The 2024/25 championship is finally getting closer with great strides, and this season too the show promises to be unmissable, with many new players who have further raised the level of the league.
In view of the first engagement, scheduled for September 17, we have selected the most outstanding individuals of the National Leaguewith the aim of identifying those that are thought to be the best players for each positionToday we talk about right wings.
(Syracuse Crunch)
Arrived in Switzerland despite having shown sufficient numbers to be confirmed from the Tampa Bay Lightning organization – who for reasons of cap let him go – the Finn promises to bring to Bern so much concreteness and leadershipcombined with a particularly direct and unfussy game.
Author of 37 points (18 goals) in 53 AHL games last season, when he was playing in his homeland, he had repeatedly demonstrated that he had good offensive productivity, but above all that knowing how to elevate his game in the moments that matter. In 2022/23 he was in fact the protagonist of the playoffs with 14 points in 14 games, fundamental for Tappara to win the title.
Sea will therefore arrive in Bern with the winning player labela trait that has allowed him to impress in North America and to get very close to the level needed to secure a permanent spot in the NHL. Time will tell if the year in Bern can be a new springboard for him.
One of three Finnish reinforcements that arrived in Lausanne during the summer, Pajuniemi he is a striker who has been considered in Europe for years among the most talented in prospectand that at the age of 24 he will now be able to demonstrate that he can also assert himself in a highly competitive league like the Swiss one.
When you watch him play it is immediately clear his great ability in puck control and managing tight spacesa mix that on the offensive front allows him to create many opportunities for his teammates.
His repertoire also includes a shot that can be very dangerousand which especially in Liiga and SHL has allowed him to be an important offensive weapon. Last year in Malmö he had also got along very well with my compatriot Janne Kuokkanenformerly of Fribourg and who he will meet again in Lausanne
A year ago, the Canadian striker was much higher in our ranking, as a result of a first season in Kloten in which he was absolutely sensationalsurprising everyone with a haul of 49 points (20 goals) after the previous two years spent in the Swiss League.
Like the whole team, Also Jonathan Ang However, in the last championship he had a difficult year and today we wonder what the impact of the 26-year-old will be now that he has moved to Ambrì Piotta.
Definitely in the last year The it has not lost along the way what is one of its main strengths, or above average skating which allows him to be among the most difficult attackers to mark in the league.
His class and propensity for spectacular plays will be at the service of the white and blue staff, who will have to find the right combinations to make it perform to its full potential again.
(Agata Anttonen)
The Finnish winger will live in Porrentruy the first career experience away from his homelandbut for the 25-year-old the jump to the National League couldn’t have come at a better time, given that From Turku is coming off an exceptional season with JYP (21 goals and 63 points in 60 games) in which he was also awarded as MVP of the League.
As easily predictable given his height – 171 cm and 73 kg – From Turku he is a fast winger with a great competitive spirit, who promises to bring to the team Well-being some interesting ones playmaker abilitywith an emphasis on the powerplay as well.
In the last championship it was in fact the best striker in the Finnish league with 26 points (nine goals) in powerplayand in general the player with the most points in numerical superiority (63 in 173 games) looking at the data from 2021 to 2024.
(Ola Westerberg)
To react to the disappointing last season il Rapperswil will have to return to having a more substantial and regular contribution from its foreigners, and in this sense the impact of the much-discussed Swedish Malte Strömwall – often at the center of market rumors before his signature – will be of fundamental importance.
The 29-year-old is coming off a season with il Frölunda where he got 50 points (18 goals) in 66 gamesand even in the SHL he reaffirmed the qualities as a scorer that have always distinguished him, even if his performance has not always been consistent and regular.
The challenge for Strömwall maybe it will be the one to the Lakers, strong in the power of his shot which represents his main weapon. Impactful in powerplay and in general able to read the game very well to be in the right place to unleash his slapshot, Strömwall However, he also has a particular character that the staff will have to know how to manage to get the best out of his game. If he finds the right context in Rapperswilwill certainly be an important offensive weapon.
For over a year now the best scorer in the history of Zugthe small forward also reiterated last season how lethal he can be in the offensive zone, thanks to his marked ability to leverage one’s strengths to compensate for a modest height.
For the first time since 2018/19 he returned to surpass the threshold of 20 seasonal goals (22 in the regular season, 24 counting the playoffs), and was the top scorer of the entire team, so much so that among the Swiss players only Thürkauf he scored more than him.
Over the course of 573 career regular season games he has shown great consistency, getting 466 points (212 goals)and even in the playoffs he is capable of being decisive as demonstrated by the 79 points (26 goals) achieved in 100 postseason games played. At 31, he may not have had his best season yet.
Last year he got fewer points and fewer goals than in the “difficult” year in Bern, but sometimes statistics can also be misleading and in fact it was enough to watch a Fribourg match last season to realise that how fundamental and dominant it still is Chris DiDomenico.
Having found himself in a team with many attacking players and therefore with the possibility of also concentrating on various aspects of the game, he was one of the driving forces in what was still an exhilarating season for Gotteron – despite being eliminated in the semi-finals.
The dragons feel at home and can therefore make the most of his fiery characterwith great intensity and competitiveness, and a style of play that can make him both a playmaker and an effective finisher. When the game is in the balance, DiDomenico is able to excel and make a difference.
It took the Swede just one championship to make a big mark on the National Leagueeven if sometimes the fact of playing in a very strong team like the ZSC Lions made it seem easy an extremely regular season and characterized by 40 points (22 goals) in 47 games.
His is a complete gamecharacterized by a great offensive sense and a very quick shot, combined with the defensive reliability that allowed him to close the season with an overall balance of +23.
No one in Zurich had scored more than him in the previous championship, all thanks also to an exceptional shooting percentage of over 21% which starting from September will have to demonstrate that it can confirm.
A key figure in the national team for years and returning from one of his best seasons in his career – 40 points and 18 goals in 52 regular season games – Bertschy Even at the age of 30, he is still proving that he can further raise his level, and today he presents himself as a complete attacker (he can also play center if necessary) and with excellent skating.
In his repertoire there is an excellent vision of the game and great consistency both within games and over the course of a season, in addition to a hockey intelligence that often allows him to show off brilliant plays.
Last season he found himself in great shape with Of the Rose e DiDomenicowith him in the role of playmaker of a line that went directly to the opponent’s goal.
Fresh from winning the world championship at the Prague tournament, the Czech has been for several years the National League’s quintessential power forwardand for Davos his presence in the team is a real security in terms of I play the slot machine and along the balustrades.
His physical size combined with his pure scoring instinct make him a player who is difficult to containand when he can shoot he is always dangerous as demonstrated by the 73 goals (and 129 points) scored in 152 games played in Switzerland.
Its regularity of performance has confirmed itself over the years, so much so that it can be considered one of the few forwards in the league to have the ability to practically run the department by yourself. Another interesting fact? He is consistently at the top of the GWG rankings, as if to underline his ability to leave his mark in key moments of the games.
