The 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Tournament begins tomorrow, August 11th and will be held in Brno, Czechia and Trencin, Slovakia.
The Edmonton Oilers have no players or prospects in attendance because it is a U-18 tournament for players under the age of 18 years old. It is the first major event of every cycle of the NHL Entry Draft and for many scouts, marks the true beginning of the hockey season.
There have been numerous high end prospects that have attended the tournament in recent years including 2025 NHL Draft First Overall Pick Matthew Schaefer. As well as 2022 NHL Draft’s Juraj Slafkovsky and Matvei Michkov.
This year looks to be much of the same with high end prospects Keaton Verhoeff and Mathis Preston suiting up for Canada. Historically, there have been many former Oilers who have attended this tournament. Unsurprisingly, there are also numerous members currently in the Oilers organization that have participated in the Hlinka. Three in particular stand out above the rest…
Eemil Vinni
Eemil Vinni was drafted in the Second Round, 64th Overall at the 2024 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. The Finnish netminder represented his home country at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament. There, he manned the crease in four out of five games for Finland, posting an electric 3-1-0 record with a 1.75 goals against average (GAA) and a .927 save percentage.
Vinni backstopped his team to a bronze medal at the tournament, which is the third bronze and fifth medal the country has gotten at the annual tournament. He entered the 2024 NHL Draft cycle as one of the top netminders and for good reason, his play here was phenomenal and helped put him on many people's radars.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Heading into the 2011 draft year, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the consensus number one pick. That is exactly where the Oilers took him when they hit the podium with their second straight First Overall pick. He represented Canada at the 2010 (then Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament) Hlinka Gretzky, helping the nation capture gold.
In five games at the tournament, he scored five goals and seven points, leading his team in scoring tied with winger Matt Puempel. His performance at the Hlinka was a good primer for what was to come for the Red Deer Rebels center, as he would score 106 points in 69 regular season games, adding 11 in nine in the postseason.
Vasili Podkolzin
One of the most hyped Russian prospects of the last ten years, Vasili Podkolzin has a long standing history of standout performances with the national team. One of those that put him on the map was at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky, where he wore the captain’s “C” for his home country.
In five games, Podkolzin scored eight goals and three assists for 11 points. His performance was good enough to lead his country and the tournament in scoring en route to a bronze medal finish. The team likely would have finished better but with Podkolzin leading his team by four points, it is definitely not on his shoulders.
The tournament is set to feature multiple stars for the future, namely consensus top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft and CHL exceptional status recipient, Landon DuPont. I urge those who can to pay attention to the tournament because you never know if you could be watching a future Oiler great.