USA Hockey named 31 players to their training camp. All but six will be on their 2026 IIHF women's World Championship roster. Here's a look at who they could pick.
USA and Canada have a date, time, and location for their pre-tournament match ups ahead of the 2026 IIHF World Championships. The two top teams in the world will play on October 28 in Windsor, Ontario, before facing off October 30 in Plymouth, Michigan, and then heading to Denmark for the World Championships from November 6 to 16.
It's unlikely that USA, the reigning Olympic and World gold medalists, will have the chance to face off against Canada this year at Worlds until the gold medal game unless either team gets upset along the way.
This week, USA unveiled a 31 player roster including all 23 players from their 2026 Olympic gold medal roster, and eight newcomers who will push for a spot. It will be a difficult task for someone to steal a spot, but not impossible.
Looking at ice time from the Olympic Games, Rory Guilday averaged only 3:59 per game on the blueline, while Kirsten Simms and Hayley Scamurra were the only forwards under 10 minutes per game. The trio, along with Grace Zumwinkle, who was next lowest in time-on-ice, are the most likely to be replaced for this tournament, but with the roster size set to settle at 25 players for the World Championships, it's unlikely they'll be bumped, and more likely that they'll be pushed by a new addition who earns their spot at camp.
Unlike year's past, there are few NCAA options ready to push out a PWHL player. In fact USA's best non-roster players will be PWHL players this season, although their Collegiate Select and U-18 rosters both have national team calibre prospects. Laney Potter is the only newcomer from the NCAA who was invited to camp.
Predicting USA's World Championship Roster
USA won't change a thing in net with Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips as their 1-2, followed by Ava McNaughton as their third. Frankel and Philips are two of the best in the World, and outside of Ann-Renee Desbiens, there just isn't a goalie on the planet who can currently challenge either player for their ability to steal a game.
The blueline will include locks in Caroline Harvey, Megan Keller, Laila Edwards, Haley Winn and Lee Stecklein. It seems like a safe bet to assume Cayla Barnes and Rory Guilday could be back as well. There are certainly options for USA to bring another defender in the 25 player roster in case they wanted to deploy Edwards up front at any point. Maybe they bring along Emma Peschel to learn first hand. Peschel was the last cut from USA's blueline ahead of the Olympics, and she's going to get a chance to play top four minutes with the New York Sirens this season. If she's not at Worlds this year, she'll be playing for her spot in 2027. USA is also bringing Wisconsin defender Laney Potter, and soon-to-be PWHL rookies Grace Dwyer and Sydney Morrow to compete for spots. Morrow was an alternate back at the 2024 World Championships.
Up front, there could be some shuffle. Or at least it's the most obvious spot to bring a few new faces. USA's offense is potent, and core pieces of that like Taylor Fox (Heise), Abbey Murphy, Alex Carpenter and a half dozen others aren't going anywhere. Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield could have been question marks before, but now that they've in camp, they'll be locks to lead as veterans again. Knight said 2026 was her final Olympic Games, and Coyne Schofield took half the offseason to decide whether or not she would play this season, but both have plenty of fuel left in the tank.
It's also likely USA bring Hannah Bilka, Britta Curl-Salemme, Kelly Pannek, Joy Dunne, and Tessa Janecke. And although she played limited minutes, coach John Wroblewski has sung the praises of veteran Hayley Scamurra. If there were two in question it would be Grace Zumwinkle and Kirsten Simms, with players like Casey O'Brien and Lacey Eden pushing for spots. They could technically take this entire forward group.
O'Brien belongs on Team USA, and showed it in her strong rookie season, but USA is deep down the middle, and all five centers they could bring in have played centre, exclusively, in recent seasons. The best move they could make is shifting Kelly Pannek to right wing, which is probably the position they lack depth at after shifting Laila Edwards to the blueline, and elevating Janecke and O'Brien.
USA's Predicted Roster:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Britta Curl-Salemme | Alex Carpenter | Hilary Knight |
| Hanna Bilka | Taylor Heise | Abbey Murphy |
| Kendall Coyne Schofield | Kelly Pannek | Grace Zumwinkle |
| Joy Dunne | Tessa Janecke | Lacey Eden |
| Hayley Scamurra | Casey O'Brien |
| LD | RD | G |
|---|---|---|
| Megan Keller | Haley Winn | Aerin Frankel |
| Caroline Harvey | Laila Edwards | Gwyneth Philips |
| Lee Stecklein | Cayla Barnes | Ava McNaughton |
| Rory Guilday | Emma Peschel |
