WC: 2025 Switzerland

[Playmaker82]

Simion is cut.

 

[Shawn Heins 44]

From Fribourg I'd expect Schmid and Bertschy. Berra we talket about, I don't think he is an option but we'll see. After Streule is injured I don't think any D-men is an option. Dave Sutter maybe.
.

I don't see any defenseman from Fribourg making it either, but Egli might be a possibility. That leaves just him, Jung and Fora as potential additions. At forward, Ambühl, Knak, Nussbaumer, Bertschy and Schmid.

What do you guys think about Rathgeb? He really turned it around after Leuenberger took over and was an important contributor to the offense. He also plays with a bit of a mean streak. Not sure his defense would hold up in international games tough.

Also Walser played great when called upon a bigger role and he can also be used on a fourth line, but I understand there are better options available.

 

[SwissFan12]

Simion is cut.

Injured

 

[swissdude]

What do you guys think about Rathgeb? He really turned it around after Leuenberger took over and was an important contributor to the offense. He also plays with a bit of a mean streak. Not sure his defense would hold up in international games tough.

Also Walser played great when called upon a bigger role and he can also be used on a fourth line, but I understand there are better options available.

Rathgeb certainly deserves a chance and he was pretty convincing in the playoffs

 

[jonas2244]

Simion is another blow. He had not a very good season, but he's a solid two-way forward which can play in a more offensive and a defensive role.

Another spot for a newcomer.

Rathgeb, I don't know. I don't like his playing style, but I agree he plays the best hockey of his career and could get a call. I don't think Fischer likes him very much tough.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Egli have been amazing the whole season in SHL including the playoffs. He and Tömmernäs have great chemistry.

 

[swissdude]

Simion is another blow. He had not a very good season, but he's a solid two-way forward which can play in a more offensive and a defensive role.

Another spot for a newcomer.

Rathgeb, I don't know. I don't like his playing style, but I agree he plays the best hockey of his career and could get a call. I don't think Fischer likes him very much tough.

If Loeffel is there then I don't see why Rathgeb shouldn't get a call as well, I had to bear 20 games and he was not "Untersander bad" but god awful at best a fancy goal here and there doesn't make it right

 

[Kuracmugger]

What do you guys think about Rathgeb? He really turned it around after Leuenberger took over and was an important contributor to the offense. He also plays with a bit of a mean streak. Not sure his defense would hold up in international games tough.

Also Walser played great when called upon a bigger role and he can also be used on a fourth line, but I understand there are better options available.

I‘d atleast give him a chance after thos kind of season he deserves it and he is 95 so not done with hockey in the next couple of years. With josi out and Siegenthaler maybe not joining he‘s chances seem pretty high. I would leave loeffel of i took rathgeb.

 

[Kuracmugger]

I don‘t think we‘ve ever gotten both Malgin and Andrighetto at the WC. Our Top NL Players tend to disappoint some times but i think those two together could really improve the team. I can‘t remember if they played together in the OG 2022.

 

[jonas2244]

It's crazy how dominant Malgin/Andrighetto are in this playoffs. I hope they stay healthy.

 

[Shawn Heins 44]

I don‘t think we‘ve ever gotten both Malgin and Andrighetto at the WC. Our Top NL Players tend to disappoint some times but i think those two together could really improve the team. I can‘t remember if they played together in the OG 2022.

100%, it was a shame last year when Malgin got injured. I would love to see them together on that stage. I am positive they could perform well.

 

[Eye of Ra]

It's crazy how dominant Malgin/Andrighetto are in this playoffs. I hope they stay healthy.

Should they play on the same line on the nt?

 

[jonas2244]

Frölunda is out so Egli is free to join next week.

The relevant NHL-playoff games:

WPG - STL
LAK - EDM
TBL - FLA
CAR - NJD

We'll see. Pius Suter just scored his 25th goals. A pity VAN didn't extend early.

 

[jonas2244]

Biasca is also out with an injury

 

[jonas2244]

Don't know if France was a good opponent. Two games with a lot of dominance but especially the first one was way to close.

If healthy I'd expect Jung, Fora, Egli on D, Ambühl, Knak, Nussbaumer, Schmid and Bertschy on O. Maybe Aeschlimann.

Charlin probably wants the second goal back, and wasn't looking that secure on some instances, but made a few good saves in the later episode on the game. Waeber was pretty untested, but couldn't do much on the goals.

On D I liked Karrer, Dionicio played very mature, was IMHO better than Geisser. Johnson was not good yesterday, much better today. But I'd expect him to be cut, maybe together with Wüthrich. Berni was much better than vs. Slovakia. Baragnao and Chanton were solid.

On O no one was relly bad. Lehmann just isn't quite able to transit his game from the NLA to the international stage. Hofmann and Senteler created a lot but were not successful. Moy was the best forward. Fazzini showed his scoring touch and his good shot. I liked Taibel very much, he played all 4 games very good. Ritzmann again scored a nice goal. Simic missed a few in the first game but scored twice nevertheless. Miranda was not seen and also was the 13th forward today. So maybe he's one of the cuts.

