The Swiss will start their camp next Monday and travel to Finland on 19 December where they will play two exhibition games against Finland on 21 December in Hameenlinna and against Slovakia on 23 December in Kisakallio.

21 players join from Swiss clubs including eight players who get regular ice time in the top men’s league NLA while one of the goaltenders, Joren van Pottelberghe, plays in the top Swedish junior league.

Four players join from junior teams in Canada while no professional player from North America is on the list yet. The only eligible candidate would be Kevin Fiala, who plays for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.

After having travelled to the last World Juniors in Canada last year with a young team, the Swiss U20 national team currently has 10 returnees on the camp roster including goaltenders Gauthier Descloux and Ludovic Waeber, defencemen Edson Harlacher, Simon Kindschi and Jonas Siegenthaler, and forwards Denis Malgin, Timo Meier, Noah Rod, Kris Schmidli and Pius Suter.

17 players were born in 1996 while the other nine are underage players including 16-year-old prospect Nico Hischier.

The Swiss hope to improve from last year’s ninth-place finish after beating Germany in the relegation round. They will face Canada, Sweden, the U.S. and Denmark in the preliminary round.

Camp Roster Switzerland

Goaltenders:
Gauthier Descloux, Genève-Servette
Joren van Pottelberghe, Linköpings HC (SWE)
Ludovic Waeber, Fribourg-Gottéron

Defencemen:
Tim Dubois, SC Bern
Marco Forrer, EV Zug
Andrea Glauser, Fribourg-Gottéron
Edson Harlacher, Kloten Flyers
Fabian Heldner, HC Davos
Roger Karrer, GCK Lions Zurich
Simon Kindschi, HC Davos
Jonas Siegenthaler, ZSC Lions Zurich

Forwards:
Dominik Diem, GCK Lions Zurich
Chris Egli, HC Davos
Nico Hischier, SC Bern
Auguste Impose, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Tino Kessler, HC Davos
Johnny Kneubühler, Lausanne HC
Denis Malgin, ZSC Lions Zurich
Timo Meier, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
Dario Meyer, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Julien Privet, SC Bern
Damien Riat, Geneva-Servette
Noah Rod, Geneva-Servette
Kris Schmidli, GCK Lions Zurich
Pius Suter, ZSC Lions Zurich
Calvin Thürkauf, Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Head Coach:
John Fust