Switzerland's SWHL is making gains in signing players this offseason while internal battles at the SDHL is seeing the league fall behind.
Switzerland's SWHL is making gains in signing players this offseason while internal battles at the SDHL is seeing the league fall behind.
Typically by this point in the year, SDHL teams are already accumulating talent from North America and across Europe. This year, it has only been a trickle in, with a steady stream pouring out.
One of the locations making significant gains this offseason is the SWHL, Switzerland's top league, which continues to make strides toward competing for the moniker of Europe's top professional league.
In part, the delay in the SDHL making gains has come from within, as SICO, an organization of agents in Sweden, have actively worked to block North American represented players from entering the league. It's an act of sabotage against women's hockey in Sweden that could set Sweden's national team plans for the Olympics and World Championships back years...unless players leave the country.
Conversely, Switzerland is adding players and will feature the highest level of competition in the SWHL perhaps in the league's history.
The Promotion of EV Zug Was Step One
Lara Stalder left the SDHL last year to return home to Switzerland and help launch a women's team under the EV Zug umbrella. It paid off with immediate promotion to the top division of Swiss women's hockey, and this year Zug will again field a talented roster featuring several members of Switzerland's national team including Stalder, Ivana Wey, Naemi Herzig, Noemi Ryhner, and Annic Buchi. The team also includes Austrian national team leader Annika Fazokas and youngster Leonie Kutzer, Finnish netminder Eveliina Mäkinen, and Swiss national team member Lena-Marie Lutz, who missed this year's Worlds due to injury.
More International Talent Incoming
While the moves have not been formally announced yet, Czech national team star Michaela Pejzlova and French national team star Clara Rozier are making the move from Finland's Naisten Liiga to the SWHL this year. Pejzlova led Naisten Liiga in scoring with 71 points in 24 games, while Rozier was fifth in league scoring with 58 points in 32 games.
With seven of the league's top ten scorers last season coming from outside Switzerland, the ability to continue to bolster the talent level is imperative for the growth of women's hockey in Switzerland. Among those leaders were France's Estelle Duvin, Finland's Maija Otamo, and Sweden's Fanny Rask.
Teams Begin Signing
Unlike the SDHL, aside from Frolunda who has added several talented players this offseason, the SWHL has started securing players from North American and across Europe. Fribourg-Gottéron was one of the first to announce a group of new signings. Among those signed are former U Sports All-Canadians Maggy Burbidge and Lauren Dabrowski. Dabrowski spent last season in the SDHL while Burbidge played U Sports with St. Francis Xavier. The team also added Jenna Suokko of Finland, who finished ninth in SWHL scoring last season with SC Bern.
Who has left Sweden?
The list of players leaving Sweden's SDHL for the PWHL and NCAA is long. Among the names confirmed to have the PWHL in their targets include Ronja Savolainen, Daniela Pejsova, Noora Tulus, Klara Peslarova, Noemi Neubauerova, Maja Nylen Persson, Anna Meixner, Sini Karjalainen, Jenniina Nylund, Anna Kjellbin, Lindsay Agnew, Anneke Linser, Kayleigh Hamers, Michelle Lowenhielm, Mathea Fischer, Shae Demale and others all looking outside of the SDHL, and Lina Ljungblom also expected to join the PWHL the league could lose a significant portion of their top talent, a trend which is expected to continue the following season as contracts for players like Viivi Vainikka, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Hanna Olsson expire. The league will also lose another wave of young talent to the NCAA over the next two seasons including Mira Jungaker, Adela Sapovalivova, Klara Kenttala, Felicia Frank, Jenna Raunio, Elin Svensson, Hilda Svensson, Linnea Natt Och Dag, and Tereza Plosova.