If NHL-playoffs go our way and the Lausanne and Lions players stay healthy this can nevertheless turn into a good team. Goaltending may be an issue. But nice to see how dominant swiss players are in the finals on both sides. Glauser, Jäger, Rochette for Lausanne, Malgin, Kukan, Andrighetto for the Lions.

 

[stv11]

Pretty bad games to say the least. The first one was terrible from start to finish, the second one a bit better but still disappointing after the two performances against Slovakia.

Play in the offensive zone was way poor. It's easy to pass the puck around an opponent that is technically outmatched and that focuses on defending the slot, but that's where you should be able to create an opening with quick passes or show some killer instinct when in a position to shoot. Instead, we saw players that seemed confused about what to do, turnovers on passes that should be easy and a lack of presence in front of the net, except a few times which often resulted in goals. Hofmann was usually the worst offender, giving up on shooting opportunities and generally playing with little intensity.

Defensively, there were way too many mistakes. Some are understandable, like Johnson's on the first France goal on Friday, as he's a young player still learning to play at this level and who won't make the team anyway, or Marchon and Waeber on the second goal on Friday, which belongs in the "s**t happens" category. But the third goal came after a period of sustained pressure where Switzerland was unable to clear the defensive zone without icing the puck, let alone carry it into the neutral zone, against a fairly weak team by France's standard. Wüthrich and Johnson failed to clear the slot and Waeber never saw that shot coming. Berni and Karrer made the same mistake with 11 seconds left. On the 2nd goal on Saturday, Baragano stopped following his guy and he was left alone to screen Charlin.

I also expect Wüthrich and Johnson to be the first defenders cut, although Johnson has shown some really good things and should be back very quickly if he continues to develop. Not sure who else I'd cut, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's Berni, who I thought was very disappointing. I would have wanted to see more from Geisser too, but I still wouldn't call him bad. The others all had their share of mistakes, but had some good moments too, especially Dionicio.

Waeber is probably the odd man out if Aeschlimann or Berra join, although I'm not sure he's worse than Aeschlimann.

Not sure which forwards will be cut. I liked what I saw from the Bader line, Simic showed some good presence around the net, Taibel and Ritzmann were surprisingly good, and Moy and Senteler had their moments, although you'd want them to dominate that kind of game. Hofmann was disappointing but has just too much talent to cut at this point. That leaves Miranda and Lehmann, who I thought didn't bring much, and maybe Rohrbach, who couldn't bring his offense up to that level.

 

[jonas2244]

That's why I said I don't know if those games matter much. France was just too weak.
At least the scoring was better than last year.

The Devils saw no ice in the first game.

 

[jonas2244]

In: Aeschlimann, Fora, Jung, Egli, Ambühl, Knak, Schmid, Bertschy and Walser

Out: Waeber, Geisser, Johnson, Baragano, Taibel, Miranda and Simic. (Biasca already left last week).

Nussbaumer is missing, the rest as expected. Walser played well as somebody noted in here. The others were probably no-brainers.

Baragnano I don't understand, Righty, played solid. Taibel would have also deserved a second stint. But yeah, Offence-Cuts wer difficult, many players on the same level. Goalkeepers, I don't know.

 

[Kuracmugger]

In: Aeschlimann, Fora, Jung, Egli, Ambühl, Knak, Schmid, Bertschy and Walser

Out: Waeber, Geisser, Johnson, Baragano, Taibel, Miranda and Simic. (Biasca already left last week).

Nussbaumer is missing, the rest as expected. Walser played well as somebody noted in here. The others were probably no-brainers.

Baragnano I don't understand, Righty, played solid. Taibel would have also deserved a second stint. But yeah, Offence-Cuts wer difficult, many players on the same level. Goalkeepers, I don't know.

Here wo go again with fora

 

[stv11]

Not much to say about the forwards, there was no easy choice here, although I'd give Taibel more time over calling Walser.

But I have a hard time understanding Wüthrich over Geisser and Baragano, even though Geisser was hugely disappointing.

The roster is still a bit underwhelming, Bertschy is the only addition I expect to have a significant impact. It might also ends up being the EHT team if the final goes to game 6. Please move the league season back one week...

 

[jonas2244]

So the goalkeeping-trio is probably set. I don't think he'll call Pasche as he didn't call Hughes last year (and Hughes last year was probably better than Pasche this year).
So it's Genoni and Charlin/Aeschlimann fighting for #2.

Kurashev might join for EHT. Schmid is interesting, I thought he played with a lot of energy in the semis and he has an offensive upside. The same for Knak, who is probably our best young forward together with Rochette at the moment (totally different player tough).

 

[Eye of Ra]

Andrighetto - Malgin - Riat
Fanzzini - Jäger - Senteler
Knak - Rochette - Schmid
Walser - Ambuhl - Bertschy
Moy, Lehmann

Kukan - Marti
Berni - Glauser
Fora - Egli
Jung - Dionicio

Aeschlimann
Genoni
Charlin

So something like this?

 

[Playmaker82]

Maybe Kurashev. But compared to the editions of 2023 and 2024 this is a biiiig step down.

 

[jonas2244]

And then the Devils are out (pretty likely) and we could add Hischier and Meier. Siegenthaler is close to a comeback, but they probably wouldn't allow him to the WC if he's rushed in.