[SUI] swiss players ranked by CSS

European Skaters:

27 Julien Sprunger (W), Fribourg (Swiss League)
36 Roman Wick (W), Kloten (Swiss League)
42 Peter Guggisberg (W), Davos (Swiss League)
64 Gianni Ehrensperger (C), Kloten (Swiss League)
76 Andri Stoffel (D), Zurich (Swiss League)
80 Raphael Diaz (W), Zug (Swiss League)
94 Simon Luethi (D), Olten (Swiss 2nd-Tier)
102 Yvan Benoit (C), Geneve (Swiss League)
108 Philippe Wetzel (C), Bern (Swiss League)
109 Julian Walker (W), Bern (Swiss Junior League)
116 Romano Lemm (C), Kloten (Swiss League)
149 Mathias Joggi (W), Biel (Swiss 2nd-Tier)
157 Simon Bachmann (D), Kloten (Swiss Junior League)

European Goalies:

7 Michael Tobler (G), Zug (Swiss League)
8 Thomas Baeumle (G), Sierre (Swiss 2nd-Tier)

with a total of 15 players listed, swiss hockey shows once more that they produce some fine talent. i expect at least 8 swiss players to be drafted if not more.

please do the swiss draft talk in this thread. :)

It's interesting that the scouts still are ranking swiss players such high, like in the past years. In spite of having excellent skills, not a single player - except goalie (Aebischer, Gerber) - became a regular NHL'er ...

It's interesting that the scouts still are ranking swiss players such high, like in the past years. In spite of having excellent skills, not a single player - except goalie (Aebischer, Gerber) - became a regular NHL'er ...

i think the next generation of swiss players will be tougher and therefore the chances of swiss players to make it to the NHL should be better. i'd love to see some swiss NHLers in a few years.

i think the next generation of swiss players will be tougher and therefore the chances of swiss players to make it to the NHL should be better. i'd love to see some swiss NHLers in a few years.

Seydoux :handclap:

Seydoux :handclap:

vauclair :yo: :banana:

disappointing first draft day for swiss hockey, because sprunger, wick and guggisberg were all possible 2nd/3rd rounders and no one was drafted.
a first sign that swiss hockey isn't considered that good anymore, because most swiss players failed.

today we can expect a few swiss to be drafted nevertheless.

only 4 swiss players were drafted!

117 Minnesota Julien Sprunger W Fribourg (NLA)
156 Ottawa Roman Wick W Kloten (NLA)
166 Washington Peter Guggisberg RW Davos (NLA)
262 Montreal Mark Streit D Zürich (NLA)

it pretty much says that the golden years are over. now it's up to those drafted to make some noise for swiss hockey again. a few swiss need to make the NHL.

sprunger, wick and guggisberg were sure draftees.

mark streit is a 27 y old overager and is a very surprising pick, because i think he won't make the NHL. he's very talented and can play in every european league, but in the NHL he seems to be needless. he won't play AHL i bet.

What can you say about Julien Sprunger?

What can you say about Julien Sprunger?

oh well, i'm not a swiss and i have seen him play only once, so my judgement may not be the best, but as far as i know he has a nice scoring touch. he's able to put the puck into the net. and he's damn big for a swiss player, but looks kinda thin. i think he needs to add strength a lot. he needs improvement on his passing and maybe a bit more defense.

he's a decent pickup and if he learns to play a more aggressive style, he may become a 2nd liner. but he definately has some work ahead on him.

As far as already drafted Swiss players go, I think Patrik Bartschi could make some noise for the Penguins. He has progressed extremely well since being drafted and is still only going to be 20 in August. I hope we bring him to training camp this summer.

Have any of you guys seen Bartschi play? What is his style, can you compare him to anyone? Will he play for Switzerland at the World Cup this summer?

Someone made a thread about Bartschi on the Pens site boards and got my thinking, that is why I come asking these questions. I know a couple of you are from Switzerland so I hope to get answers.

Bartschi seems to be sort of a forgotten prospect and I think he is underrated. His major knock used to be his lack of size, but the Pens home site profile of him has him at 6-1 199 lbs which is bigger than when he was drafted. I know he was injured this year but came back at the end and had 4 points in the playoffs for Kloten. Here is his profile BTW: http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/bio.php?id=87.

I hate to jump into the thread because it's about 2004 prospects (btw, I was really hoping for Guggisberg to be taken by the Pens), but if anyone could answer those questions for me it would be great.

As far as already drafted Swiss players go, I think Patrik Bartschi could make some noise for the Penguins. He has progressed extremely well since being drafted and is still only going to be 20 in August. I hope we bring him to training camp this summer.


i totally agree with you. actually he's one of the player i thought of when i wrote that some swiss players need to make some noise.


