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Christoph Bertschy

Switzerland, Slovakia Announce Olympic Rosters

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The 2022 Winter Olympics is inching closer, with pre-tournament games happening in just a few weeks. Several countries including the U.S. have announced the rosters that will compete next month and today two more revealed their NHL-less groups.

For Switzerland, it’s a roster with several familiar names including Gregory Hofmann, who only just terminated his contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Swiss finished tenth in 2018 after missing the quarterfinals because of a loss to the Czech Republic. This year they will have a chance at redemption, as they’re in a group with Czechia, the Russian Olympic Committee, and Denmark. The Swiss roster looks like this:

G Reto Berra
G Leonardo Genoni
G Joren Van Pottelberghe

D Santeri Alatalo
D Raphael Diaz
D Michael Fora
D Romain Loeffel
D Christian Marti
D Mirco Mueller
D Ramon Untersander
D Yannick Weber

F Andres Ambuhl
F Sven Andrighetto
F Christoph Bertschy
F Enzo Corvi
F Gaetan Haas
F Fabrice Herzog
F Gregory Hofmann
F Denis Hollenstein
F Denis Malgin
F Simon Moser
F Killian Mottet
F Sven Senteler
F Dario Simion
F Joel Vermin

Switzerland wasn’t alone announcing a roster today, as Slovakia also revealed the group that will travel to Beijing. Their group also has plenty of former NHL talent on it, though they’ll certainly be in tough during the group stage. Slovakia is in Group C, which also includes Finland, Sweden, and Latvia, meaning they’ll likely have to make it through the qualification playoff round.

Slovakia’s roster will look like this:

G Branislav Konrad
G Patrik Rybar
G Matej Tomek

D Michal Cajkovsky
D Peter Ceresnak
D Marek Daloga
D Martin Gernat
D Mario Grman
D Samuel Knazko
D Martin Marincin
D Simon Nemec

F Peter Cehlarik
F Marko Dano
F Adrian Holesinsky
F Marek Hrivik
F Libor Hudacek
F Tomas Jurco
F Milos Kelemen
F Michal Kristof
F Kristian Pospisil
F Pavol Regenda
F Milos Roman
F Juraj Slafkovsky
F Samuel Takac
F Peter Zuzin

Though Slovakia’s path to a medal will be difficult, their team should be very exciting. Nemec and Slafkovsky in particular are two names to watch, as top draft-eligible players for 2022. Nemec in particular has the ability to take over a game if given the chance, as he does on a routine basis for HK Nitra, his Slovakian club team. The 17-year-olds should be used to international competition by now, having both appeared at the World Championship last summer.

Minor Transactions: 09/12/21

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With NHL training camps opening up later this month, those unsigned players who aren’t willing to wait around for a PTO will have to start making tough decisions. That could mean settling for a contract in the minors, making the move overseas, or perhaps even retiring. Keep up with all of those moves for familiar names right here:

  • Former NHL forward Jordan Caron has called it a career. The 30-year-old has retired “surprisingly”, reports the ICEHL’s Vienna Capitals, who only signed Caron in July. The team reports that he has decided to return home to Quebec for personal reasons. A first-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2009, Caron was never more than a depth asset in the NHL with Boston, Colorado, and St. Louis, with highs of 48 games and 15 points set early in his career. However, he has been a much more dominant scorer over the past five years in Europe, playing Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and Austria.
  • For the first time since leaving the NHL in 2018, Christoph Bertschy is on to a new team, though not making a return to North America (any time soon). The Swiss forward is staying at home, but moving on from the NLA’s Lausanne HC to HC Fribourg-Gotteron. This is not a small commitment, either. Gotteron has announced a whopping seven-year contract with Bertschy, who was considered one of the top names on the Swiss market. At 27 years old with three seasons of strong production in the NLA before missing most of last season, Bertschy has proven himself a valuable asset and Gotteron stated that he will play a “central role”. The former Minnesota Wild may have been a candidate to return to the NHL if he continued to excel in Switzerland, but seems content to likely play out his career in his native country.
  • After playing on an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild last season but only seeing ECHL action with the Allen Americans, veteran journeyman forward Jesse Mychan has signed a one-year deal with the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks, the team announced. A former WHL standout power forward who has produced at a high level in the ECHL and proved himself valuable as an enforcer in the AHL, Mychan’s career has also taken him to the UK, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Denmark.
  • A former OHLer and longtime ECHL player, Matt Carter has opted to continue his career with the Fife Flyers in the EIHL after taking the 2020-21 campaign off. Carter has been playing professionally since 2011-12 after the now 34-year-old forward finished his college career with the University of Prince Edward Island. Undrafted after scoring 30 goals in 2007-08 for the Owen Sound Attack, Carter was a true journeyman, playing ECHL contests for the Phoenix Roadrunners, Cincinnati Cyclones, San Francisco Bulls, Las Vegas Wrangles, Elmira Jackals, and Fort Wayne Komets. He’s spent the majority of his career in the EIHL and French Ligue Magnus since going overseas in 2014-15.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Snapshots: Rangers, Wilson, Mitchell

