A total of 17 nationalities have been represented in at least one NHL game so far this season. Nine nations were represented at this weekend's NHL All-Star Game. And while Canada remains the largest producer of NHL talent, the demographics of the league have shifted rather significantly in the past 10 years.
In 2009-10, the NHL was 53.5% Canadian, per QuantHockey.com. Today, that number is 43.2%, with Americans accounting for 25.5%, Sweden claiming 11.7%, Finns making up 5.1%, Russia producing 4.9% and the Czech Republic responsible for 3.5%.
While alarm bells may be sounding in Canada over this shift, the more notable takeaway is the improvement in the other countries to narrow the gap and continue to put elite players in positions to succeed. Just look at Sweden, which doubled the number of players it contributes to the NHL in a 10-year span (5.6% in 2009-10) despite having a hockey-playing population that is roughly the same size as that of the state of Michigan.
Canada's importance to the game is difficult to overstate. They're still the largest producer of high-level players and are unlikely to relinquish that title soon. There are more rinks and more opportunities for exposure to the game than any other country can dream of. The U.S. has a population advantage, but only a small fraction of that large pool plays the sport. That the North American hockey powers' numbers are significantly larger than the rest is hardly a surprise, but it makes what is happening with relatively small hockey populations in Finland and Sweden, in particular, worth watching.
The European athlete development system is incredibly different than what is done in North America. Throughout the U.S. and Canada, players are segmented into various clubs, many run autonomously. The European model is based primarily on a local level, with the top professional clubs operating their own development systems that run all the way down to youth hockey. In Finland and Sweden, players can move around but largely remain with their local club for most of their competitive hockey-playing lives. In a recent interview with ESPN, Tampa Bay Lightning star defenseman Victor Hedman noted that until he came to the NHL, he played for one club from the time he was 5 years old until he was 19 (MODO, which is located in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden).
Ken Martel, who is the technical director of USA Hockey's American development model, which has helped shift development philosophies in the U.S. through long-term athlete development research, marvels at what Sweden and Finland have done, and he has taken some of the lessons from their models to review American player development.
"Their size makes them so nimble and responsive," said Martel of the northern Scandinavian countries. "When their federation learns new things, their ability to get it back to ice rink level is really fantastic."
There is no set way to successfully develop players, but the clubs in Sweden and Finland appear ahead of the curve when you look at the quality of the players they produce given their significant player pool limitations. While what they do is not necessarily replicable in North America given the current culture around youth sports, it is worth exploring a little more.
Let's take a 10,000-foot view of what's happening in other countries in how they develop hockey prospects. Even in a snapshot, it's hard not to be impressed by how the European nations are gaining ground on their North American counterparts. (All player membership and rink statistics are according to IIHF.com.)
Sweden
Population: 10.2 million
Total players: 55,431
Junior players: 35,425
Rinks: 360
Doing more with less takes a lot. As Martel notes, it requires resources and population involvement, and the country's sporting culture plays a big role. What Sweden has in abundance is a national love of hockey and quality clubs with both the resources and the years of experience in player development. But the Swedes have also been open to innovation.
Clubs like Frolunda, Djurgardens and MODO have incredible alumni -- Hedman, Henrik Lundqvist and Erik Karlsson to name a few -- who have made an impact at all levels of the game. All of these clubs have high-end U20 and U18 programs in which the development takes precedence over results, whereas junior hockey and high-level youth hockey clubs at the U18 level are run autonomously in the U.S. and Canada.
The very best players, like Rasmus Dahlin and Elias Pettersson in recent years, make their pro teams when they're ready, play significant roles and are given the chance to develop at an elite level. The elite Swedish players get funneled to national teams and have a chance to be exposed to elite coaching, elite training and elite competition multiple times throughout the year. This isn't unique to Sweden, but it has been among the best at combining development with international competition, making it a consistent medal threat.
Finland
Population: 5.5 million
Total players: 64,641
Junior players: 30,931
Rinks: 274
Finland has enjoyed great success in recent years, and Martel gives the federation a lot of credit for investing in collaboration with its clubs throughout the country. By taking some of the earnings from the 2012 and 2013 men's world championships that Finland co-hosted with Sweden, it was able to hire individual coaches who are assigned to work with designated clubs across the country, particularly from ages 9-14.
