Last season, the PWHL saw the league’s first Russian, Ilona Markova, selected in the 2024 PWHL Draft. Markova attended training camp with the Boston Fleet, but eventually was cut. This year however, Russia’s top forward, Anna Shokhina, will look to change that.
Shokhina was the top scorer in Russia this season recording 73 points in 42 games. She’s been a Russian All-Star for eight straight seasons. The 26-year-old right winger also led the league in scoring in 2019 with 76 points in 33 games, and 2022 with 83 points in 34 games. In 2022 she was also named Russia’s Best Player. It was her second time winning the honor, also being named Russia’s Best Player in 2017. Shokhina is rapidly approaching 1000 career points in Russia’s ZhHL with 833 points in 430 games.
If Shokhina has her way, she won’t cross the 1000 point mark to close out her career, instead she’ll be in the PWHL.
“I am very interested in playing at this level,” says Shokhina.
“There are a lot of good players in PWHL that you can watch and learn a lot from, (Marie-Philip) Poulin, (Alex) Carpenter. I want to play in PWHL and create competition for them,” she said.
Internationally, Shokhina has represented Russia at three Olympic Games, including captaining their roster in 2022. She’s also played at the World Championships and U-18 World Championships representing Russia.
Shokhina won’t be alone however, as Ilona Markova intends to return to North America to take another crack at making a PWHL roster. Markova was the 37th overall pick in the 2024 Draft of the Boston Fleet.
Лучший бомбардир в истории ЖХЛ Анна Шохина! Первый сезон в новой команде