Women's Hockey Mail Bag: PWHL Team Names, World Championship Expectations, And More

PWHL camps open in less than a month, and national teams are already on the ice together preparing for the 2026 World Championships in Denmark. 

Here's Ian Kennedy's responses to this week's PWHL mail bag:

Sure. PWHL teams and many players have been aware of team names for weeks now, but it hasn't stopped the PWHL from holding off on announcing the new names. There's no denying this round of expansion was rushed. The PWHL had announced their first expansion markets this offseason without having formally secured all four markets. The league literally did not know how many expansion markets they'd land on until only days before the final announcement was made. It makes some sense then, that announcements on jerseys, which are now out, although unavailable for fans to wear just yet, and team names and logos, would take time. But the names are known, so the delay in this instance is marketing or communications related. It doesn't take much thought to see that the PWHL like to announce teams with generic merchandise to get fans to buy before unveiling names and logos to get fans to buy yet again.

Fans have widely speculated team names for months, and they've all been publicly guessed at one point or another. For the first time, the PWHL is going to lean into alliteration like teams in other leagues from the Toronto Tempo, Hamilton Hammers, or Boston Bruins. The league will also add their first multi-word nickname this season.

The league will have abstract terms for more than one of the teams entering the PWHL this season, which will make for interesting logos and brand identities much as the league has done with Torrent, Charge, and Victoire. But there will also be additions that move closer to tangible items like Goldeneyes or Sceptres. 

The wait is almost over, and then it will be up to PWHL fans to decide if the wait was worth it.

On a 25-player roster, there's no guarantee that being named to Team Canada equates to playing a significant role. Canada will have four teenagers, and others like Caitlin Kraemer, who is 20, on their roster vying for time. The experience of being at an event is one thing, but Canada isn't in a position to bring these players and then toy with their confidence.

Chloe Primerano should be in a central role for Canada, and it's plausible that Eve Gascon is Canada's second, not third goalie. Primerano was getting her share of power play time in camp.

Up front it gets a little more complex. Caitlin Kraemer and Rosalie Tremblay were both centering top units in Canada's intrasquad games and they're the leading candidates to start in elevated roles. Kraemer stylistically could fit in where Canada would typically put Marie-Philip Poulin, while Tremblay matches more closely with the Sarah Fillier, Daryl Watts styled players. Sara Manness has been one of NCAA hockey's best on the draw, and seeing her center a third or fourth line makes sense. She's an intelligent player who impacts the game in many ways, whether it's as a playmaker, goal scorer, or through strong positional awareness in her own zone. Hayley McDonald is more likely to be in a depth learning role. She's a complete player, but has a few steps to go. 

Canada brought these players, so expect them to see fair reps in the round robin games as the ever-evolving test run that will be Canada's World Championship this year continues to unfold. Canada will look to get better with every game.

There were questions on work loads at Worlds and how that impacts the start to the PWHL season. There are no concerns here whatsoever. The only issue is if another injury arises like Corinne Schroeder's potentially season-ending injury at Canada's camp. If past history is any indication, it would be a stroke of extreme luck for the PWHL to avoid a season impacting injury for one or more players at this tournament. Following the 2026 Olympics

But in terms of playing time and if there will be an impact when camps start for PWHL teams, the answer is, 'no'. If these players need a day or two off to open camp, teams won't blink at that option as their main focus will be on bubble players. It means any free agent invite at Worlds could be the exception to this rule, where they'll be using Worlds as a tune up to hit the ice a step ahead of their counterparts. But those players have almost exclusively been playing already in leagues overseas. 

If anything, in the PWHL's minimal 30-game schedule with substantial rest between games, getting meaningful action ahead of the season for players on national teams is an advantage, not a detriment.

Speaking to general managers and coaches across the league, they feel there are a few key items to watch. The first is the importance of line matching. In the past, with the depth each roster had top to bottom, getting a third line trapped against a first line wasn't the end of the world. This season, if a top unit can get the last change, or find a unit trapped on the ice via an icing or 'no escape,' it could be significant. The talent gap between top lines and fourth lines this season will be greater than the PWHL has ever experienced in the three seasons the league has played. The same goes for defensive pairings. If teams can find ways to expose third defensive units, it will be a more significant advantage this year than ever before. 

Some teams have talked about attempting to form more balanced lines to mitigate this, while others will top load and aim for mismatches. It's why some teams focused more on depth than targeting top players. Line matching will all play into this, and it won't be next over the boards as often as before.

The other item that continues to come up among teams is the elevated importance of special teams, particularly for the opening shift of a power play where teams are facing the trapped line on the ice killing. 

With the league's announcement of Scripps Sports as a national partner in the USA, and national broadcasters including Sportsnet, TSN, Prime, and CBC in Canada, there won't be as much need for regional broadcasting, and those will primarily come through Scripps affiliates when possible. Regional broadcasting will never be dead in professional sports, but traditionally, the PWHL hasn't announced these until the weeks directly leading up to the season.

It would be hard to classify any American player as a breakout unless someone like Casey O'Brien steps in and steals a top six role. Canada has a plethora of potential, but when it comes to a breakout star, seeing the impact the Olympics had on the PWHL Draft, it's more likely to come from a lower ranked nation. Without the Olympics, Gabriella Durante and Alice Philbert would not have been in any conversation for PWHL roster spots this season.

Short tournaments like the Olympics and Worlds are notoriously poor indicators for success, whether it's the NHL or PWHL. It's too small of a sample size, players often bank points against extremely weak opponents, and those single-game aberrations, particularly for goaltenders, aren't valid markers of season-long consistency at a high level.

Still, someone will impress and earn their opportunity. 

For some, like Seattle's Emma Nuutinen, or a free agent invite like Michelle Lowenhielm, it will be an opportunity to prove themselves. But this tournament isn't overflowing with untapped potential. Luckily with the birth of the PWHL, coverage of women's hockey globally has increased, so there just aren't the hidden gems in this event like there were in the past. 

If I were picking a breakout player, I'd be looking at Austria where the Luggin sisters will need to be heroic in net, or where a veteran like Annika Fazokas could impress. 

It's a long list this season. With players stepping up into much larger roles than ever, almost anyone could breakout this season. It seems like a good bet to look at an expansion team like San Jose and think that someone in the group of Kristin O'Neill, Anne Cherkowski, and Natalie Mlynkova will have a breakout season. San Jose needs one of these players to have a big year, in fact they need all of them to score like true top six players. 

There are plenty of second year players I'd watch for a big step forward this year from Ella Huber, Abby Hustler, Kiara Zanon, Jenna Buglioni, or Emma Gentry.

It will also be interesting to see if others like Sarah Wozniewicz and Abby Newhook can take another step, or if we saw what we can expect in year one. 

Each expansion team is going to have fascinating story lines this season. I'm very interested to watch Las Vegas' rookies, and if San Jose can possibly outperform expectations. Both are lucky the league is giving them extra games in the Western Conference, because I don't think any expansion team outside Hamilton could hang in the East from day one. Detroit is probably the team I'm most excited to see, just because their build looked impressive with big names and some behind the scenes drama, but it's also the roster that you look at and wonder whether they're going to beat up on Western Conference teams, or flop.