With the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and now International Olympic Committee (IOC) reversing their ban of Russia, the door is now open for Russia’s women’s national hockey team to compete at the 2027 World Championships and return to the Olympic Games in 2030.

It also adds anoter competitive program back into international womne's hockey bolstering what is already a rapidly improving women’s hockey landscape globally.

All of this however, will come under scrutiny due to Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine, which has been internationally denounced, and resulted in sanctions against Russia.

This season, for the first time, three Russian players appeared in PWHL action. 

The list includes Ottawa Charge forward Fanuza Kadirova who was a breakout star this season in the league as a first year player. She however was a late round pick compared to compatriot Anna Shokhina who was chosen in the second round of the 2025 PWHL Draft by Ottawa before being held out of the lineup early in the season as she struggled to adapt, and then being traded to Vancouver midseason. Shokhina remains one of the few PWHL veterans yet to sign this offseason. They were joined in Ottawa by Yale alumni Vita Poniatovskaia who got into the lineup late in the season after beginning the year as a reserve. Poniatovskaia re-signed with Ottawa this offseason. 

At the 2026 PWHL Draft, the Minnesota Frost chose netminder Daria Gredzen out of Russia, but veteran Russian Olympians and World Champions, and perhaps the best two Russian defenders in the game today, Nina Pirogova and Anna Shokhina, were both passed over in the draft, as was forward Oxana Bratishcheva. 

Other players like Maria Mikaelyan (St. Cloud State), and Maria Polozkova (Mercyhurst) have come to North America, and Ilona Markova, a Boston Fleet draft pick, played for the University of British Columbia this season. With the PWHL now miles ahead as the world's best league, and a Russian national team back in the mix, more from the nation could be looking toward North American and European leagues.

Along with the movement of Russian talent to top North American leagues, Russia’s own women’s league, the ZhHL, has been working to become a more legitimate option for NCAA and new sports players following their collegiate careers. The league has been heavily recruiting graduating players offering contracts that well exceed what they’d be receiving in the PWHL.

While the best in the world will continue choosing the PWHL and the SDHL in Sweden, others will undoubtedly look at the financial opportunities of playing a season or two in Russia as one they cannot pass up. With more North American talent heading overseas to the Russian league, the level of play will continue to rise making Russia’s player development and national team program stronger still.

Without competing in international competition since the 2022 Olympics, however it’s unknown how competitive Russia will actually be on the international stage as nations, including Czechia, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden have seen their own growth since that date through NCAA participation the PWHL and improvement of their domestic leagues. Russia on the other hand, has seen the calibre of their own domestic league drop.

Currently Russia sits with 4965 points in the IIHF rankings placing them seventh internationally sitting behind USA, Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden, but ahead of Germany.