U18: 2025 WJC Switzerland roster talk

[Hinterland]

As always, with one WJC behind us it's time to talk about the other one. Here's my first stab at the camp roster with LB standing for late birthdays:



Matia Birchler (07, EV Zug)
Gian-Andri Steinmann (07 LB, HC Davos)
Jovin Trachsel (07 LB, SCL Tigers)



Guus van der Kaaij (07, HC Davos), Dorian Moret (07, EV Zug)

Gael Haas (07, Lausanne HC), Finn Bichsel (07, EHC Biel)

Mike Cuesta Flores (07, EHC Kloten), Vito Thoma (08, EHC Kloten)

Niccolo Castiglioni (08, HC Lugano), Luca Nappiot (07, EHC Biel)


Manuel von Rohr (07, EHC Biel), Jonah Neuenschwander (09, EHC Biel), Mike Aeschlimann (07, SCL Tigers)

Arthur Dandois (07, HC Fribourg Gottéron), Maxime Sauthier (08, Genève-Servette HC), Loan Burkhalter (08 LB, HC La Chaux-de-Fonds)

Fabrice Bouvard (08, GCK Lions), Clemens Troxler (08, GCK Lions), Nolan Rohrbach (08 LB, GCK Lions)

Raphael Achermann (08, HC Fribourg Gottéron), Florian Schenk (07, SC Bern), Thierry Berger (08, SC Bern)

Yanis Lutz (08, EV Zug), Elia Liniger (08, EHC Kloten), Alessandro Domenichelli (09, HC Lugano)


Might get QMJHL reinforcements (Steiner, Pedrotti) but that depends on playoff performance of their teams.

Forward group is rather young but we've seen that the 07 forwards aren't gonna cut it. Arthur Dandois was pretty much the lone bright spot of that group in international games. Therefore, I'm all for taking advantage of the skill of the 08/09 kids. 07 defensemen are excellent, some of them even playing pro hockey already. 07 forwards are very underwhelming. Schenk returning to Switzerland was disappointing as well.

Click to read more...

 

[Nick25]

As always, with one WJC behind us it's time to talk about the other one. Here's my first stab at the camp roster with LB standing for late birthdays:



Matia Birchler (07, EV Zug)
Gian-Andri Steinmann (07 LB, HC Davos)
Jovin Trachsel (07 LB, SCL Tigers)



Guus van der Kaaij (07, HC Davos), Dorian Moret (07, EV Zug)

Gael Haas (07, Lausanne HC), Finn Bichsel (07, EHC Biel)

Mike Cuesta Flores (07, EHC Kloten), Vito Thoma (08, EHC Kloten)

Niccolo Castiglioni (08, HC Lugano), Luca Nappiot (07, EHC Biel)


Manuel von Rohr (07, EHC Biel), Jonah Neuenschwander (09, EHC Biel), Mike Aeschlimann (07, SCL Tigers)

Arthur Dandois (07, HC Fribourg Gottéron), Maxime Sauthier (08, Genève-Servette HC), Loan Burkhalter (08 LB, HC La Chaux-de-Fonds)

Fabrice Bouvard (08, GCK Lions), Clemens Troxler (08, GCK Lions), Nolan Rohrbach (08 LB, GCK Lions)

Raphael Achermann (08, HC Fribourg Gottéron), Florian Schenk (07, SC Bern), Thierry Berger (08, SC Bern)

Yanis Lutz (08, EV Zug), Elia Liniger (08, EHC Kloten), Alessandro Domenichelli (09, HC Lugano)


Might get QMJHL reinforcements (Steiner, Pedrotti) but that depends on playoff performance of their teams.

Forward group is rather young but we've seen that the 07 forwards aren't gonna cut it. Arthur Dandois was pretty much the lone bright spot of that group in international games. Therefore, I'm all for taking advantage of the skill of the 08/09 kids. 07 defensemen are excellent, some of them even playing pro hockey already. 07 forwards are very underwhelming. Schenk returning to Switzerland was disappointing as well.