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The New York Rangers have hired David Oliver and Greg Brown as assistant coaches, rounding out David Quinn’s new staff in preparation for 2018-19. Lindy Ruff, a holdover from the last staff, will also be retained as an assistant. Oliver actually hired Quinn as head coach when working as GM of the Lake Erie Monsters, and even served as an assistant for him before the head coach was promoted to Colorado and then departed for Boston University.

Brown is coming in from Boston College where he has spent nearly a decade and a half, coaching elite collegiate talents including Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. Quinn should be quite familiar with Brown from their days coaching against each other at the college level, and will try to bring a new enthusiasm and style to the Rangers as they continue to rebuild their NHL organization.

  • Tom Wilson is still without a contract, and according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post the Capitals preference is to work out a long-term deal with the power forward. The two sides have had “steady dialogue” and GM Brian MacLellan admitted that he’s the top priority right now. Even if a deal isn’t imminent, it’s clear that there will be something done to keep Wilson playing for the Capitals for some time. After a successful season with 35 points, Wilson really dominated in the playoffs for the Capitals and recorded 15 points in 21 games while making an impact physically on almost every shift. Selected in the first round six years ago with a hope that he’d turn into a premiere power forward in the NHL, the Capitals and Wilson are starting to see the results of his hard work.
  • Torrey Mitchell has signed a one-year contract in Switzerland, leaving the NHL after a decade and 666 regular season games. The 33-year old forward recorded 11 points last season while suiting up for 60 games between the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, but may not have received much interest in free agency. He’ll join Lausanne HC for next season to hit the ice with other former NHL players like Joel Vermin, Dustin Jeffrey and Christoph Bertschy.

New Jersey Devils Recall Seven Players

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The New Jersey Devils have recalled their “Black Aces”, several players who will skate with the team throughout the playoffs but are not expected to play. Christoph Bertschy, Nick Lappin, Michael McLeod, Blake Pietila, Kevin Rooney, Michael Kapla and Brian Strait are all on their way up from Binghamton. The AHL squad did not qualify for the playoffs, meaning the season is over for the rest of the team’s prospects.

For McLeod, the 12th-overall pick from 2016, it’s been a disappointing. After dealing with injury to start the year, he returned to the Mississauga Steelheads and didn’t take the expected step forward to become one of the most dangerous players in the league. Though his game has always been built on using his speed to play a solid two-way game, scoring 100 points in 77 games during the 2016-17 season showed off exactly how much offense he could create. In 44 games this year he recorded just 54 points, and Mississauga was knocked out in the first round of the OHL playoffs.

Hopefully a taste of the NHL playoffs will be able to spark another level in his development, and he’ll be battling for an NHL spot out of camp in the fall. Otherwise, he’s headed for the AHL to hone his skills and try to be the next young star to help widen New Jersey’s newfound window of contention.

Minnesota Wild Trade Mario Lucia, Christoph Bertschy To New Jersey Devils

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The Minnesota Wild have been at the 50-contract limit for some time, making it hard to add anything at the trade deadline. That problem is gone now as the team has traded Mario Lucia and Christoph Bertschy to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Viktor Loov.

Lucia and Bertschy will provide some minor league depth for the Devils, as neither project to have much of an impact at the NHL level. Lucia was selected in the second round in 2011, but hasn’t been able to generate much offense during his time in the AHL. A World Junior champion with the United States in 2013, Lucia is now 24 and has just 15 points on the season for the Iowa Wild.

