PWHL Vancouver signs Michela Cava to two-year contract
On Tuesday, PWHL Vancouver continued to attract significant talent to the Canadian West Coast as they build for their inaugural season in 2025-26, signing Michela Cava to a two-year contract.
After signing forwards Hannah Miller and Tereza Vanisova earlier on Monday.
The PWHL’s free agency signing window officially opened on Monday, after Vancouver and fellow expansion club PWHL Seattle had the opportunity at an exclusive signing window to kickstart their roster builds, in addition to the expansion draft.
Cava comes to Vancouver from the Minnesota Frost, where she scored 14 goals and 27 points in 54 regular-season games, and won two Walter Cup titles with an additional seven goals and 13 points in 18 playoff games.
RUN IT BACK 🗣️
Michela Cava goes back to back in the third ‼️ https://t.co/iDOgTETaZZ pic.twitter.com/W9DjJvaKr9
The 31-year-old also arrives with a standout winning pedigree, having captured league titles in different leagues in each of the last five seasons.
In 2024 and 2025, she won the Walter Cup, and previously won the 2023 PHF Isobel Cup with the now-defunct Toronto Six. Before that, she won the Russian-based ZhHl in 2022 with the KRS Vanke Rays and the 2021 Swedish SDHL title with Luleå HF.
In addition to the team silverware, she also captured MVP honors in 2022 with the Vanke Rays and 2023 with the Six.
With Cava set to join, Vancouver’s roster now sits at 15 of 23 players, which includes standouts Sarah Nurse, Claire Thompson and Emerance Maschemeyer, in addition to Miller and Jenn Gardiner, who return to their hometown of Vancouver after standout PWHL and collegiate careers.
Led by general manager Cara Gardner Morey, Vancouver now looks ahead to the remainder of free agency and the 2025 PWHL Draft, with hopes of continuing to build a hopeful contender ahead of puck drop in the fall.
The schedule release for the 2025-26 PWHL season is expected at some point in the coming weeks.