10 PWHL players who need to shine in contract year
It won’t be long before the puck drops on the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League season. There’s a lot of excitement heading into the league’s third season – new teams, new players, and a sense of optimism for all eight franchises.
However, there are a number of players who enter the new campaign in the last years of their contracts. Whether that be because they’re betting on themselves, or teams aren’t quite ready to commit to them long-term, there’s a multitude of talented individuals who have to prove themselves that they’re worth keeping around, or maybe attract attention from other teams across the PWHL.
In no particular order, here are 10 players who I expect to play with a sense of urgency this year.
Sydney Bard (D, PWHL Vancouver)
Bard was left exposed by the Boston Fleet after just one year with the team, allowing Vancouver to scoop her up in the expansion draft. It came after a trying season for the Fleet, and the rookie Bard had a hard time adjusting to the pro game. The Colgate product totaled just three points and had a -5 rating in 27 games, averaging less than 20 minutes per game.
Though Vancouver has a strong corps, led by Sophie Jaques, Claire Thompson and Ashton Bell, Bard should have an opportunity to prove herself with some top-four minutes.
Izzy Daniel (F, PWHL Vancouver)
I really felt like Daniel was going to have her share of struggles in her first year in the league, but even on a Toronto Sceptres team where there were chances for her to step up with injuries to key players, you could tell she wasn’t comfortable with the style of play coming from the ECAC. She ended up scoring two goals and seven points in 30 games, and just one assist in the semifinals against the Minnesota Frost. However, she didn’t find the back of the net in the four months of the season.
Yet, the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Award winner has a stage in a new home to have a fresh start. While she might not get the top-six minutes she had in stretches during her rookie season, a lesser role might give Daniel a chance to find her legs in her sophomore season.
Loren Gabel (F, Boston Fleet)
I went hard by saying that Gabel was a dark horse to win MVP in the league’s first season…how could I not? She put up 40 points with the Boston Pride in the PHF and was given every opportunity to shine with Boston in its first season. However, injuries paired with the rise of Hannah Bilka in season two led to Gabel falling further down the lineup, resulting in the former Clarkson star scoring just three points last season.
Yet, with Bilka and former captain Hilary Knight going to Seattle, the door has swung open for Gabel to play a bigger role for the Fleet. The team re-signed her to a one-year contract, hoping she can reignite her game on a team that has hopes of getting back in the playoffs.
Julia Gosling (F, PWHL Seattle)
I know I might be one of the few who have their doubts about Gosling, but despite entering the PWHL ranks after an incredible career at St. Lawrence, her style of play just didn’t seem to click with the Sceptres. While physicality is prevalent in the league, speed is what really drives the play. The London native has a knack for putting the puck in the net, but all four of her goals during the regular season came on the power play.
Gosling ended up being one of Toronto’s better players in the semifinals, but if she wants a solid extension, she needs to find a way to be a better contributor at 5-on-5.
Savannah Harmon (D, Toronto Sceptres)
I still remember when Savannah Harmon captured the hockey world’s attention with her performance during the PWHL showcase during the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend. She was the big piece that came back to the Sceptres in the trade that saw Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury split up the pair of Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque, with the latter heading to the Ottawa Charge.
The move did little to benefit the Sceptres. While Fast still dominated the game, Harmon looked like a fish out of water in her new digs. In 24 games with Toronto, she registered six assists and didn’t score a goal during the regular season. We all know there’s another level to the Olympian’s game, but she has to find it if she wants to remain in Toronto.
Nicole Hensley (G, Minnesota Frost)
One-half of the tandem in Minnesota would love to have a bounce-back season. While Hensley was the one who posted a shutout in Game 5 of the 2024 PWHL Final, helping her team become the league’s first-ever champion, she ended up playing second fiddle to Maddie Rooney for most of the 2024-25 campaign. A lot of that was Hensley’s own doing, as she looked rather average compared to her partner between the pipes, going 7-3-1 with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
It led to her not only losing out on the starting job in the final, but the 31-year-old was left off the U.S. roster for the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship as well (and is not quite on the radar of making Team USA’s Olympic roster, either). That can all change with a turnaround campaign this year. She’ll have to show out in order to get another long-term contract, as Minnesota has clearly bought in with Rooney, signing her to a three-year contract extension this offseason.
Kateřina Mrázová (F, Ottawa Charge)
I can already hear Ottawa fans putting their heads in their hands and crying out, “Not her, too!”
Listen, I don’t think there’s any reason the Charge doesn’t want to re-sign Mrázová. She has been a leader on this team and has been unquestionably one of the team’s top offensive weapons. The only reason I have her on this list is that I sense she wants a significant pay raise in her next contract, wherever that may be.
After a respectable first season, injuries plagued the Czech star last year, limiting her to just seven points in 14 games. She definitely has the tools to be a 25-point player, but she has to prove that she can stay healthy. Also, with players like Tereza Vanisova and Jincy Roese going elsewhere, a lot more of the pressure will fall on Mrázová, Brianne Jenner and Emily Clark.
Kristin O’Neill (F, New York Sirens)
One piece of the trade that took place on the stage at the 2025 PWHL Draft saw the Montreal Victoire send Kristin O’Neill to the Sirens. It was a rather stunning move, as O’Neill was a solid secondary scoring threat in Montreal, and provided a level of experience that helped the team finish near the top of the standings. Yet, her production dropped in year two with the Victoire, scoring just a goal and five points in 30 games.
General manager Daniele Sauvageau decided it was time for a change, which leads to the question of what’s next for O’Neill – going from one of the best teams in the league to one of its worst over the first two years. With players like Alex Carpenter and Jessier Eldridge heading to Seattle, O’Neill will receive a larger role in New York, giving the 27-year-old a chance to make her case why the team should buy into her stock for a few more years.
Abby Roque (F, Montréal Victoire)
The player who went the other way in the draft-day trade was Abby Roque. A polarizing figure in the game, the Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. native had a trying first two seasons in New York. She was one of the team’s first three signings and was expected to be at the forefront of the team’s scoring attack. However, inconsistency and the team’s overall poor performance changed the narrative, despite Roque’s production rising to from 13 to 17 points between the two seasons.
Roque certainly has the skill and confidence to be a big-time player. On a Montreal team that has needed a little more grit, she could be exactly what it needs to finally get over the hump. With that, the door is open for the 28-year-old to re-establish herself as one of the best in the game.
Grace Zumwinkle (F, Minnesota Frost)
It might seem puzzling to some to see a player who won the league’s first Rookie of the Year award go from a star to a depth asset. That has things have played out for Zumwinkle thus far in Minnesota. Though she has been on two Walter Cup championship teams, the University of Minnesota product’s numbers dropped between her first two years in the league. After scoring an impressive 19 points in 24 games in year one, Zumwinkle managed to score just 10 points in 22 games. Granted, she missed almost a month due to injury, and hardly looked like herself when she returned.
Like Mrázová, I do believe the Frost wants to keep Zumwinkle around, but she has to show that last year was a fluke if she wants her next deal to reflect the status of a top-tier player.