Hischier doing it all for Devils, Swiss teammates ahead of Olympics 

NEWARK, N.J. -- Nico Hischier never takes for granted his role as captain of the New Jersey Devils or the opportunity to go up against the NHL’s best each night.

Those attributes should come in handy when he and Devils teammates Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler represent Team Switzerland at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February.

It'll mark the first Olympic experience for each of them. It’s the first time the NHL is sending players to the Winter Olympics since 2014.

"I'm super-excited," said Hischier, who was selected No. 1 by the Devils in the 2016 NHL Draft. "I mean, technically, this could have been my third Winter Olympics, so that's kind of crazy. The whole event must be incredible.

“And Milan is a two-hour train ride from where I grew up (Naters). I'm going to try to soak it in as much as I can."

Hischier feels fortunate to be playing for an NHL team with two other countrymen on the roster. New Jersey is the only NHL club with more than one Switzerland-born player on its roster. In fact, as Tuesday, only 11 Swiss players had been in an NHL game this season.

"We don't take this for granted," he said. "We know there aren't many Swiss guys on NHL rosters, so having three on one team is pretty special.”

Hischier has had to carry more of a load lately with the Devils missing several key players to injury like forwards Jack Hughes (finger), Zack MacEwen (lower body) and Evgenii Dadonov (upper body) and defenseman Brett Pesce. Meier hasn’t played since Dec. 9, currently on a personal leave of absence from the team to deal with a family matter.

Hischier is tied on the Devils for second in goals (10) and is second in points (26) and takeaways (14) and fourth in blocked shots (32). He’s third in the NHL in face-off wins (369) and 10th in the League in face-off winning percentage (54 percent minimum 500 face-offs). He's second among Devils forwards in average ice time (20:46) behind Hughes (21:09).

He will look to improve on those numbers Wednesday when the Devils play the Vegas Golden Knights (16-6-9) at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN1, TVAS).

As a top two-way center, the job at times is a thankless one because with that added responsibility as a 200-foot player comes fewer offensive chances. But the 26-year-old has always possessed a team-first mentality.

"There's a focus for me in games because usually there's always a good line to face in the League," Hischier said. "I'm always trying to be patient against these guys, and while I'll always try and create and do something offensively, I have the defense mindset first. I take pride in that but it's also my job."

Meier averages 18:56 in ice time and ranks first on the team in goals (11), and third in points (23) and hits (61) in 30 games. Siegenthaler leads the Devils in blocked shots (61) and averages 19:34 in ice time.

"Going to the Olympics with two of my teammates, good friends, is going to be something special," Siegenthaler said. "It's been a while since NHL players were going to Olympics, so it's going to be a cool experience. It's very close to my hometown (Zurich, Switzerland) so I'll have a lot of friends and family there as well."

Siegenthaler has played with Hischier at the IIHF World Junior Championship and World Championship and knows the fire that burns within in each game.

"He's invested in every zone," Siegenthaler said. "He's blocking shots, going to the dirty areas and he scores goals as well. He kind of does everything very good and I think that makes him so complete. When we see that on the ice, it kind of gives you a spark and you want to hop on the boat as well. He leads by example for sure and I think, off the ice, everybody loves him and he's fun to be around."

Hischier's job became more difficult when Hughes sustained a non-hockey related injury to his finger in mid-November and has missed the past 16 games.

The Devils (18-14-1), who are 6-10-0 without Jack Hughes, just want to play with some measure of consistency while missing key players.

The Devils averaged 3.35 goals per game with Hughes in the lineup and are averaging 2.38 without him.

"Jack can see plays and make plays from nothing and obviously it's tough to lose that," Hischier said. "But at the end of the day, we got to be solution-orientated and more focused on the process to give ourselves more chances to score goals. We still have good skill in here; somebody can always make an individual effort and score. But we got to understand that in order to win games, we got to focus on the process. We just can't be results-focused."

For a club expected to make a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, Hischier knows the opposition isn't feeling sorry for them, either.

He takes that personally.

"I think the challenge (as captain) is to still lift the team up, hold the fort for guys that are out, and we obviously all know Jack is an important piece for us," Hischier said. "But we got to battle through it because it doesn't change a thing (in the standings).

"That's where we're at right now and we just have to find a solution. It is challenging, more on the emotional side. You still have the confidence, even if you're not a full squad, to go out there and really feel like you're going to dominate this team."