Vinzenz Rohrer’s long, encouraging season has just come to an end with Austria’s exit from the IIHF World Championship, concluding on a sour note with a five-minute major. Despite that final play, Rohrer and his Zürich Lions won four titles in 13 months: the Swiss National League regular season and playoffs in 2024, along with the Champions Hockey League and the league playoffs once again in 2025. Ahead of the 2024 post-season, I joked with Rohrer that we might have two trophies to talk about next time. A year later that looks silly as the number of trophies is twice that number.
What stood out with regard to Rohrer during this season was his goal-scoring as he doubled his personal production in the NL, and it is something that Rohrer himself pointed out in a recent interview with Eyes On The Prize.
Another thing that stood out was his defensive work. While he has been compared to Brendan Gallagher at times he seems to becoming more and more of an Artturi Lehkonen as his defensive attributes have been highlighted. Rohrer has gotten usage both on the penalty kill and on the shutdown line for the dying minutes of the game. He was deployed in all areas of the game, losing out a bit as he was on the second power-play unit but got more time due to his work ethic and smarts on the penalty kill. In the playoffs Rohrer’s ice time was the same as for the regular season, 14:46 versus 14:50, but he almost doubled his point production year-over-year, from four to seven.
He was used to take faceoffs, something that increases his chances with the Montreal Canadiens down the line. However, he was less effectiveness in the faceoff circle where his win rate dropped from 51% to 45% due to the fact that he was taking faceoffs against better opponents.
Strengths
The intensity speaks for itself. Rohrer never takes a shift off. He is a natural Gallagher replacement and it is something that has he has been hearing for years. When speaking to coaches about Rohrer they all mentions his hockey IQ. “Sometimes you have to explain a thing to a player for 30 minutes and you aren’t sure they get it. You explain a thing to Rohrer and you know he has gotten it after 30 seconds.”
This was all evident as his role increased with one of Europe’s best teams, used in all situations and with different linemates and in different roles, at centre or on the wing).
With that has come the leadership role that Rohrer has grown into, partly visible in the World Championship but especially in Zürich. You can see it during timeouts, but what really stood out was at the medal and trophy ceremony as the Lions had won the Champions Hockey League and the National League title. Rohrer made sure injured players and staff got their medals before he got his, ending up being one of the last players both times. The road is still long for an NHL career, but it’s easy to see him one day being part of a leadership group in the top league.
Weaknesses
While Rohrer has grown into the men’s game and developed a bigger physique, it is still where his main weakness is. At 5’10” he will have to be better than players that are an inch or two taller in the same competition for a roster spot. There is nothing he can do to improve his height, but Montreal has quite a few of these players in the system and closer than Zürich at the moment. One can only speculate what that will mean for Rohrer’s future on the other side of the pond.
Grade: A
Last season Rohrer earned an A+ for a fantastic rookie season in the National League. This season was even better for Rohrer, and the Zürich Lions, but expectations were also higher for him.
Rohrer himself pointed out that his scoring has gotten better, even if he mentions that it’s a fickle stat. “Next time your shooting percentage drops, and you can’t score at all.” (Rohrer’s shooting percentage this year was 15.8%, compared to 8.6% last year).
The fact that Rohrer hasn’t been moved permanently up in the lineup is the thing that brings the grade down, and maybe that expectation is too great. One has to remember that it is Europe’s best team that we are considering, and Rohrer held his own in that lineup, earning more time and a more varied role.
It’s easy to focus on points and goals, but thanks to Thibaud Chatel’s data for NL IceData, we see the most improved areas in general are Rohrer’s transition skills being better along with setting up more plays on the third line.
He had quite a few points and goals on fast breaks and lost out on a few power-play chances as Zürich leaned hard on the first unit, sometimes playing it almost the full two minutes. The main takeaway is that Rohrer has improved in areas which are not as easy to spot as point production, having been used more in transition and as a driver of play which has also improved his passing game (even if teammates weren’t able to finish).
He projects as a third-line winger, but again it comes down to what role he can carve out and the overall team construction that Montreal will have at the time that he comes over. There is no doubt that he will have a professional hockey career, the question is at what side of the Atlantic that will be fruitful.
Montreal has Rohrer’s rights until 2026, and another year in Zürich, where his contract runs for another season, should do Rohrer good, especially considering the logjam in Montreal and Laval.
We had two separate guests join us on the podcast to discuss Rohrer. Thibaud Chatel and Thomas Roost both gave their views on Rohrer’s season, and you can listen to them both by clicking the respective play buttons below.
