KARUIZAWA, Japan — At 14, Aito Iguchi is already an internet stickhandling sensation and a household name in Japanese youth hockey. The question wherever he plays is typically not whether, but when, he will stickhandle his way to a goal. But Iguchi wants more than goals.

“I want to set my sights on being a pro hockey player,” he said, quietly but firmly, after collecting three goals and three assists during an 8-5 win in Karuizawa, a town about an hour northwest by bullet train from his home in the Tokyo suburbs.

Top men’s hockey prospects from Japan primarily hope to play for the country’s top universities or club teams, veteran coaches say. Some have played in the now-defunct Japan Ice Hockey League or a newer outfit, the Asia League, whose eight teams are based in Japan, Russia and South Korea.

But today, more of Japan’s top teenage players are eyeing youth, collegiate and professional leagues in North America. That includes Iguchi, who already plays part of the year in British Columbia and said he hoped to return to Canada to play in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, a proving ground for N.H.L. prospects.