Have any of you guys seen Bartschi play? What is his style, can you compare him to anyone? Will he play for Switzerland at the World Cup this summer?


i have seen him a few times on TV and it was not the best way to scout him. but i really liked what he showed in those games. i'm not good in comparing a prospect to a NHL-player, so i better leave it. he's a good playmaker and i like his stickhandling. he's able to net the puck in as well. he's pretty much a good guy to bring pressure on ice.
i'm not sure if he will play WC, because of his injury. not sure that he will be 100% ok.


I know a couple of you are from Switzerland so I hope to get answers.


the only guy from switzerland i know is strizzi, but somehow i don't see him very often on this board. maybe you should PM him. he should help you and is a nice guy btw. :)


Bartschi seems to be sort of a forgotten prospect and I think he is underrated. His major knock used to be his lack of size, but the Pens home site profile of him has him at 6-1 199 lbs which is bigger than when he was drafted. I know he was injured this year but came back at the end and had 4 points in the playoffs for Kloten. Here is his profile BTW: http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/bio.php?id=87.


he's definately forgotten, but i think cam paddock of your pens is as well. bartschi is not very physical and that's his problem. something he should learn in order to play NHL one day. but it's a typical swiss problem and maybe he's the first to overcome it.


I hate to jump into the thread because it's about 2004 prospects (btw, I was really hoping for Guggisberg to be taken by the Pens), but if anyone could answer those questions for me it would be great.

no problem with posting it here. it's boring to fill a thread all by myself, so any comment is welcome. and bartschi is really a big thing for swiss hockey.

i'm not sure i could help ya, but try to write strizzi. :)

Thanks for the reply. :)

Yes, Paddock is another player who seems to be sort of forgotten. He may surprise some people because he is done with Junior and now will either play in Pittsburgh or our AHL team Wilkes Barre next year.

Bartschi seems to have good enough size for his height, plus I read he is a good skater. I think physical play may come more if he comes over to North America and plays in the smaller rinks. Is the Swiss league physical that much?

I believe I know of Strizzi and he answered me once before about Bartschi, before the forums got seperated into Northern, Western Europe etc. I will PM him and ask him, I'm most curious about the WC's and how healthy he is.

Anyways, thanks. Bartschi is still pretty young and I think he will make an impact on the NHL from Switzerland pretty soon. I could like to see him brought over to training camp this year, and I know he said that he wanted to come. He does have a very good coach with Kloten in Yurisonov (sp??) so I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to have him remain in Switzerland another year, but I am hoping he is signed this summer and brought over.

Thanks for the reply. :)
Is the Swiss league physical that much?



The swiss league is often called a very soft league.
Swiss players were often a bit smaller and thiner in the past, i think it´s going to change a little bit right now.
The swiss league supports player developement, cause the teams are only allowed to dress 3 players from foreign countries, what gives a lot of icetime to the swiss players.
Most of the guys from foreign countries are superb stickhandlers and fast, high-scoring guys and that´s the difference to other european countries and that´s the second point, why the swiss league is softer, but faster and looks like having more "esprit".
It´s more of a game in switzerland than a "fight called game".

Thanks for the reply. :)


no problem. i try to do my best to be as good as predatore is with his swedish, though i'm not. :)


Yes, Paddock is another player who seems to be sort of forgotten. He may surprise some people because he is done with Junior and now will either play in Pittsburgh or our AHL team Wilkes Barre next year.


i heard his attitude is questionable, but that is something he can learn. he has enough skills to play NHL.


Bartschi seems to have good enough size for his height, plus I read he is a good skater. I think physical play may come more if he comes over to North America and plays in the smaller rinks. Is the Swiss league physical that much?


it's a soft league as bakos already mentioned. it's all about skill. but the last years switzerland has developed some tough guys like vauclair. he may not be as tough as north americans but for swiss standard he's almost a goon. ;)


I believe I know of Strizzi and he answered me once before about Bartschi, before the forums got seperated into Northern, Western Europe etc. I will PM him and ask him, I'm most curious about the WC's and how healthy he is.


maybe he can write something about it in this thread, because i believe others could be interested in this as well. :)


Anyways, thanks. Bartschi is still pretty young and I think he will make an impact on the NHL from Switzerland pretty soon. I could like to see him brought over to training camp this year, and I know he said that he wanted to come. He does have a very good coach with Kloten in Yurisonov (sp??) so I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to have him remain in Switzerland another year, but I am hoping he is signed this summer and brought over.

i think he needs one more high-scoring season in switzerland to establish him as one of the best swiss players, maybe the best. and then he should move to the AHL to learn the tougher game. expect him to have a try for the pens in three years, maybe in two.

