Mason City, IA- North Iowa Bulls skaters Vitaliy Korolyuk, Assistant Captain Fuji Suzuki, and Captain Mike Malatino have been selected to represent the Bulls at the 2026 North American Hockey League’s Top Prospects Tournament.
Vitaliy Korolyuk joined the Bulls this season from MHC Krylia Sovetov Moskova in the Russian based MHL and has made an immediate impact on the Bulls this season. In 34 games played this season, Vitaliy has 12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points. The son of National Hockey League veteran Alexander Korolyuk (San Jose Sharks, 1997-2004) has developed into a clutch goal scorer. Vitaliy holds the Bulls’ single season record for overtime goals, with 3, and has also landed a pair of shootout winners. Vitaliy is tied for the Bulls’ lead in power play points (4G/11A/15P).
Vitaliy will be playing for the Selects Blue Team, comprised of top non-age out skaters from different divisions across the NAHL.
Fuji Suzuki is in his second season as a Bull and has emerged as one of the elite scorers in the NAHL this year. The Tokyo, Japan, native leads the Bulls with 20 goals and 40 points. He’s 3rd on the team with 20 assists. Suzuki’s 4 shorthanded goals are second best in the NAHL, and the most for any North Iowa Bulls’ NAHL season. The decorated Japanese National Team Leader is one of just four skaters who have hit the 20-goal plateau in the Central Division.
Mike Malatino wears the Captain’s C with pride and has performed wonderfully well. The Bethlehem, New York, native has suited up for all 36 Bulls games and produced 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points. Malatino leads the team in power play goal scoring with 7. He broke the Bulls’ record for career power play goals with 14 such strikes across two seasons, surpassing former Bulls Captain and current University of Maine skater Max Scott’s record earlier this season.
Suzuki & Malatino will both be skating for Team Central, comprised of top skaters from across the Central Division.
The Top Prospects Tournament is scheduled for February 16th to 17th at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. The USA Hockey Arena is the home of the United States National Development Program (USNTDP), who will be competing at this tournament for the first time since 2022.
The schedule for the teams featuring Bulls skaters is listed below. All times are Central Time.
Monday, February 16th
➜ Selects Blue vs. Selects Red, 11:30 PM
➜ East vs. Central, 4:00 PM
Tuesday, February 17th
➜ Central vs. South, 9:00 AM
➜ USNTDP vs. Selects Blue, 3:45 PM
All games will be aired on NAHLTV. For more information, click the link here.
The Bulls want to wish good luck to all of our players who will be skating at the 2026 Top Prospects Tournament.