Nino Niederreiter to play for Switzerland at the Ice Hockey World Championship

The Winnipeg Jets season may be over, but not all of the Jets players are heading home for their summer off-seasons just yet. Nino Niederreiter will be heading over to the International Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia. Niederreiter will be once again representing Switzerland, who he captained last spring at the World Championship in Latvia.

Niederreiter finished his 1st full season with the Jets with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 77 games. He’s no stranger to representing Switzerland, as although he is only 31 years old, he is up near the top of the list for games played with the Swiss National team. As a former 1st round, 5th overall pick in 2010 by the New York Islanders, Niederreiter has been able to play for all levels of Switzerland’s National teams. Whether it’s the Olympics or World Championship, Niederreiter has become a Swiss hockey favourite among his country.

We don’t know who will be the captain for team Switzerland this year yet, but Niederreiter is among the list of candidates. Not only did Niederreiter captain the World Championship team last season, but he also has had experience captaining Switzerland at the U20 World Juniors in 2010-11. Last season Switzerland finished 5th place in the tournament, and Niederreiter put up 4 goals and 1 assist in the 7 game round robin.

Niederreiter will be looking to help Switzerland win their 12th medal in history at this tournament, most recently winning a silver medal in 2018. In the tournament’s history, Switzerland has won 3 silver medals and 8 bronze medals. Switzerland has never won gold before in this tournament, but this year’s team looks to be an assembly of most of the best Swiss players, giving them at least a chance to win it all.

Niederreiter will bring a wealth of international experience to the Swiss team, and will surely be given a fairly big role on the team. On the Jets this season, Niederreiter was very often played on the 3rd line with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton, a consistent and reliable line that did their part both offensively and defensively. Sometimes nicknamed the “LAN” line (Lowry-Appleton-Niederreiter), they built a strong chemistry throughout the season, something that has to be done rather quickly in international tournaments.

Joining Niederreiter on the Swiss team from the NHL is Devils’ Akira Schmid, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Nico Hischier, and Blackhawks’ Philipp Kurashev. The rest of the Swiss team is made up from most of the best Swiss players from the National League, the top Swiss hockey league. Two notable players absent from the team is Predators’ defenceman Roman Josi and Kings’ forward Kevin Fiala. Both players were eliminated in the 1st round of the NHL playoffs. Teams usually add some NHL players during the round robin who want to join their teams, so we’ll see if either of them join team Switzerland.

The Ice Hockey World Championship in Czechia officially begins on May 10th, with one of the 1st games being Niederreiter’s team Switzerland taking on Norway. We’ll wait and see if any other current Jets are named to their National teams, and I’m sure you’ll tune in at some point during the tournament to see how they’re doing. Go Jets!