The swiss league supports player developement, cause the teams are only allowed to dress 3 players from foreign countries, what gives a lot of icetime to the swiss players.

i'm not sure, but isn't there a rule change for this or next season? i think i heard something about more foreigners in switzerland during an exhibition game vs germany.

i think he needs one more high-scoring season in switzerland to establish him as one of the best swiss players, maybe the best. and then he should move to the AHL to learn the tougher game. expect him to have a try for the pens in three years, maybe in two.

That might be for the best. It would also be good for us to see what he can do with a full season of healthy play.

I guess we will see what happens, the Pens pretty much lack offensive talent all throughout the system. Malkin will probably spend one year in the RSL and then come over, maybe we will see two good offensive prospects in Bartschi and Salmonsson come over together in 2 years.

Your English is good, btw. I will wait for Strizzi to reply, I'm sure he will see this thread next time he signs on.

i'm not sure, but isn't there a rule change for this or next season? i think i heard something about more foreigners in switzerland during an exhibition game vs germany.

I´ve heard about this too, but i´m not sure myself and until last season they were allowed to dress only three, so it´s nothing that had impact on young swiss guys :)

What can you say about Julien Sprunger?
I have seen him play at the U18 WJC in Austria. He is big and an ok skater for his size. He is pretty hard to knock off the puck and protects it good with his size (bulgarian players regularly bounced off him, when trying to hit him). What is outstanding is his knack of being in the right place in the right moment in front of the net. If i remember correctly, his playmaking abilities are average... I saw him play in the game vs Bulgaria, so I don't know how he plays against tougher opponents, but he seemed to be pretty confident out there... Though he didn't score in that game, he caused the most trouble for the opposing defense...

I guess we will see what happens, the Pens pretty much lack offensive talent all throughout the system. Malkin will probably spend one year in the RSL and then come over, maybe we will see two good offensive prospects in Bartschi and Salmonsson come over together in 2 years.


as a swedish hockey supporter, i have my doubts about salmonsson. i don't know why, but i have a bad feeling although i wish him and the pens all the best. i just don't like his injuries at this early stage of his career. but i hope he proves me wrong.
what about koltsov? isn't he panning out as expected? and will malone stay on his rookie-level? i really doubt it, but he's a nice player for sure.


Your English is good, btw.

nah...it's average at best.

Well, I just mean I can understand you well.

Koltsov is sort of coming along pretty well. I think it may take him some time before he is really that big of an offensive threat. I watched some games of his when he was playing in the AHL playoffs, and he seemed to be better offensively than he was with Pittsburgh, at least he had more consistency. He has shown some flashes of brilliance in Pittsburgh, I don't know if he will fully come around to the point where he can do it consistently. We'll see how he progresses, I think he will gradually get better the next few years.

I think Malone wll improve next year. The previous year, he was playing NCAA hockey, and college only plays about half as many games as the NHL, so it was an adjustment. He sort of cooled off in games near the end of the year, and you could tell he was tired. I think he will be a pretty consistent 60 point player in the future for the Pens. We'll see, he does all the little things you have to do to score, and doesn't just get points as a result of sheer talent and nothing else. He combines it with hard work and physical play.

I hope that if we sign Mark Recchi, Malone will be able to learn from him.

Salmonsson's recurring shoulder injury scares me a little, although as you can tell from my avatar, I'm pretty excited for the Pens to have him. He was my hope for #31 this year, and it's not often you are able to root for a second round pick and get your wish to come true, so I was happy when we selected him.

He said after the draft that it was a problem that just kept coming back, I assume because he never got surgery to begin with. Now that he had the surgery, he says he 100%. I am going to be following Djudgardens as much as I can next year, so I hope he just stays healthy for a full year.

Well, I just mean I can understand you well.

that's good to know. :)


Koltsov is sort of coming along pretty well. I think it may take him some time before he is really that big of an offensive threat. I watched some games of his when he was playing in the AHL playoffs, and he seemed to be better offensively than he was with Pittsburgh, at least he had more consistency. He has shown some flashes of brilliance in Pittsburgh, I don't know if he will fully come around to the point where he can do it consistently. We'll see how he progresses, I think he will gradually get better the next few years.


i'm pretty high on koltsov and he should be a legimate 2nd line scorer in a few years.


I think Malone wll improve next year. The previous year, he was playing NCAA hockey, and college only plays about half as many games as the NHL, so it was an adjustment. He sort of cooled off in games near the end of the year, and you could tell he was tired. I think he will be a pretty consistent 60 point player in the future for the Pens. We'll see, he does all the little things you have to do to score, and doesn't just get points as a result of sheer talent and nothing else. He combines it with hard work and physical play.


i always like him. i followed his NCAA career and i was pretty sure he would make the NHL, but more as a 3rd liner. now it looks like he can be more, but i have my doubts nevertheless, because i think his scoring talents are limited. but he has great work ethics and that's the most important thing in nowadays hockey.