I really like your roster. It’s a smart move to include so many underagers since they are much more talented than the 07 group. However, I don’t think Schumacher will select many underagers for the WJC. I also believe the players competing in Sweden deserve a chance. Wagner, Kneubühler, and Andrey are all posting solid stats this season.

On another note, I was wondering if Liam Dubé would be eligible to play for the Swiss team at the WJC. He has always represented the Swiss national team and is having a pretty good season. However, I’m not sure if he has Swiss citizenship yet.

 

[jonas2244]

Liam Dubé will play for Switzerland at the European Youth Olympic festival. I doubt that you can play there without a Swiss passport altough I couldn't find anything if he really has a Swiss passport.

His father has been in Switzerland for over 20 years, he spent his whole life here, I would be surprised if they didn't apply and get the Swiss passport now.

 

[Speyer]

Roster for a prepretation tourney is out. Neuenschwander, Bouvard and Troxler are the only underagers selected. Well I am not saying you have to field a complete 08 lineup but still. Some of the 07 players shouldnt really be on the NT at this level. I won't name names, but some of them should defintely be replaced with some more underagers like Dubé, Castiglioni etc. by the time the tourney comes around. Don't expect it to happen though.

 

[Hinterland]

Roster for a prepretation tourney is out. Neuenschwander, Bouvard and Troxler are the only underagers selected. Well I am not saying you have to field a complete 08 lineup but still. Some of the 07 players shouldnt really be on the NT at this level. I won't name names, but some of them should defintely be replaced with some more underagers like Dubé, Castiglioni etc. by the time the tourney comes around. Don't expect it to happen though.

07 goalies and defensemen are excellent for Swiss standards. They were considered decent ahead of this season and many of them have had good seasons. The forwards are the problem. It was expected to be a poor group and this season has, sadly, proved that. Outside of Lars Steiner nobody is a difference maker. Mundy and Schenk may be interesting projects but have had disappointing seasons and are unlikely to be impact players at a WJC18 tournament. So from that 07 group, the best options left are grinders like Arthur Dandois or Manuel von Rohr. Those are also the guys who played well in international games while all the other forwards have been useless.

With Steiner unlikely to be at the WJC18, let alone for the full tournament you have to be blind not to see that this team is in need of offense, of skill among forwards. Defense should be good and will drive play but because there's no Dionicio type of quarterback among them it won't be enough to carry an entire forward group. Many of the Swiss 08/09 forward kids have the skill and the talent to be difference makers at such a tournament. I don't know if they're quite on the level just yet but it can't be any worse than just playing random 07 dudes who are already proven to be useless in international games this season. Nothing to lose, really.

I agree I don't expect it to happen though. It's the SIHF after all.

 

[Speyer]

07 goalies and defensemen are excellent for Swiss standards. They were considered decent ahead of this season and many of them have had good seasons. The forwards are the problem. It was expected to be a poor group and this season has, sadly, proved that. Outside of Lars Steiner nobody is a difference maker. Mundy and Schenk may be interesting projects but have had disappointing seasons and are unlikely to be impact players at a WJC18 tournament. So from that 07 group, the best options left are grinders like Arthur Dandois or Manuel von Rohr. Those are also the guys who played well in international games while all the other forwards have been useless.

With Steiner unlikely to be at the WJC18, let alone for the full tournament you have to be blind not to see that this team is in need of offense, of skill among forwards. Defense should be good and will drive play but because there's no Dionicio type of quarterback among them it won't be enough to carry an entire forward group. Many of the Swiss 08/09 forward kids have the skill and the talent to be difference makers at such a tournament. I don't know if they're quite on the level just yet but it can't be any worse than just playing random 07 dudes who are already proven to be useless in international games this season. Nothing to lose, really.

I agree I don't expect it to happen though. It's the SIHF after all.

