The 2025 PWHL Draft is another filled with talent. This year however, eight teams will be picking meaning the skilled players entering the league will be less concentrated than in the past.
Here's a look at what each of the PWHL's eight teams need most at the draft.
Boston Fleet
A top pairing defender and offensive support. The pool for this category of defenders is not deep. It starts and ends with Haley Winn, Rory Guilday, and Nicole Gosling. Winn is the probable pick at second overall. Boston needs someone to step into their top four and play significant minutes as an impact player. Megan Keller has had too much on her plate defensively to use her offensive skills effectively, and the team has struggled to bring along their young blueliners. Getting someone who is more PWHL ready might be the answer, and Winn fits the bill. They could also wait until round two and hope to add Kendall Cooper who is the next best thing if they want to swing for offensive help in the form of Casey O'Brien. There's good depth at forward in the second and third rounds of this draft for Boston to find bits and pieces to complement their existing roster.
Minnesota Frost
Minnesota needs defensive depth with offensive upside after losing Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson. It's something they haven't been able to replace, and it could cause them to reach at a defender in round one, but it's a more likely task for the second and third rounds. In the opening round, there's a possibility Minnesota could grab a player like Natalie Mlynkova who would complete their top six replacing Michela Cava who signed in Vancouver.
Montreal Victoire
Montreal saw their blueline gutted, and lost their already thin secondary scoring in expansion. They did a commendable job grabbing back what they could in Shiann Darkangelo, Hayley Scamurra, and Jessica DiGirolamo. Knowing they're picking fourth, Montreal will have their choice of either Nicole Gosling or Rory Guilday to solidify another top four defender. After that, Montreal can get to work on filling the wings up front and finding more offensive depth.
New York Sirens
Scoring. New York's blueline has strength and depth, but New York doesn't have scoring punch outside of Sarah Fillier. They have needs on both of their top two lines, and there was a steep absence of scoring beyond their top line. Kristyna Kaltounkova would be the ultimate addition, but Casey O'Brien is another player who could be a game changer for New York. Beyond this duo, New York needs to strike as often as they can at the best scorers in the draft on the wings and shouldn't shy away from veterans like Michelle Karvinen in round two, or Anna Shokhina in round three before returning to NCAA players. Somewhere in the draft they should also attempt to acquire either Hannah Murphy or Sanni Ahola, but if they strike out there, there are others they could take in the final round to help solidify the position.
Ottawa Charge
Ottawa's blueline has been decimated losing Ashton Bell, Aneta Tejralova, Jincy Roese, and Zoe Boyd. They have no other option but to take whoever they can in the first two rounds to fill out their top four, and then to continue adding in later rounds. Rory Guilday or Nicole Gosling, whoever remains at fifth overall is the obvious pick. In round two, a player like Nina Jobst-Smith makes an abundance of sense skill-wise, stylistically, and for character. They could stray in rounds three and four if they feel the best available at that point are forwards, but Ottawa will need to pick more defenders to close out their draft. They also have work to do in finding a back up goalie, but that's likely a job for after the draft at this point.
Toronto Sceptres
After ensuring they had their top four defenders on lock down, and given the fact they have three goalies signed, expect Toronto to go early and often after offensive talent. Casey O'Brien at third overall would be a huge get for the Sceptres, and they will have the opportunity to select any number of players in round two and three like Ella Huber, Abby Hustler, Skylar Irving, Maya Labad, Anna Segedi, and Kiara Zanon. They'll certainly dip in for a defender late, but it's going to be an offensive parade for most of Toronto's picks.
PWHL Seattle
Seattle has six defenders and eight forwards inked, along with a goalie. It's almost certain that Seattle will target forwards with their first 2-3 picks before thinking more strategically looking at a backup goalie or seventh defender. At the end of round one they should have a pick of players like Jenna Buglioni, Anne Cherkowski, Michelle Karvinen, or Ella Huber.
PWHL Vancouver
No team navigated free agency with as much success as Vancouver. Their first pick will likely be a forward, with a player like Anne Cherkowski available who is a British Columbia product and stylistically fits what Cara Gardner Morey has built, it feels like a picture perfect match. They might go for another forward in round two before shifting gears, and when they do shift, it's likely to be to select the first goalie in the draft in either Sanni Ahola or Hannah Murphy. Emerance Maschmeyer is their unquestioned started, but she's also shown she needs protection from injury and overuse. Vancouver will take another defender late in the draft, but after picking up a forward or two and a goalie, they will be one of the only teams in the league with the luxury of being able to select best available. They could even be a team who looks at sending multiple selections to another team to move up a bit since they have the most robust and complete roster heading to the draft.