting Thoughts: Alalauri was praised in-game as Finland’s steadiest blueliner. His transitional reads and low-risk play gave Finland outlets under pressure. Yet in the semifinal, Sweden’s forwards still penetrated high-danger areas, exposing the ceiling of Finland’s blue-line depth.
Oliver Suvanto — Center (Tappara U18, 2026 Draft Eligible)
Pre-tournament expectations: The McKeen’s Preview highlighted Suvanto as a 6-3 center with elite vision and creative passing—an emerging playmaker with size and maturity, likely to feature on Finland’s power play.
On-ice performance: Precise Hlinka stats remain pending, but Suvanto’s U18 performance carried over as a smooth distributor with strong zone awareness and puck control. He consistently spelled out plays and supported Finland’s offensive zone presence. He also held his own with strong zone control and distribution in Finland’s aggressive third-period pushes, especially referenced in the semifinal drama.
Draft outlook: A high-upside 2026 prospect, Suvanto’s combination of vision, passing, and frame makes him a real NHL projection if he maintains consistency and adds strength.
Scouting Thoughts: Suvanto showed flashes of elite playmaking, notably in Finland’s semifinal push against Sweden. His size and vision are long-term assets, but he has yet to become the game-breaker that Team USA or Sweden had at center. His development trajectory reflects Finland’s strength at producing reliable pivots, though not always elite difference-makers at 17–18 years old.
What Finland’s 4th Place Reveals
Relative to Sweden and Switzerland
In an earlier article, What Europe’s Leagues Can Learn from Each Other, I noted that Sweden’s edge comes from Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and Allsvenskan clubs giving U18 players direct pro-level ice time. Switzerland has gone another route, leaning on cross-league exposure and a skills-first training model. Finland’s U16 and U18 teams still look technically sound, but the past few cycles show how difficult it’s been to convert those structured habits into elite, late-teen talent. That gap was obvious in Brno, where Sweden and the United States iced more dynamic scorers who could tilt games on their own.
Related: What Europe’s Hockey Leagues Can Learn From Each Other
Finland‘s Development Slowdown at U18
Finland’s fourth-place finish at the 2025 Hlinka fits into a broader trend. Finnish teams often excel internationally at the U16 level, supported by federation-guided technical coaching and structure. By U18, however, results tend to flatten. Sports science research shows that strength and coordination plateaus in the late-teen years unless players are pushed into higher-pressure environments earlier. Nations like Sweden and the United States do exactly that: Sweden integrates U18s into SHL and Allsvenskan lineups, while the USA combines the National Team Development Program (NTDP) and United States Hockey League (USHL) exposure in a controlled development setting, giving players more dynamic roles before age 18.
Related: Breakout & Sleeper Prospects at the 2025 World Juniors
Systemic choices reinforce the gap. Finland emphasizes long-term, player-centered development, an approach designed to build self-directed athletes across all stages, rather than accelerate players too quickly. This model ensures consistency and technical polish, but it can delay the emergence of high-end scorers at 17–18. The relative age effect also plays a role: Finland’s balanced structure reduces early-physical-bloomer bias, but may also limit the number of dominant players in late-teen tournaments.
This is not a crisis. Finland continues to develop NHL talent, but the U18 slowdown is evident. Compared to Sweden, Switzerland, and especially the surging United States, Finland’s 17–18 transition looks less explosive. It is an area worth a deeper dive to explore, not just results, but the structural reasons why Finnish players often peak later than their peers.
USA’s Surge
Then there’s the United States. Their gold medal in 2025, the first since 2003, wasn’t a fluke. NTDP and USHL have created an environment that is now outproducing Canada in short-term U18 and U20 results. As I’ve written before in the context of European crossover, the NTDP’s controlled setup in Plymouth and the USHL’s depth of competition have accelerated development. Watching this tournament, it’s clear the U.S. now produces as many dynamic 17–18-year-olds as Sweden, and at the moment, more than Finland.
Finland’s Top Prospects
Finland’s fourth-place finish at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup was less about the medal count and more about identifying which players can carry their habits into the NHL draft cycle. Oscar Hemming’s size-and-shot package, Juho Piiparinen’s steady defending, Samu Alalauri’s two-way reliability, and Oliver Suvanto’s playmaking vision all surfaced against top competition.
While Finland fell short against Canada and Sweden, this tournament provided scouts a clear read on how these prospects measure against their peers and what still separates them from the U.S. and Swedish pipelines. For the 2026 NHL Draft, these players now enter the conversation not as finished products, but as case studies in whether Finland’s system can still deliver impact talent at age 18.
