Tobias Geisser: 2021 Annual Review And Forecast

We continue our annual prospect review and forecast series with Tobias Geisser, defenseman for EV Zug in the NLA (Swiss League). (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page right here.)

VITALS
Geisser, a 6’4″, 205 lb. left-handed defenseman, was drafted by the Capitals in the 4th round (#120 overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old Swiss native has split time between the AHL and the NLA over the past three seasons. Geisser signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals on March 22, 2018, for $774,444 AAV. He will become a RFA at the end of the 2022-20223 season.

CAREER
Geisser was one of the youngest defensemen in the 2016-2017 NLA season, and the 8th youngest defensemen in the 2017-2018 season, but of those under 19-year-old, none were close to him in games played; he played 38 games, the second most was 16 (only one other player had double digits, the rest were less than 10). That tells us he’s very mature in his mentality and play style for his coaches to trust a youngster like him.

Geisser spent the 2018-2019 season in Hershey where he played in 41 games. Geisser was selected by Team Switzerland in 2019 World Juniors tournament, but did not play due to a reported injury.

Geisser began his 2019-2020 campaign in Hershey, where he played in just seven games before being loaned to EV Zug on December 5th. The depth at the defenseman position was simply too great for Geisser to see any consistent playing time with the Bears. He would play in 25 games for EV Zug prior to the conclusion of the season.

Geisser spent the 2020-21 season with EV Zug, and found consistent playing time in the top two pairs for the entire season. Offensively, Geisser recorded five goals and 17 assists in 50 regular season games and one goal and one assist in 13 postseason games, as EV Zug went on to win the Swiss League championship. In May, Geisser was selected to participate in the Swiss National teams preparation camp this offseason, and is currently slated to make the Swiss National team’s roster for the Olympics.

2020-2021 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following month-by-month breakdown is an aggregation of our monthly prospect reports prepared during the 2020-2021 season. You can find all of our weekly and monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

SEPTEMBER

Geisserwas officially loaned to EV-Zug of the Swiss League on August 4. He was solid on the team’s second defensive pair. Geisser and EV Zug begin their regular season campaign on Friday.

TRENDING: SAME

OCTOBER

Geisser played in five games during October for EV Zug. In those games, he scored one goal and had no assists. He took one minor penalty. Geisser scored his goal during the second period in an 8-2 win on October 23 against Zurich. The goal was his first of the 2020-21 season.

The next two games for EV Zug (on October 30 and on November 2) were played without spectators due to COVID restrictions in their area.

Analysis – Geisser has been solid on the backend this season. We were only able to watch one of his games, but reports from media and scouts covering EV Zug are very positive. November will be key for the 6’4” defenseman.

TRENDING: UP

NOVEMBER

Geisser continued to anchor the second defensive pair (2LD) to start the month. For the month of November, his team, EV Zug, played in just three games: November 10, November 13, and November 14. December promises to be a busier month for the team. For the year, Geisser has scored 1 goal in 8 games.

TRENDING: SAME

DECEMBER

At the beginning of March (before the worldwide lockdown) Washington Capitals prospect and EVZ defender Tobias Geisser was infected with COVID-19. Months later, the 6’4” blueliner is still suffering from the consequences, as he has still not regained his sense of smell.

It all started harmlessly as he told the look : “I thought a flu or a bad cold was approaching.”

When he woke up the next morning, the symptoms were gone again. A few days later, however, he noticed that he could no longer smell anything.

“But back then, the loss of the sense of smell as a corona (COVID-19) symptom was not so well known”. For this reason, no COVID test was arranged for him at the time.

Since then, however, his sense of smell has not returned to normal, and as a result, the team wanted to get to the bottom of it all and he underwent a COVID-19 antibodies test, which turned out positive, meaning at some point he had the COVID-19 virus.

Offensively for the month of December, Geisser played in all 10 games in which his team, EV Zug, played and recorded one assist. For the year, Geisser has scored one goal and recorded one assist in 18 games.

TRENDING: SAME

JANUARY

For the month of January, Geisser played in 10 games, scoring one goal and recording two assists. He scored his goal in the team’s win against Geneva on January 19. For the year, Geisser has scored two goals and recorded three assists in 28 games.

The team had their games on January 21, January 31, and February 7 postponed due to COVID-19. Their original game on January 12 was also postponed, but they played a different opponent that evening instead.

Defensively, Geisser continues to anchor the left side of EV Zug’s top pair.

TRENDING: SAME

FEBRUARY

For the month of February, Geisser played in 10 games and scored one goal. He scored the team’s third goal in the team’s 7-2 against Davos on February 20. For the year, he has played in 38 games, has scored three goals with ten assists and continues to anchor the left size of EVZ’s top defensive pairing.

TRENDING: SAME

MARCH

For the month of March, Geisser played in seven games and scored two goals and recorded five assists. He scored a goal in their 2-1 loss on March 20 to the ZSC Lions. Geisser had a goal and an assist in their 7-5 win against Fribourg on March 23, and was a +3 with 23:18 of ice time.

Geisser had one assist in their March 24 win against Geneve-Servette. He had one assist in their 5-4 win against the Langnau Tigers. For the year, he has played in 45 games, has scored five goals with 15 assists. Geisser has been a solid and reliable two-way defenseman for EV this season.

TRENDING: UP

APRIL

For April, Geisser played in five games to complete the regular season with HC EV Zug in the National League (Switzerland). He scored no goals but contributed 17 assists.

For the playoffs, which included a Quarter Final series and a Semi-Final Series, he has played in six games and scored one goal with no assists. He earned an empty net goal in their game against SC Bern on April 21 with 4 seconds left in regulation. The final score in the game was 5-2.

EV Zug ultimately defeated SC Bern in six games and the team moved on to play SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the semi-finals.

For the 2020-21 regular season, he has played in 50 games, has scored five goals with 17 assists.

TRENDING: UP

MAY

During the month of May, Geisser played in four games with no goals or assists. He played on the top defensive pairing in all three games in the Final Round of the Playoffs and, during May, played in the last game of the semi finals.

His team, EV Zug, won the Swiss National League championship. He played in 12 games for April and scored 1 goal, This included 8 playoff games and 5 regular season games. Geisser has played in three games for the Swiss National team and is a -3 as of May 28. Look for Geisser to return to Hershey this fall.

TRENDING: UP

PLAYER FORECAST
At the beginning of the 2018-2019 season, Bears Head Coach Spencer Carbery commented that he was impressed how fast Geisser was learning the AHL game. Geisser would ultimately be awarded “Most Improved” by the Bears on April 15, 2019.

With Martin Fehervary likely making the jump to the Capitals this fall, there is a spot that Geisser could potentially battle for in Hershey this fall. He will be expected to hold down a starting position this fall on the Bears blueline.

Geisser has the size, tools and smarts to succeed at the AHL level, he just needs to see consistent playing time to develop. We will learn more about his projected ceiling during his next full season with Hershey.

2020-2021 Prospect Reviews And Forecasts
Alex Alexeyev
Martin Fehervary
Tobias Geisser
Bobby Nardella
Aliaksei Protas
Damien Riat