I hope that if we sign Mark Recchi, Malone will be able to learn from him.


are there any rumors about recchi? wouldn't he be too expensive?


Salmonsson's recurring shoulder injury scares me a little, although as you can tell from my avatar, I'm pretty excited for the Pens to have him. He was my hope for #31 this year, and it's not often you are able to root for a second round pick and get your wish to come true, so I was happy when we selected him.


i was very high on him a year ago, but somehow i lost the confidence in him. but it was still a good selection at 31 overall. that's for sure.


He said after the draft that it was a problem that just kept coming back, I assume because he never got surgery to begin with. Now that he had the surgery, he says he 100%. I am going to be following Djudgardens as much as I can next year, so I hope he just stays healthy for a full year.

yes, a full season would help him a lot, especially with maybe some NHLers on his side to learn from with the upcoming lock-out.
so next year at this time, we should know more. :)

i always like him. i followed his NCAA career and i was pretty sure he would make the NHL, but more as a 3rd liner. now it looks like he can be more, but i have my doubts nevertheless, because i think his scoring talents are limited. but he has great work ethics and that's the most important thing in nowadays hockey.

I was skeptical when he first came into camp, but he has proven himself to me. I think he will be a second liner. I don't know if he will score a whole bunch, but he will bring other things to his game that make himself very valuable.

http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/bio.php?id=81 - There's Malone's bio page on the Pens home site, you can see some of his goals there. He has some pretty nice moves. I was at that game against Ottawa on 2-22 where he undressed Spezza, and I was directly across the ice, so I had a great view of that goal. :eek:

are there any rumors about recchi? wouldn't he be too expensive?

Well, the rumor is that the Penguins are going to pursue Recchi, Kovalev, and Zhamnov this offseason. I think they are going after them, but I just can't understand how they would be able to sign all of them. Recchi I can see, though, because he won't be that expensive. Probably around 3 million a year, which is a decent chunk, but still affordable I think. I also think Recchi wants to come back and may take a little less to do so, because he is good friends with Mario, lives here in the offseason (his wife just built a house here), and has said he believes he can contribute to young players, which is the situation we are in.

I think it will happen, and he may get signed as early as the middle of next week.

I agree about Salmonsson, we will see what happens this year and get a good idea. I think if he stays healthy, his stock will go up. He is eligible for WJC's next year, right? I'm hoping he puts up a solid season in the SEL and is one of the leaders for Sweden at the WJC's.

i'm not sure, but isn't there a rule change for this or next season? i think i heard something about more foreigners in switzerland during an exhibition game vs germany.

Next year 3 players for Non-European Community countries are allowed per team
plus a player from European Community...

For example, my favorite club SC Bern has
Sébastien Bordeleau, Yves Sarault, Rich Brennan (all Canadians...)
and Patrik Juhlin (Sweden)

only 4 swiss players were drafted!

117 Minnesota Julien Sprunger W Fribourg (NLA)
156 Ottawa Roman Wick W Kloten (NLA)
166 Washington Peter Guggisberg RW Davos (NLA)
262 Montreal Mark Streit D Zürich (NLA)

it pretty much says that the golden years are over. now it's up to those drafted to make some noise for swiss hockey again. a few swiss need to make the NHL.

sprunger, wick and guggisberg were sure draftees.

mark streit is a 27 y old overager and is a very surprising pick, because i think he won't make the NHL. he's very talented and can play in every european league, but in the NHL he seems to be needless. he won't play AHL i bet.

Hasn't Mark Streit already attemp to cross de Atlantic to play in Minors... I think he did but im not sure...

Guggisberg is a great pick I think for Washington for me it was the best Swiss player on the list...

I don't understand how a player like Wetzel was on the list I saw him play 20 games and his play was poor and he lacks of discipline

Next year 3 players for Non-European Community countries are allowed per team
plus a player from European Community...

For example, my favorite club SC Bern has
Sébastien Bordeleau, Yves Sarault, Rich Brennan (all Canadians...)
and Patrik Juhlin (Sweden)

ah, thanks for the inside. are there any plan to expand these numbers within the next years?

Hasn't Mark Streit already attemp to cross de Atlantic to play in Minors... I think he did but im not sure...


yes, he did in 99-00. he played 43 games in the AHL, 14 games in the ECHL and 1 game in the IHL. but it was just with a minor contract and he somehow failed.


Guggisberg is a great pick I think for Washington for me it was the best Swiss player on the list...


finally you are someone with swiss hockey inside which is very nice!!! :handclap: