The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation announced its roster for the 2024 World Championship on Monday, becoming the final team in Group A to do so. Its complement of players, staffed with a handful of current impact NHLers and former major-league players, will aim to reverse some disappointing results for Switzerland in recent years.
It’ll be a tougher job with more NHL participation for the big-name countries than in years past. Switzerland has been eliminated in quarterfinal action at the Worlds in four straight tournaments despite being one of the strongest teams in group play, compiling a 21-5-1-1 record since 2019.
In 2022, it was the undefeated champion of Group A but lost 3-0 to the United States and was handed an even more major upset by Germany last year after winning Group B.
With four full-time NHLers in tow, the roster is of similar strength to the last couple of years. The full complement of talent is as follows:
F Andres Ambühl (Davos, NL)
F Sven Andrighetto (ZSC Lions, NL)
F Thierry Bader (Bern, NL)
F Christoph Bertschy (Fribourg-Gottéron, NL)
F Gaetan Haas (Biel-Bienne, NL)
F Fabrice Herzog (Zug, NL) NHL rights held by Maple Leafs
F Nico Hischier (Devils, NHL)
F Ken Jäger (Lausanne, NL)
F Philipp Kurashev (Blackhawks)
F Nino Niederreiter (Jets, NHL)
F Tristan Scherwey (Bern, NL)
F Sven Senteler (Zug, NL)
F Dario Simion (Zug, NL)
F Calvin Thurkauf (Lugano, NL) NHL rights held by Blue Jackets
D Michael Fora (Davos, NL)
D Andrea Glauser (Lausanne, NL)
D Sven Jung (Davos, NL)
D Dean Kukan (ZSC Lions, NL)
D Romain Loeffel (Bern, NL)
D Christian Marti (ZSC Lions, NL)
D Jonas Siegenthaler (Devils, NHL)
G Reto Berra (Fribourg-Gottéron, NL)
G Leonardo Genoni (Zug, NL)
G Akira Schmid (Devils, NL)
Up front, Niederreiter is back in the fold after captaining the club in 2023. He and Hischier will be the focal points of their offense, which is somewhat surprisingly without Kings winger Kevin Fiala after Los Angeles was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fiala suited up for Switzerland at last year’s tournament, potting a goal and five assists in six games.
Also notable is the presence of the 40-year-old Ambühl, who’s suiting up in his 19th World Championship for the Swiss. The Davos captain has been named the Swiss National League’s Most Popular Player in seven of the last eight years and was named a top-three player on last year’s team after scoring four goals in eight games.
Joining Hischier is a pair of Devils teammates, Siegenthaler and Schmid. Siegenthaler will be the Swiss’ top option on the blue line, supplemented by Kukan and his 153 games of NHL experience with the Blue Jackets from 2015 to 2022. Glauser is expected to join the Islanders next season after nine seasons and nearly 300 games at the top level of Swiss hockey.
In net, Switzerland is stronger than in years past. While Schmid is the only NHL-contracted option available, it’s unlikely he’ll be the starter after a difficult season split between the Devils and AHL Utica.
Genoni has loads of national team experience and has been relatively consistent, while Berra, who has five years and 76 games of NHL experience, was one of the NL’s top goalies this season with a .929 SV% and 2.01 GAA in 41 games for Fribourg-Gottéron.
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