Raphael Diaz at EVZ for another year!

Raphael Diaz is hanging on for another season!

The defenceman, whose contract expired at the end of the 2025/26 season, has committed to his favourite club, the EVZ, for one more year. The 40-year-old has signed a new contract until the end of the 2026/27 season.

Diaz is an EVZ veteran. He made his debut for the first team in 2003 at the age of 17. The defenceman eventually matured into an international player with Zug and made the leap to the NHL in 2011. After five years overseas, Diaz returned to EVZ and led the club to the 2019 Cup victory and the 2021 Swiss championship as captain. Four years followed in Fribourg before Diaz returned to Central Switzerland last summer on a one-year contract.

This journey now continues. After a difficult 2025/26 season – Diaz struggled for months with the consequences of a long-term head injury – the 40-year-old is now definitely hanging on for another year. The EVZ is delighted to know that its identification figure will also be on board next season.

Reactions

Reto Kläy, General Manager: “Raphi has once again impressively demonstrated his value to the team. The contract extension is therefore doubly important: on the one hand, I’m delighted for the player Raphael Diaz; on the other, for the whole club. With his huge wealth of experience, Raphi plays a major role in our rebuild process, in which we consciously want to promote young players.”

Raphael Diaz says: “I’m still passionate about the sport of ice hockey and the EVZ. With Reto, I’ve found a cool solution for the 2026/27 season. My expectations of myself are high as usual. I want to deliver my performance in every game and be successful with EVZ. At the same time, I’m convinced that I can also help the young players with my experience.”