Early Season Standouts Headline Potential Patty Kazmaier Candidates

Each year the Patty Kazmaier Award is given to the best player in NCAA women's hockey. You need to go back 12 years to find a Patty Kazmaier winner who is not in the PWHL, and that's because at that point all of the previous winners are retired. 

The list of past winners includes PWHL and national team stars like 2026 winner Caroline Harvey, who was the Olympic MVP and 2026 PWHL first overall pick. It also includes players like Kendall Coyne Schofield, Alex Carpenter, Sophie Jaques, Ann-Renee Desbiens, Daryl Watts, Aerin Frankel, and Taylor Fox.

Frankel was last year's PWHL MVP and Goaltender of the Year. 

This year, a new cohort of NCAA players are already making their mark and taking steps toward Patty Kazmaier contention.

Joy Dunne is the odds on favorite to win the award this season. The Ohio State senior is considered the consensus top pick for the 2027 PWHL Draft, should she declare, is the only remaining skater for USA's national team in the NCAA, and will almost certainly land in the top 10 in scoring nationally. She's big, she can score, and she can take over shifts when she wants. Dunne isn't the only Ohio State player who will get a good look. Teammate Hilda Svensson is only in her second NCAA season, but could be the top scorer in the nation when it's all said and done, and she's an electric player both collegiately, and internationally for Sweden. Svensson is only a sophomore, but she's that good. It's a harder position to make your case, but senior netminders Eve Gascon (Minnesota-Duluth) and Ava McNaughton (Wisconsin) should also be in this conversation.

Given a strong season, any number of other candidates could rise to the top. Kahlen Lamarche (Quinnipiac) was the top goal scorer in NCAA hockey in 2025-26 and will again look to make an impact as a senior. Other seniors like Cassie Hall and Kelly Gorbatenko of Wisconsin are both dominant, and should be among the nation's leading scorers. They're both worthy of consideration.

Looking at underclass players, reigning ECAC Player of the Year Sara Manness (Clarkson) should gain some attention, and Northeastern's Stryker Zablocki, who was Hockey East Player of the Year could also get some outside consideration. They won't be alone in underclass players, a list that should also include Ohio State's Mira Jungaker, who is arguably the best defender in nation, Wisconsin's Maggie Scannell, Boston College sniper Ava Thomas, Minnesota-Duluth's Caitlin Kraemer, and UConn's Claire Murdoch should also be watched. Ivy League programs have yet to drop the puck, but when they do, there's a group of players, potentially including Princeton's Mackenzie Alexander, who could play their way into the conversation as well.

Even if they don't win, there are some darkhorse candidates who could find themselves as top 10 finalists given their play this season. From their early season offensive outbursts, St. Cloud State teammates Alice Sauriol and Sofianna Sundelin are players that can't be overlooked. The impact they're having on their program, and the numbers they've shown themselves capable of producing are impressive.

Robert Morris forward Alaina Giampietro is another player who sprinted out of the gate. Not from a program that gets much national consideration, Giampietro is causing people to pay attention.