"They made a big impact there, and they've upscaled the training," Martel says of the Finns. "It's a partnership [between the federation and the clubs]."
What that allows is for some uniformity. It's not to say that everyone does things the same way, but they're all ultimately working toward the same goal: to make players better. The federation isn't necessarily imposing its will on the clubs, but merely providing assistance.
All of the results of this shift in philosophy have yet to be fully explored. However, Finland's best players seem to be getting better. Finland just won a World Championship with nearly no NHL players and can boast three recent World Junior golds.
Russia
Population: 142.1 million
Total players: 112,236
Junior players: 92,486
Rinks: 612
Some of the most important innovations in hockey came out of Russia, but its current development structure is a little more difficult to gauge. There's obviously a great deal of success in terms of elite player production, but the allure for players to stay home and play within the KHL system for the bulk of their careers makes NHL player production a little less fair of a metric. Even so, over the past decade the Russians have had just one gold medal at the World Junior Championship and none at the World Under-18 Championship, an event they used to dominate.
According to one source, the Russian development model is much more grinding on players and creates an environment in which only the strongest players survive, with the less-talented players being weeded out earlier than they generally are in other European countries.
Russia does have the most recent Olympic gold medal (under the Olympic Athletes from Russia title) and multiple World Championships, and it has been highly competitive at the U17 level. There's also a recent boom of goaltenders that has yet to be fully explained, as Russia seems to be taking over Finland's claim as the largest producer of high-end netminders.
Czech Republic
Population: 10.6 million
Total players: 90,610
Junior players: 27,263
Rinks: 200
The Czech Republic has seen more pronounced drops in international success and player production. So many of its best players in the early 1990s were coming out of the post-Soviet system. The trend is starting to take a turn for the positive, though. The Czech model is somewhat similar to the Swedish and Finnish models, but there are fewer teams and fewer rinks, which spreads out the player population.
Slovakia
Population: 5.4 million
Total players: 11,394
Junior players: 8,819
Rinks: 71
Slovakia's decline has been even more pronounced than that of the Czech Republic, and a lot of it has to do with demographics. It is working with an incredibly small player pool and is finding it harder to stay in the top level.
However, that may soon change. Former NHL star Miroslav Satan announced Friday that the Slovakian government has invested 14 million euros in forming seven regional hockey academies, which could help make some necessary positive changes for one of the nation's most popular sports.
Germany
National population: 80.4 million
Total players: 21,340
Junior players: 13,783
Rinks: 218
Something special seems to be happening in Germany of late with the number of quality players coming out of that country. With similar investment from its professional organizations trickling down to the youth teams, more and more players are taking strides toward greater things. Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl gives Germany a national role model to show hockey players what is possible, while the German national team made it to the final of the most recent Olympic Games in 2018. That silver medal meant a whole lot with or without NHL players involved.
And the next wave of top young Germans looks poised to make an NHL impact soon. Defenseman Moritz Seider was taken sixth overall in the last draft and as many as three German players -- Tim Stutzle, John-Jason Peterka and Kristian Reichel -- could be selected in the first round of the 2020 draft. All four of those players helped Germany gain promotion to the top U20 level to play in the World Junior Championship and kept it there for another year after nearly an eight-year absence from the top flight. This group of young elites has a chance to do something special, but their coach wants to keep things in perspective.
"We always have to be realistic, this is the most important thing," said World Juniors coach Tobias Abstreiter. "This was just one step; if we want to reach higher, it's a lot of work. You have to have good age groups. Our 2001 and 2002 [birth years] are different."
Switzerland
National population: 8.3 million
Total players: 27,867
Junior players: 16,377
Rinks: 48
Only four European nations can claim to have produced a first overall pick, and Switzerland is one (Nico Hischier). The Swiss have iced competitive teams at the men's world championship and World Juniors, and they only continue to improve. Their elite hockey population is minuscule, but it's slowly growing and getting better. Swiss players accounted for just 0.5% of NHL players and now rank seventh -- ahead of Slovakia -- with 1.5%.