With the re-signing of Andrea Brandli in Sweden, Sanni Ahola moves to the top of the PWHL Draft charts among goaltenders. The pool for goalies is thin considering the global depth at the position. Ahola and Colgate's Hannah Murphy remain as top prospects.

Ahola has been Finland's starting goaltender at recent World Championship competition winning bronze with her nation the last two seasons. This year at Worlds, Ahola looked human, but a significant part of that was the lack of defensive depth Finland brought to the tournament.

Ahola was in her third World Championship with Finland, and recently completed her fifth season of NCAA hockey with St. Cloud State where she regularly faced top competition in the WCHA while posting a career 2.61 GAA and .917 save percentage.

For Ahola, she's excited to get the opportunity to play in a professional women's league.

"Super happy that we finally got a good professional league for women, it was just a dream for so long," Ahola told The Hockey News. "It is very competitive since it has the best players in the world so obviously an awesome opportunity to play in the league amongst the best and get to challenge ourselves every day."

In her crease, Ahola is extremely calm in her movements, and in recovering from difficult situations. Structurally, she sees the game well and manages pucks. What sets her apart is her edge work keeping her angles tight and allowing her to face most shots square, and often not needing to leave her feet. Ahola however, as witnessed in international competition, is also capable of making the stretching big saves when elite players move the puck from side to side. She also enjoys playing the puck to aid her defenders.

For Ahola, the 2025 PWHL Draft is just the beginning.

"My personal goals for the next season is to play in the PWHL and get to represent my country in the Olympics," she said. "For the long term my goal is to play professionally as long as possible, and also inspire young girls to get into hockey."