Story by
World Championship scoring leader is making a case for an NHL return at 33
- Story by
- World Championship scoring leader is making a case for an NHL return at 33
World Championship scoring leader is making a case for an NHL return at 33 originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
When looking back over the preliminary round of the IIHF World Championship, you might assume the scoring leader is one of hockey’s marquee names.
Advertisement
Canada’s Macklin Celebrini dazzled with five goals and six assists for 11 points. Sweden’s Lucas Raymond matched him stride for stride with an identical five goals and six assists. Latvia’s Sandis Vilmanis and Switzerland’s Timo Meier also sit at 11 points.
Yet remarkably, all four of them are chasing someone else, and that someone is neither an NHLer nor a player from one of hockey’s traditional powerhouses.
The tournament’s leading scorer so far is Swiss winger Sven Andrighetto , who has showcased elite playmaking ability with four goals and a tournament-best nine assists through seven preliminary games. In a field teeming with some of the world’s best hockey players, Andrighetto has outproduced them all, and it raises a compelling question: could this performance be his ticket back to the NHL?
The 33-year-old was once a serviceable depth forward at the NHL level. Selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round of the 2013 NHL draft, Andrighetto made his way to the big league with the Habs and accumulated 28 points across his first 83 NHL games between 2014 and 2017.
Advertisement
A mid-season trade to the Colorado Avalanche proved to be a turning point, as he closed out the 2016-17 campaign on a tear with 16 points in just 19 games. He followed that up with a 22-point effort in 50 games during the 2017-18 season, then added 17 points in 2018-19.
MORE: Team Canada playing like they know there's more at stake than usual at 2026 World Championship
Since then, Andrighetto’s path has taken him away from North America entirely. After a stint in the KHL, he returned home and has been a fixture with the Zurich Lions ever since, all while remaining a reliable presence for Switzerland at the international level. Across seven World Championship appearances, he has compiled 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points in 56 games, with his 2026 tournament standing out as his finest international performance.
This coming NHL off-season is shaping up to be a relatively quiet one in terms of marquee free agent names, with Anthony Mantha and Alex Tuch among the more notable forwards expected to hit the market. With few headline-grabbing options available, teams searching to fortify the bottom of their lineups on a tight budget may find themselves casting a wider net. That is where Andrighetto could enter the picture, a low-cost, low-risk option who is clearly still producing at a high level against elite competition.
Advertisement
It has been several years since Andrighetto last suited up in the NHL, but with a tryout, he may have finally matured into the player teams envisioned when drafting him 13 years ago. Teams like the Dallas Stars , Edmonton Oilers , Florida Panthers , and the Vegas Golden Knights could all benefit from the kind of affordable, experienced depth that Andrighetto could provide.
