Just two weeks after an expansion draft that reshaped the PWHL, teams will have a chance to re-stock talent at this year’s entry draft.
The PWHL Draft, set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET in Ottawa, will see each team select players over six rounds.
The New York Sirens will pick first, followed by the Boston Fleet, Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Minnesota Frost, PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle. Vancouver and Seattle will alternate draft positions each round, while the rest of the teams will maintain the same order.
Unlike in 2023 and 2024, which brought Taylor Heise (Minnesota) and Sarah Fillier (New York) into the league, the choice at first overall isn’t as clear cut this season. The draft also isn’t quite as deep as last season, when teams could pick from a large cohort of players finishing their NCAA careers and veterans coming from Europe.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t high-end talent available.
Top contenders to be taken first include Casey O’Brien, a centre out of the University of Wisconsin who scored at a prolific rate in college, sharp-shooting forward Kristýna Kaltounková (Colgate University), and two-way defender Haley Winn (Clarkson University).
Here’s a look at what each team needs to add, and which draft prospect might fit those needs.
Pick: Casey O’Brien, forward (Wisconsin)
The Sirens have major holes at forward after losing both Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge to PWHL Seattle.
The best outcome for the Sirens would see the team acquire a top forward who can play alongside Fillier, who is a restricted free agent in need of a new contract.
Leadership will also be a key factor in who GM Pascal Daoust selects in the draft. Last season, all seven of his picks were former captains.
The obvious choice would be O’Brien, the 2025 Patty Kazmaier winner who has the smarts to play alongside one of the world’s best forwards. No Wisconsin player, male or female, scored more career points than O’Brien’s 267, a number that only seven female players in history have surpassed during their college careers.
What the five-foot-four centre lacks in size, she makes up for with her skating and IQ.
“She plays way above her size,” Gordie Stafford, who coached O’Brien in prep school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, told CBC Sports. “Her strength on her skates is incredible, but to also skate on top of the ice like she does, I think that’s one of the things that’s been really remarkable. You cannot knock that kid off the puck.”
Alternatively, New York could opt for Kaltounková, who Sirens’ head coach Greg Fargo would know well, having coached Colgate before coming to the PWHL.
Pick: Haley Winn, defender (Clarkson University)
GM Danielle Marmer has prioritized rebuilding her defence, where five players have departed due to free agency or expansion.
Marmer added size and toughness in free agency with Zoe Boyd and Rylind MacKinnon, but a top-four defender who can move the puck will likely be on her shopping list.
Winn would be the perfect candidate. She could play on Boston’s top pair beside Megan Keller or anchor a second pair.
Clarkson University head coach Matt Desrosiers described Winn as a dynamic defender who excels at both ends of the ice. She’s a strong skater, but she also works harder than just about anyone else.
“I’ve been fortunate to have some really good players go through our program but Haley’s definitely at the top as someone who puts in the time, the effort, the preparation,” Desrosiers told CBC Sports. “She’s really dialled in to reaching her goals of making the Olympics and being on the national team and making it to the PWHL.”
Pick: Nicole Gosling, defender (Clarkson University)
It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine GM Gina Kingsbury and head coach Troy Ryan opting for a player they know well in Gosling, who became a world champion with Team Canada in 2024.
She models her game after Renata Fast, who would become her teammate.
“She has the ability as a defenceman to slow the game down but then also speed it up,” Clarkson coach Desrosiers said.
Pick: Rory Guilday, defender (Cornell University)
GM Danièle Sauvageau has done a formidable job rebuilding the team’s defence after losing several key pieces to expansion or free agency. She re-signed Kati Tabin and brought in Jessica Digirolamo and Maggie Flaherty via free agency.
But adding another top tier defender should be the goal in the first round of the draft. Winn or Gosling would be an ideal fit.
Assuming both are gone by the time Montreal picks at number four, the next best bet might be Guilday.
The five-foot-11 defender is more of a shutdown type than Gosling or Winn. She won a world championship with Team USA in 2023.
Anna Wilgren and Mariah Keopple blocked 117 shots combined on Montreal’s blue line last season. With both in Seattle next season, Guilday could be the perfect candidate to pick up the slack.
Pick: Kendall Cooper, defender (Quinnipiac University)
The consensus is that there is a gap between the top four defenders available in this draft and the rest who play the position.
With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them go off the board early in the first round. Every team, except for New York, needs at least one top-four defender, and Ottawa is no different.
GM Mike Hirshfeld knows exactly how hard it is to find defensive talent in this league. He used his first three picks in the 2023 draft to select defenders.
Guilday fits into the Ottawa Charge DNA a bit more, but assuming she’s gone, Hirshfeld could opt for Cooper.
“I think size and physicality is important to us,” Hirshfeld said on Monday, when asked what kind of defender he might be looking to add. “But at the same time, we need to improve our power play next year and so puck moving offensive defenders are also of interest.”
Only one team allowed fewer goals than Quinnipiac University last season, and Cooper was a big part of that. She also owns the record for most points by a defender in Quinnipiac women’s hockey history.
Pick: Kristýna Kaltounková, forward (Colgate University)
It would be surprising to see Kaltounková fall this far, but that’s more of a statement on the supply and demand of defenders across the league.
Kaltounková was the first Czech player to be a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award this season after scoring 26 goals in 37 games for Colgate, where she is the all-time goal scoring leader.
She also tied Natálie Mlýnková, who has also declared for this draft, atop the Czech team’s leaderboard at her debut world championship in April, recording six points in seven games.
Pick: Anne Cherkowski, F (Clarkson University)
“She can play in any situation,” said Desrosiers, who coached Cherkowski at Colgate.
“She can play centre. She can play wing. At [the PWHL] level, if they need a third-line checker that can contribute on the offensive side, she’s able to do that. But if they need someone in a top-six role, she’s able to do that.”
As a bonus, Cherkowkski is from Coldstream, B.C.
Pick: Ella Huber, F (University of Minnesota)
Seattle doesn’t have many holes to fill. On expansion draft night, GM Meghan Turner already had a solid top six sketched out.
A versatile forward like Huber seems to fit into the DNA Turner is looking for in a PWHL Seattle player: someone who is fast and can make plays with quickly, knowing that a hit is coming.
