2025 Worlds Preview: Switzerland

Another year, and it’s another young roster for Team Switzerland at the IIHF World Championships. Of course some familiar names are back again including captain Lara Stalder, star Alina Müller, and netminder Andrea Brändli, but overall the Swiss have 19 players on their 25-woman roster that are 24 years old or younger, including 16-year-old defender Laure Mériguet making her senior team debut. 

This team is young, yes, but a lot of the names on the roster have seen international experience with the senior national team – 18 players are returning from the 2024 squad for 2025. 

Let’s get into what to expect from Switzerland, and who’s going to be taking the ice for them in České Budějovice. 

Final Roster:

Forwards (14): 

• Leoni Balzer 
• Rahel Enzler 
• Mara Frey
• Naemi Herzig
• Singja Leemann
• Alina Marti
• Alina Müller
• Kaleigh Quennec 
• Lisa Rüedi
• Noemi Ryhner
• Vanessa Schaefer 
• Lara Stalder 
• Ivana Wey
• Laura Zimmerman

Defenders (8): 

• Alessia Baechler
• Lara Christen 
• Elena Gaberell
• Laure Mériguet 
• Alena Lynn Rossel
• Shannon Sigrist 
• Nicole Vallario 
• Stefanie Wetli 

Goaltenders (3): 

• Andrea Brändli 
• Saskia Maurer 
• Monja Wagner

2024 Tournament: 

Last year’s tournament was… not the best for the Swiss. The team finished with just one win in six contests, with the lone victory coming in their last game of the tournament in order to finish in fifth place. Müller had two goals in that game, including the overtime winner, to lift Switzerland over Germany. The win also ensured their spot in Group A for another year, and they’ll start the 2025 tournament in the fifth place spot in said group. 

Switzerland starts the tournament on April 9th against the hosting Czechia team, before playing Canada, Finland, and the United States in order to close out the round robin. 

Player to Watch: 

The easy option to go with here is Müller, who led the team with four points a year ago, and had 10 points in seven games in the 2023 tournament. Or I could say Stalder, who has 27 goals and 50 points in just 22 games for EV Zug in the SWHL this season.

Instead, I’m going to go slightly off the board and pick Rahel Enzler, who finished ahead of Stalder in scoring for EVZ with 52 points — though Enzler also played six more games this season at 28 total. The forward had just one point at World’s last year, but had seven in seven games at the tournament in 2023. 

After a solid senior campaign with the Maine Black Bears in the NCAA in 2023-24, Enzler returned to Switzerland to play 2024-25 in the SWHL A tier, the league she played in before making the transition to the North American collegiate level. Her 52 points this season are a personal highest total in a single season in the SWHL, and she finished third in scoring in the league overall. 

For a team that was hard pressed to score a year ago—Switzerland was outscored a combined 23-7 in 2024—Enzler producing a similar offensive output will be critical. Additionally, for a team with such young talent, at 24-years-old and in her sixth appearance on the World’s stage, Enzler will be a key quote/unquote veteran on this squad. 

Yes, Geremy did pick Enzler to be an X-Factor in our World’s Preview last year, and so for that reason I’ll pick another name to watch as well: defender Lara Christen. 

The captain of SC Bern Frauen had 21 points in 25 games played in 2024-25, and had seven assists in the postseason as SC claimed the SWHL Women’s League Playoff Final win. 

At just 22-years-old, Christen is right in the middle of the pack in terms of the age of the defensive core for the Swiss. This year marks her fifth appearance at World’s, and her leadership will be key when it comes to Switzerland’s blueline for both those older and younger than her in the defensive lineup. I’m excited to see how she performs on the international stage again, especially considering her five points in seven games in 2023, and her three assists on the few-and-far-between scores for the team a year ago. And just how solid she's been overall for Switzerland throughout her time on the senior squad.

The team overall is looking to be stronger defensively to help in a Group as tough as the A contingent this year, and Christen is one of the biggest pieces to help make that come to fruition. I’ll have my eye on her, and you should too heading into the tournament. 

Storyline to Watch: Overall Offensive Output 

For Switzerland to jump into a higher spot in Group A this year, they’re going to need to find some scoring. In the group stage in 2023, the Swiss scored seven goals. 

In 2024 that number dropped to just three. 

While it’s going to be hard to score against the other teams in Group A, my hope here is that the offensive metrics for Switzerland are a little bit stronger than they were a season ago. There is no telling how the swap back to center for Müller after playing predominantly on the wing in the PWHL this season will impact her offensive numbers. And there’s also no telling how the youth of the team will impact that scoring altogether. 

However, with Müller, Stalder, Enzler, and Sinja Freeman all having solid years offensively in their respective leagues, I’m hopeful the production for Switzerland will at the very least take a step back in the right direction. 

They may not be able to keep up with some of the other teams in Group A when it comes to offensive power, but if their defense can take the step they’re hoping and their scoring goes up even slightly, I don’t see how the Swiss don’t at the very least have a better tournament in 2025 than in 2024. 

Prediction: 

Truthfully, I see Switzerland finishing anywhere between fourth and sixth. I think Finland and Czechia are both strong again this year, and I’ve liked the way teams in Group B such as Germany have been playing. Do I think Switzerland can snatch a win or two? For sure. But I also don’t see them gunning for a top-three finish just yet. 

But I’m happy to be proven wrong.