I really like the goalies as well. Its kinda hard to judge them though. In the domestic U20 league they are not really challanged very much, particulary Bircher who plays behind a very good Zug team. And then in the international games they are getting shelled like its WWI and its obvious that the would give up a bunch of goals in almost every game against top nations.

The D is solid on but I wouldn't go as far to say that it is excellent. 06 d group was a lot more impressive at the same age for example. I would agree with you that a lot of the defensemen in the class are trending reallly well though. Even some of the prospects I wasn't to high on not to long ago like Bichsel are making some good progress. I still think they should keep a spot open for Castiglioni or Thoma though.

Then the F corps is pretty terrible outside of Steiner as you said. Schenk should still be decent at that stage despite his terrible season. Aeschliman is an ok defensive forward. Dandois has some soft hands and is a good skater. Then Jan Kneubühler seems to be having a really good season in Sweden so far. But that seems about it. A lot of the forwards like Dandois, Peter and Blaha are also undersized playmaking types that you really don't want to bring to such a tournament. Jabola Prada and Pedrazzini reloaded. I have a really hard time seeing who could score the goals come spring. It won't help that the PP will be running a system like it has the talent level of the Tampa Bay lightning upfront.

 

[Hinterland]

I really like the goalies as well. Its kinda hard to judge them though. In the domestic U20 league they are not really challanged very much, particulary Bircher who plays behind a very good Zug team. And then in the international games they are getting shelled like its WWI and its obvious that the would give up a bunch of goals in almost every game against top nations.

The D is solid on but I wouldn't go as far to say that it is excellent. 06 d group was a lot more impressive at the same age for example. I would agree with you that a lot of the defensemen in the class are trending reallly well though. Even some of the prospects I wasn't to high on not to long ago like Bichsel are making some good progress. I still think they should keep a spot open for Castiglioni or Thoma though.

Then the F corps is pretty terrible outside of Steiner as you said. Schenk should still be decent at that stage despite his terrible season. Aeschliman is an ok defensive forward. Dandois has some soft hands and is a good skater. Then Jan Kneubühler seems to be having a really good season in Sweden so far. But that seems about it. A lot of the forwards like Dandois, Peter and Blaha are also undersized playmaking types that you really don't want to bring to such a tournament. Jabola Prada and Pedrazzini reloaded. I have a really hard time seeing who could score the goals come spring. It won't help that the PP will be running a system like it has the talent level of the Tampa Bay lightning upfront.

Dandois may be small but he's as gritty as it gets. Sometimes even too much as he's a hot head with a temper and a tendency of taking stupid penalties but his effort level is second to none both sides of the puck. By far the best forward in international games this season. Absolutely the type of guy you wanna have for a WJC18. Dandois is Jan Dorthe 2.0, though maybe with a little less vision.

 

[Speyer]

Dandois may be small but he's as gritty as it gets. Sometimes even too much as he's a hot head with a temper and a tendency of taking stupid penalties but his effort level is second to none both sides of the puck. By far the best forward in international games this season. Absolutely the type of guy you wanna have for a WJC18. Dandois is Jan Dorthe 2.0, though maybe with a little less vision.

Rebers effort level on d is also above average for a forward but he is still getting outmuscled a lot. But I didnt want to knock on Dandois in particular who I would take to the tourney on the basis of his skill alone. I just named him with the others to point out that the f corps has a lot of undersized players and not many (if any) natural goalscorers as a whole.

 

[CentralEuropeanScout]

Roster for a prepretation tourney is out. Neuenschwander, Bouvard and Troxler are the only underagers selected. Well I am not saying you have to field a complete 08 lineup but still. Some of the 07 players shouldnt really be on the NT at this level. I won't name names, but some of them should defintely be replaced with some more underagers like Dubé, Castiglioni etc. by the time the tourney comes around. Don't expect it to happen though.

Switzerland's U18 team suffered a narrow 4-3 overtime defeat against the Czech Republic today in Ängelholm. Mundy scored twice and one goal for Neuenschwander.