Acctually they have to cut 3 Players. (Probably 2F-1D)
so that means no Zeiter and no Oehen either. Oehen's strong physical presence will be missed, his skating issues not so much.
Hischier on the team is crucial.
GK:
Their is depth and talent around on the goalie position, beside the 96ers the best generation of the last decade IMO.
D:
Im surprised, they left off Oejdemark. I thought, he'd be a high on the depthcharts.
Brantschen, after his excellent last year with Zug's U17, had a hard time to adjust and get icetime with Zug's stacked U20 defense. So his omission seems logical. The rise of Gross and the transition of Geisser from C to D have fueld the battle for defensive spots.
Overall this is quite a solid line-up. There isn't a guy as talented (in defending) as Siegenthaler. But the depth is much better than last year. Stadler was already the 2nd best D last year (not counting Karrer after his early exit).
the overrated 97ers only have 3 legit talents: Siegenthaler, Karrer , Pinana. the drop off is rather steep afterwards.
the 98ers got at least 5 legit talents. and e.g. puckhandling skills are significantly better for the depth players.
D isn't the big problem IMO
F:
Well, the problem is, in Juniors the attack weights heavier relatively to GK/D than in Profi hockey.
This year, unfortunately, is indeed a bad year. The 98ers, they miss both elite talent and depth. It's probably the worst generation since the 90ers (Jörg, A.Berger, Ryser, Loichat... and that was pretty much it)
The 99ers looks better, but beside Hischier, only Kurashev, Eggenberger, Simic and Geisser (before his position change) have the potential to contribute something as underagers... and are therefore rightfully on the roster.
Definitely they will have a hard time to ice 4 solid lines.
If we look at the season overall, I think they are a bit on the upswing lately, playing more realistic hockey over the time. They looked so helpless at the Ivan Hlinka Trophy in last autumn, you could barely watch.
I think (and hope
) they just find their best hockey now. And keep the Latvians behind them, at least some of their roster they should know from swiss junior leagues.
