After three years of knowing the Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes were the uncontested top teams in NCAA Division 1 hockey, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are busy working to change that.
Their main pathway to date has been through the NCAA transfer portal. The offseason is not complete, but to date the team has grabbed Sarah Paul from Princeton, Jamie Nelson from Minnesota State, and Molly Jordan from Boston College.
Paul was 29th in NCAA scoring last year and fourth in goals with 28 goals and 36 points in 31 games for Princeton. She'll be among the top returning players to the NCAA next season as at least 11 players ahead of her in the scoring charts will be turning professional. Paul was also a key member of Canada's national development team this year.
Nelson is entering her sixth season of NCAA hockey after back-to-back 30 point campaigns with Minnesota State. Surrounded by Minnesota's talent, the veteran Nelson could see a significant uptick in scoring.
Twice a member of USA's U-18 national team, Jordan recently finished her second season at Boston College. She finished 13th nationally in scoring among defenders with 24 points in 36 games.
Minnesota's Blueline Looks Stacked
With the addition of Jordan, Minnesota will feature one of, if not the best blueline in NCAA women's hockey. Alongside Jordan, the Golden Gophers women's hockey team will welcome back Nelli Laitinen, Sydney Morrow, Chloe Primerano, Gracie Graham, and Krista Parkonnen among others.
Murphy Is The Wildcard
Minnesota is already losing a group of talented forwards in Peyton Hemp, Natalie Mlynkova, and Ella Huber to the PWHL. The difference between Minnesota staying static in their chase of Wisconsin and Ohio State, or gaining ground, could be the PWHL Draft Declaration of Abbey Murphy. Minnesota's leading scorer by a landslide, Murphy's departure would mean Minnesota would be without their top four scorers from last year.
Josefin Bouveng would be Minnesota's leading returning scorer. Minnesota has a strong crop of incoming recruits, but aside from Tereza Plosova, it's unlikely any will be able to immediately fill the shoes of departing players. Bella Fanale and Sienna D'Alessandro will be key offensive contributors in short order as well.
Net Remains Solid
Hannah Clark earned a decision in 36 of Minnesota's 42 games this season. She returns as their unquestioned starter. Instead of veteran Skylar Vetter as her backup, Minnesota will welcome Layla Hemp. The starter for Minnetonka High School the last three seasons, Hemp won two medals with USA's U-18 national team including winning gold at the 2024 World Championships. She was recently named the 2025 Jori Jones Award winner as Minnesota high school hockey's goaltender of the year.