Abby Hustler was the NCAA's player of the month in January and sits in the top 10 nationally in scoring. The St. Lawrence University star hopes that when her NCAA career is done, she will join the PWHL becoming the league's first ever player from PEI.

Looking at the NCAA's leading scorers, it's a who's who of stars. The top ten scorers in the nation include Canadian national team standout Danielle Serdachny, World Championship gold medalists Lacey Eden, Abbey Murphy, Britta Curl, and Tessa Janecke, and Rivalry Series participants Kirsten Simms, Casey O'Brien, and Julia Gosling.

Among those players, a name not to be overlooked is St. Lawrence University's Abby Hustler. Hustler currently sits sixth in the NCAA in scoring with 23 goals and 49 points in 32 games this season. She leads St. Lawrence in scoring, ahead of team captain Julia Gosling.

Last season, Hustler finished tied for 47th in the NCAA in scoring with 36 points in 39 games with current PWHL players Claire Dalton and Abigail Boreen, one point behind PWHL Boston's Sophie Shirley and Canadian national team star Sarah Fillier.

From her second to third season in the NCAA, there's been a natural progression in Hustler's game.

"I think the natural growth...is big, but just building chemistry with your teammates, once you kind of build that, I'm playing with players that I played with last year and the year before, so you continue to click and just get a little more confident," said Hustler of her improvement year over year.

Hailing from St. Louis, Prince Edward Island, Hustler was named the NCAA's Player of the Month for January leading the nation in scoring during the month.

"I feel like that's more-so a team award in a sense when these girls get recognized for during so well, when you look at how our team did...that speaks a lot of volume," said Hustler, passing off her success as a byproduct of her teammates.

Hustler has one more season in the NCAA. She'll graduate as part of a double cohort of players that includes those who could take a fifth year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and players like herself, who walked into a full NCAA season as a rookie. She's been watching the development of the PWHL closely as a fan since the puck dropped on the new league.

"I absolutely love it. Any chance I get I watch every game. I think the physicality is so fun to watch as a fan, I don't watch the games as another player, I watch as a fan," said Hustler.

Although she considers her best attribute to be her playmaking, Hustler is also a lethal shooter in the NCAA, and following next season, she'll be one of the top prospects graduating from the NCAA. Should she be drafted and get to play in the league herself, Hustler would become the first player ever from the province of PEI to skate in the PWHL. 

"Whenever I get the chance to play in that league it will be so special, and I'm so excited for what's to come," she said. "If I could be the first one it would just be so special. I think that it would give girls a chance to see that they can also make it."