Switzerland opens the 2025 IIHF World Championship on Friday in a rematch of last year’s final against Czechia. When the two teams played in Brno last weekend, the Swiss didn’t have any NHLers in their lineup. Since then, however, they’ve added a trio of New Jersey Devils – Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler – and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Janis Moser.
According to Swiss media reports, the team hopes to soon add Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Fiala, but due to an unspecified family issue he will miss at least the team’s first two games.
"Not all the details have been worked out yet,” Swiss national team sports director Lars Weibel is quoted in Blick. “That's why there's no official confirmation yet.”
Last year in Czechia, Fiala joined the team two games into the tournament and had an immediate impact, registering 13 points in eight games, and was voted tournament MVP.
Big game for Kevin Fiala after birth of daughter
In his first game at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, Kevin Fiala scored his team’s only goal in regulation time and again in the shootout as Switzerland defeated host Czechia 2-1 to earn a points split of the same score in what could turn out to be a key game for seeding in Group A.
Defenseman Roman Josi, who was Switzerland’s team captain last year and was dangerous with Fiala on the power play, won’t be joining this year – nor, apparantly, will Filipp Kurashev of the Chicago Blackhawks. Nino Niederreiter of the Winnipeg Jets is still active in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Here is the 25-man roster that Switzerland has to choose from for its first game:
Goaltenders (3): Sandro Aeschlimann (HC Davos), Stéphane Charlin (SCL Tigers), Leonardo Genoni (EV Zug).
Defensemen (9): Tim Berni (Genève-Servette HC / Columbus Blue Jackets), Dominik Egli (Frölunda HC, SWE), Michael Fora (HC Davos), Andrea Glauser (Lausanne HC), Sven Jung (HC Davos), Dean Kukan (ZSC Lions), Christian Marti (ZSC Lions), Janis Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning), Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey Devils).
Forwards (14): Andres Ambühl (HC Davos), Sven Andrighetto (ZSC Lions), Nicolas Baechler (ZSC Lions), Christoph Bertschy (HC Fribourg-Gottéron), Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils), Grégory Hofmann (EV Zug), Ken Jäger (Lausanne HC), Simon Knak (HC Davos / Nashville Predators), Denis Malgin (ZSC Lions), Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils), Tyler Moy (SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers), Damien Riat (Lausanne HC), Dario Rohrbach (SCL Tigers), Sandro Schmid (HC Fribourg-Gottéron).
Martin Nečas Says Yes; Czechs Take 25 To Denmark
The
Czech roster for the upcoming IIHF World Championship is starting to
come together. A week ago, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/pastrnak-will-play-for-czechs-in-worlds-but-not-this-weekend-in-euro-hockey-tour">David
Pastrňák confirmed he would play</a> and on Tuesday, <a href="https://t.co/yk2GV1OAWa">at
the team’s end-of-season press conference</a>, Colorado Avalanche
GM Chris McFarlane confirmed that Martin Nečas would be going as
well.