The past two IIHF World Championships have seen Switzerland ice the best teams in its history, with the core led by Roman Josi, Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier and Nino Niederreiter leading a squad that was a legitimate gold-medal contender. At the 2026 Winter Olympics, they’ll be back again, although the competion will be stiffer.
Switzerland’s top two goaltenders right now are Leonardo Genoni and Akira Schmid – Genoni is still the starter for now, but that could change by February 2026. Veteran Reto Berra has slipped to number three, and could slip farther by the time of the Olympics.
Other than Janis Moser, Switzerland’s defense was at its full strength on last year’s silver-medal winning team in Prague. Otherwise, Dominik Egli might find his way into consideration by then and Dallas Stars prospect Lian Bichsel might already be there but he’s been banned from the national team for two years for twice declining national team nominations.
Up front, Pius Suter and the injured Timo Meier and Denis Malgin supplement an already strong group of forwards. Théo Rochette and Valentin Nussbaumer might also make their way onto the roster as well, depending on how the next season and a half go.
Those additions mean someone has to go, and it might finally be time for Andres Ambühl – whose future with the national team has been the topic of speculation since the last World Championship – to say good bye. After the loss in the final in Prague, Ambühl was almost inconsolable, knowing his last chance to win gold might have just escaped him. In 2022 in Beijing, Ambühl finally scored his first goal in his fourth Olympics. Asked if there’d be a fifth for him in 2026, he chuckled and said, “Well, I’ll be 42 by then. If I’m able to make the team, I don’t know what that says about the future of Swiss hockey.”
Goaltenders (3): Leonardo Genoni, Akira Schmid, Reto Berra.
Defensemen (8): Roman Josi, Jonas Siegenthaler, Janis Moser, Michael Fora, Andea Glauser, Dean Kukan, Romain Loeffel, Christian Marti.
Forwards (14): Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier, Nino Niederreiter, Timo Meier, Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, Fabrice Herzog, Denis Malgin, Gaëtan Haas, Sven Andrighetto, Calvin Thürkauf, Christoph Bertschy, Dario Simion, Ken Jäger.
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