Hockey Canada shuffled the deck off the ice for Canada's national team staff. Now it's time for that staff to begin shuffling the deck and finding new talent to infuse Canada's roster with in time for the 2026 World Championships.
Hockey Canada will be making changes to the women's national team. They brought in a new general manager, new head coach and assistant coach, new assistant general managers, and advisors. It's too much change to expect Canadian brass, or the new staff to accept the status quo in their roster either.
Canada's core is aging, and USA's core is entering their prime. While it seems cyclical, USA has a significantly larger crop of young players already dominating internationally compared to Canada. It included the first five picks in the 2026 PWHL Draft, and nine of the 12 players selected in the first round. That compares to Canada's lone first round pick this year, Sara Swiderski, who was chosen ninth overall.
Canada needs to find players who can immediately change the chemistry and look of their national team roster, as they await more talent in the pipeline. Some players, like Sara Manness and Stryker Zablocki, may be intriguing options, but they might also benefit from one more season of NCAA play. On the other side, there are some NCAA players Canada can't afford to wait any longer with. It's a list that will soon include Minnesota-Duluth goaltender Eve Gascon. Gascon may get the call this year and stay with Canada for a decade. She's that good, but Canada also has some good PWHL goaltenders including Raygan Kirk and Kayle Osborne who continue to push for more playing time. But Gascon is likely set to get a longer look.
While some players are going to be there, there are others who need to be on Team Canada's roster this November.
Nicole Gosling, Hamilton, PWHL
Outside of Sophie Jaques, Nicole Gosling may have been Canada's best defender in the PWHL last season. As a rookie, she led the Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire in time-on-ice, and finished 21st in league scoring and fourth among defenders in the PWHL. She was a finalist for PWHL Rookie of the Year, and she's already played for Team Canada at the World Championships in 2024, the last time they won gold. If you look at Canada's 2026 Olympic roster, there's no world in which Gosling isn't already outperforming the majority of their blueline. In Hamilton, Gosling will be the team's number one defender, and she could easily give a Canadian top four a new look.
Caitlin Kraemer, Minnesota-Duluth, NCAA
It's time. You could argue not to rush her. You could also argue that bringing Kraemer into Canada's national program right now wouldn't be rushing her. Not bringing her in may also be holding her back. Kraemer is the exact type of power forward Canada can look to for the future, specifically in Marie-Philip Poulin's absence. Even giving Kraemer the opportunity in a top six role isn't outlandish, as it will get her experience, and there's a chance things snap into place during the tournament. If Kraemer's opening games in the NCAA this season were any indication, she's in for a big year.
Chloe Primerano, Minnesota, NCAA
You could probably argue that there are PWHL defenders who could provide Canada with a similar impact to Primerano right now. And you probably wouldn't be wrong. You could not, however, argue that there is a Canadian defender in the PWHL right now with the possible upside of Primerano. Primerano could still become Canada's best defender. She hasn't moved into an echelon of her own quite as quickly as USA's Caroline Harvey did, but Primerano continues to get better, and will be a force in the NCAA this season. She certainly won't make Canada worse, and she certainly could make Canada better. Those are conditions Canada can't pass on.