Loov on the other hand gives some depth for the Wild on defense, as they deal with an injury to Jonas Brodin and have to force some players into larger roles. The Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick has four NHL games under his belt, but isn’t much more than a minor league option at this point. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Wild are still deciding whether to keep him as an insurance policy on the NHL roster or send him straight to the Iowa Wild.

The biggest impact of the deal is likely for Jordan Greenway, who is closing in on the end of his collegiate career. The Boston University forward is expected to sign with the Wild when his junior season comes to a close, and could make an impact for the team down the stretch this season. A 6’5″ 230-lbs power forward, Greenway has been playing center this season for BU and could add some size and versatility to the Minnesota NHL squad. Before the deal, Minnesota wasn’t able to sign him to an entry-level contract as they were at their roster limit.

Minor Transactions: 10/15/17

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The Ottawa Senators announced they are sending defenseman Thomas Chabot to the Belleville Senators of the AHL and are returning Alex Formenton to London of the OHL. That means that Erik Karlsson’s return is close and Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun writes that head coach Guy Boucher said Saturday that Karlsson could be back for Tuesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Karlsson’s return will be welcome in Ottawa, who have been without him since last year. The team leader and quarterback of their power play, the 27-year-old defenseman scored 71 points last year and averaged 26:50 minutes of ice time. However with his return, the team freed up some roster space.

Chabot was called up last week, due to multiple defensive injuries, and fared well. In two games, the 2015 first-round pick picked up an assist and had a plus/minus rating of +3. The defense had been an issue without Karlsson, who had foot surgery this offseason. Both Johnny Oduya and callup Ben Harpur were also injured prompting Chabot’s call-up. However, the team has made it clear they want Chabot to get as many minutes as possible and Belleville will provide that for the time being.

Formenton, a surprise keeper after training camp, will be returned to his junior team, the London Knights, who he played with last year before Ottawa made him the 47th pick in the draft this year. He could have played up to nine games in the NHL before his entry-level contract started, but played in just one game and only for 4:54, picking up no points. Instead his contract will slide another year.

  • The Minnesota Wild also made a few transactions today, sending forwards Zach Mitchell, Christoph Bertschy, Landon Ferraro and Luke Kunin back to the Iowa Wild. All the forwards were recalled within the last day or two to help fill in holes in their lineup for their game against the Blue Jackets last night due to multiple injuries. Neither Mitchell, Bertschy or Ferraro, who formed the team’s fourth line last night, played more than six minutes in the game, but Ferraro, nonetheless, got on the scoreboard with a second-period goal assisted by Mitchell. Kunin, the team’s 2016 first-round pick, played 13:53 in his first game, but had no points. The Wild also promoted Mike Reilly, who had been demoted Saturday when Minnesota added Kunin to their roster. Reilly, played one game while in Iowa and scored a goal.

 

Wild Recall Trio Of Forwards

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Among the rash of injury announcements out of Minnesota on Friday was that winger Charlie Coyle suffered a right fibula fracture and would miss the next six-to-eight weeks.  While losing him certainly hurts, the fact he will miss that much time enabled them to place him on long-term injury reserve which freed up the cap space to bring up some replacements instead of potentially having to dress only nine forwards for their game today against Columbus.

The team wasted little time doing so, announcing the recalls of forwards Christoph Bertschy, Landon Ferraro, and Zack Mitchell from AHL Iowa and they will likely comprise their fourth line for the time being.

This will mark the third straight season that Baertschy has had a stint with Minnesota, having spent eight games combined with the team over the past two years.  He spent the majority of last season in the minors, collecting 11 goals and 13 assists in 67 games.

Ferraro is in his first season with the Wild after signing with them in July.  He has the most NHL experience under his belt with 75 games of experience between Detroit and Boston.  He’s coming off an injury-plagued 2016-17 with the Blues where he got into just 22 games with their AHL affiliate but is off to a good start this season with a pair of assists in Iowa.

Mitchell got into 11 games with Minnesota last season but didn’t get on the scoresheet.  He’s coming off a quiet 2016-17 in the minors as well as he tallied just 22 points with Iowa, well off his previous totals of 35 and 42 but the team saw enough in him to qualify him over the summer.

Even with the short-term LTIR, the Wild are fairly tight to the cap and have just over $1MM available to spend per CapFriendly but that’s enough for one more recall at some point.  With Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund not yet ready to return, it will be interesting to see if they bring someone else up just to have a spare skater.

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