Nico Hischier

**Nico Hischier** (born on January 4, 1999 in Brig, Switzerland) is a Swiss professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.

Hischier was drafted 1st overall by New Jersey in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

Nico participated in the 2011 and 2012 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a youth team from Zürich. He grew up playing in the EHC Visp program.

At the age of 15, he moved from his native canton of Valais, in the south of Switzerland, to Bern and joined SC Bern, following his brother Luca, who had done the same at that age; this allowed him to play at the top levels of the Swiss under-17 and under-20 leagues.

Nico began the 2015–16 season with EHC Visp, an affiliate of SC Bern, in the National League B, the second-highest Swiss league; however, due to several players being out with injuries in Bern, he was brought to the top team on 13 November that year, playing with his brother. He would play 15 games with Bern, spending most of the season with Visp.

The Halifax Mooseheads, a major junior team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), selected Hischier sixth overall in the 2016 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft, conducted between the three Canadian major junior leagues (the QMJHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Western Hockey League). After discussions with both Halifax's general manager and Swiss former Mooseheads player Timo Meier, Hischier committed to joining Halifax.

Nico's first season with the Mooseheads saw him finish second to Maxime Fortier for the team scoring lead, and tenth overall in the QMJHL, with 38 goals and 86 points. He also led all QMJHL rookies in both goals and points. For this, he was awarded the RDS Cup for being the QMJHL Rookie of the Year and the Michael Bossy Trophy as the best professional prospect in the league.

He was additionally named to the QMJHL Rookie All-Star Team and would also be named the rookie of the year for the CHL, which oversees the three major junior leagues. In the playoffs he led Halifax in scoring with seven points in six games.

Regarded as a top prospect going into the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the end of the season, he was regarded as a candidate to be selected first overall.

Ranked the second-best North American skater in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau final list prior to the draft, Nico was highly regarded as a tremendous offensive talent with exceptional hockey sense. He was also regarded as a strong two-way player, and well-regarded for his strong skating abilities.

In the lead-up to the draft, Nico was regarded as a consensus top-two pick along with Nolan Patrick.

### Professional

Nico was selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils, becoming the first Swiss player to be drafted first overall. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Devils on 15 July 2017.

After a strong training camp and preseason where he led the Devils in scoring with seven points in four games, Nico made the opening-day roster. His NHL debut came on 7 October against the Colorado Avalanche.

He recorded his first point, an assist, on 9 October in his second game, against the Buffalo Sabres, while his first two goals came ten days later against Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators.

He finished the regular season as the Devils' second best scorer (behind Hart Trophy-winning linemate Taylor Hall) with 52 points, including 20 goals and 32 assists. His performance helped the team secure their first playoff berth since 2012.

After the Devils were eliminated from the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs in five games by the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, Nico revealed he had been playing with a hand injury that kept him out of the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

In his sophomore season with the Devils, Nico completed the 2018–19 season with 47 points in 69 games. With an injured Hall out of the lineup, he recorded a team leading Corsi-For percentage, scoring chances for percentage, and high-danger chances for percentage. Despite this, the Devils performed poorly as a team and missed the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Prior to the 2019–20 season, Nico played with the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation national team prospects camp. On 16 October 2019, the Devils announced that suffered an upper-body injury during a game against the Florida Panthers.

Two days later, the Devils signed him to a seven-year, $50.75 million contract extension, despite the ability to become a restricted free agent.

## International Play

Nico's international tournament was the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships, hosted in his native Switzerland. He scored one goal as the Swiss team finished fourth overall.

He next played in the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, a tournament not regulated by the International Ice Hockey Federation but still considered a major event for under-18 players; he recorded six points over four games.

At the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championships, he had four points as Switzerland placed eighth. At the 2016 World Junior Championships, he was the youngest player for Switzerland, and the second youngest player overall.

He also participated in the 2017 World Juniors, scoring four goals and had seven total points in five games, the most by any player eligible for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He also partook at the 2017 IIHF World U18 Championships and finished with six points in five games as Switzerland lost in the quarter-finals.

Nico was selected to represent Switzerland at the 2019 IIHF World Championship. In Switzerlands 9-0 win over Italy, he recorded one goal and two assists. He would end the tournament with nine points in eight games.

## Personal Life

Nico comes from a family of athletes; his father Rino played football for FC Naters and his mother Katja worked as a sports teacher.

He is the youngest of three siblings; he has an older brother, Luca and a sister, Nina. Luca plays for HC Davos in the NL while Nina played volleyball at a high level in Switzerland.

Katja took both her sons to nearby Visp to learn how to skate because there were no ice rinks in Naters where they discovered hockey there. Nico also played football until he was 12 years old, but he followed Luca and focused exclusively on hockey.

After the 2018–19 season ended, Nico began his civic military service process in his home country of Switzerland.