Lutz joined EVZ’s U17-Elit team for the 2023/24 season and started “The Hockey Academy” training program, which allows him to optimally combine his development as a professional ice hockey player with his commercial training at OYM College in Cham. In the past season, the 17-year-old already made 42 appearances with the U20-Elit and collected 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists). Now the Peterborough Petes (OHL), with whom Lino Martschini also played for two years, have secured the rights to the forward in the draft at the beginning of July.
The junior international will seize this opportunity and play for the Petes in the coming season. “I see this as a great opportunity for my sporting and personal development,” says Lutz, who is looking forward to the challenge. He will also remain part of the EVZ organization during his season in the Canadian junior league and will return to Zug in the summer of 2026 to complete his education at the Hockey Academy.
EVZ junior Yanis Lutz was drafted by the Peterborough Petes in the OHL import draft. The 17-year-old is completing the EVZ training program “The Hockey Academy”.
“We are very proud of Yanis! The season in the renowned Ontario Hockey League will provide him with a lot of valuable experience for his future career,” says Roli Schmid, Head of The Hockey Academy. “We are already looking forward to welcoming him back to EVZ next summer.”
The Hockey Academy is a unique training concept in Switzerland that enables athletes to combine sport, training and career in the best possible way and can be compared to a vocational apprenticeship with a commercial focus or a sports high school – adapted to the needs of the athletes. The focus is on the best sporting education with outstanding coaches and support staff, ideal training structures, optimum support around the clock, which also includes solid basic professional training for later. Since 2020, The Hockey Academy has been working together with its training partner OYM College, which is located directly in the OYM Competence Center for Elite Athletics and Research in Cham.
