Here's something to consider. It's an undeniable fact that any league below the top-two of the NHL and the KHL is considered a "breeder" league, more or less. While there are players who end up playing their entire careers (mostly) in their domestic leagues, it is the aspiration of any player coming out from there to eventually apply for better and tougher leagues.
So, the simple question that goes a long way to determine the quality of play in the leagues below the top-two is... which league produces most quality prospects? Any Euro player's national league is, after all, an important stepping stone in their development.
When comparing Liiga and NLA, both are still predominantly utilizing players who are nationals of their given countries. Liiga's domestic rate is about 85% whereas roughly 75% of all NLA players are Swiss.
Both leagues also employ a decent amount of juniors. As of today in the 2015-16 season, there are 22 draft-age Swiss players (either already drafted or undrafted) in the NLA who have played 10 games or more. In Liiga, the same number is 35. (This disrepancy evens out a bit when you consider that there are 12 teams in the NLA and 15 teams in Liiga.)
What am I trying to say here? Well, simply that one's domestic league is also a powerful development tool. And therefore, if the NLA really was a competitive enviroment holding a candle to Liiga, you would see the NLA churn out prospects on a rate that is, while perhaps not on the same level, still somewhat closer to Liiga. But since Liiga has a huge advantage here, it becomes quite evident that this is not the case.
You can naturally also consider this when you try to figure out where the NLA and the Czech Extraliga stand in relation to each other.
