Lian Bichsel has impressed in the NHL – so he belongs with the national team too

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Lian Bichsel has impressed in the NHL, but he's still banned from the Swiss national team. This could become a tinderbox for Fisher and Weibel.

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LeAnn Bixell is currently entertaining Dallas Stars fans. The young Swiss defender made his NHL debut a few days ago and impressed. Bixell scored his first goal in his first appearance in the best league in the world.

The 106-pound hunk also stands out for his size and mobility. In his second game, he sent St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn to his dugout with a hard tackle. In his third game — last night against Washington — Bixell scored for the second time.

Expelled from Swiss national team

Of course, three games is a very small sample size, but Bixell's talent is undisputed. Even more surprising is that the young defender will not play for national team coach Patrick Fisher until at least 2026.

The reason: Bixell turned down a roster spot for the 2023 U20 World Cup in Canada. He has only recently returned to Sweden from North America, albeit not to his hometown club Leksands, but to Rogl. The defender fears he will soon no longer be playing football at his new club after being sidelined for a week. It's actually an understandable reason, but not for Patrick Fischer and the association's sporting director Lars Weibel.

This is not the first time these two companies have issued such bans. Basically this is a good thing, after all you shouldn't just join the national team on a whim. However, Fisher and Weibel lacked tact and consistency. Other players such as Roman Josi and Pius Suter have recently been disqualified from the national team for family or sporting reasons but have not been punished for it.

Switzerland needs NHL players

Unlike Canada, the United States or Sweden, Switzerland does not have dozens of NHL players. They simply cannot afford to voluntarily give up such a good player. In particular, Bixel's physique and playing ability are quite rare in the Swiss national team.

The last World Cup showed how dependent Switzerland is on its NHL players. The national team was supported by Kevin Fiala, Roman Josi, Nico Hischier and Nino Niederreiter in winning the silver medal. Top players from the local National League contributed little. Recent European Hockey Tour events in Finland and Switzerland have also shown that the national team continues to struggle against the best other national teams without NHL reinforcements. They have won just two of their six games this season against Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.

Unnecessary powder keg

Especially if the opponent in the 2026 Olympics suddenly calls out Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon or William Nylander, the National Team will need every NHL player.

When it comes to Connor McDavid and his team in the Olympics, the national team needs every NHL player.Image source: EPA/SCANPIX Denmark

As a result, the Bixel case has the potential to become a tinderbox for the duo of Fisher and Weibel. If Bixell continues to be convincing and play regularly in the NHL but still isn't drafted by Fisher, he'll leave himself vulnerable. Especially if the next World Cup in Denmark or the Olympics in Turin turn into a disaster without Bixell.

Of course, such a failure was not only due to Bixell not being considered, but Fisher and Weibel also had to face the uncomfortable question of why they stubbornly decided not to have the best team possible.