{"id":21099,"date":"2026-02-27T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/21099\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:49:09","slug":"ian-mitchell-linked-to-swiss-league-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/21099\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Mitchell Linked To Swiss League \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Red Wings depth defenseman\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchia01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ian Mitchell<\/a> is expected to sign with Bern of Switzerland\u2019s National League when he becomes a free agent this summer, according to Swiss outlet <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/heshootshescoores.com\/il-difensore-canadese-ian-mitchell-dovrebbe-giocare-la-prossima-stagione-a-berna\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">He Shoots He Scores<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell, 27, once looked like he\u2019d be a long-term piece on the Blackhawks\u2019 blue line. Drafted in the second round in 2017, he was an NCHC champion with and captained the University of Denver before turning pro in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The 6\u20190\u2033 righty has yet to eclipse the career high of 39 games played he set with Chicago as a first-year pro, though. A gifted puck-mover, he could never honestly challenge for the top-four deployment and power-play stability he needed to be effective. He was shipped to the Bruins in the 2023\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=hallta02,hallta01&amp;search=Taylor+Hall&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Taylor Hall<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/foligni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Nick Foligno<\/a>\u00a0deal before getting non-tendered last summer.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell signed a one-year, one-way, league minimum deal with Detroit in free agency. They were likely hoping he could be a valuable press-box piece and depth puck-mover if needed, but he hasn\u2019t spent a day on Detroit\u2019s roster this season after being cut from training camp and clearing waivers.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell had appeared in at least one NHL game in each of the last five seasons with Chicago and Boston, but that streak is in jeopardy now. His output with AHL Grand Rapids hasn\u2019t been great, either. His 4-13\u201317 scoring line through 40 games ranks third among Grand Rapids defenders in scoring, but he\u2019s usually good for at least a half a point per game in the minors. His +23 rating is on track to be a career-high, though.<\/p>\n<p>Smooth-skating defenders tend to thrive in the NL, where he now looks to continue his career. SC Bern is historically one of the league\u2019s top clubs but has had a rough go of things this decade. He will join a group that already has former NHLers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hamanha01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hardy Haman Aktell<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lindhan01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Anton Lindholm<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/vermijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Joel Vermin<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/merelwa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Waltteri Merela<\/a> signed through next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Wings depth defenseman\u00a0Ian Mitchell is expected to sign with Bern of Switzerland\u2019s National League when he becomes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13909,13908,10520,41,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-21099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-detroit-red-wings","9":"tag-ian-mitchell","10":"tag-nla","11":"tag-swiss","12":"tag-switzerland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}