Who is Leonardo Genoni, the Swiss goaltending legend?

Over the next decade, Genoni would win numerous personal and team awards, establishing himself as one of the greatest goalies in league history. Internationally, he became Switzerland’s No. 1 goalie, often outbattling former NHL goaltender Reto Berra for the honor. He seems to have gotten better with age – his best two World Championship performances came at 36 and 37 years old, respectively. Seriously – he allowed just seven goals in seven games at the 2025 World Championship, and nearly stole the gold medal against the United States in an instant classic.

Notably, Genoni had three straight shutouts in the tournament. He was able to break Pekka Rinne’s record, going 243 consecutive minutes without allowing a single goal.

Now with EV Zug, Genoni’s numbers have started to fall a bit in the NL. He still boasts a .915 save percentage and four shutouts out of his 14 victories. But he has definitely lost a bit of his edge that made him truly unstoppable for so long. Even Berra, who is Switzerland’s third goalie in Milano, has better numbers this year.

Still, Genoni was the right choice for No. 1 – more so than even Vegas Golden Knights keeper Akira Schmid. So why hasn’t Genoni ever made it to the NHL?

Multiple scouts have told Daily Faceoff that Genoni’s six-foot frame played against him. We’ve seen some smaller goaltenders make it work – Dustin Wolf and Jaroslav Halak, for example. But they’re more of the exception than the rule, and teams have often shied away from smaller goaltenders. There’s also the fact that a lot of Genoni’s best hockey came after he turned 30. While NHL teams are often looking for underscouted European talent, we’re usually talking about 25-26-year-olds. Whether NHL teams made a mistake missing out on him a decade ago is up for debate.

But Genoni’s career has still been special. He has lacked the world recognition that. Only Tomas Vokoun (.942) boasts a better save percentage at the World Championship among goalies with over 20 games played in their career than Genoni (.931). And to think – he was such a big reason why Switzerland won bronze in those three years he tended the net. He has rarely had deep teams in front of him to get the job done – Genoni has had to be a difference-maker every time he has tended the crease.

Switzerland has its best chance of challenging for an Olympic medal in the NHL era this year. For it to happen, though, the goaltending needs to be spectacular. But anyone who has followed this program will know that Genoni is capable of. He’s almost always a legitimate star, no matter the competition. He seems to thrive the most when the pressure is on.

Who knows? Maybe this is where Genoni etches his name in the Olympic history books. And after consecutive silver medals, you know Genoni has some extra motivation in what could be his last Olympics.