Team Sweden finished a very disappointing sixth place at the recently played U17 World Hockey Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia. However, it emerged victorious in the U18 Five Nations Tournament . This annual tournament was played on November 5 – 9 in Ulricehamm, Sweden, and features the US, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland & Czechia, . The Swedes went undefeated in four tournament games, capping it off with a 6-5 victory over Team USA on Sunday.
Many top draft prospects participated at the U18 level. Leading the way in scoring was projected first round pick Marcus Nordmark of Sweden, who tallied 7 points (4G 3A) in four games. Team USA’s Mikey Berchild, a projected 2nd/3rd round pick, matched Nordmark’s points total. This is a continuation of Nordmark’s draft year scoring pace, beginning with The Hlinka Gretzky Cup in which he was the tournament’s leading scorer with 12 points (7G 5A). Disappointing for Nordmark was that fellow Swedish forward & 2026 draft prospect Viggo Bjork did not compete at the U18 level. Bjork was one of four 2026 draft-eligible Swedes to compete for Sweden’s U20 team (the U20 team competes at an annual tournament, also called the Five Nations, as an audition for European teams’ WJC squads; Slovakia replaces Team USA as the fifth team at this event).
Also playing for the Swedes at the U18 event were five 2026 draft-eligible d-men prospects: Theodor Knights, Axel Elofsson, Ola Palme, Zigge Bratt, and Mans Gudmundsson. None of them are rated as being above fourth round picks, as Sweden placed projected higher-end d-man pick (second-third round) William Håkansson on its U20 roster. However, perhaps the draft stock of this corps will rise, as they played a critical role in Sweden’s success last week.