The PWHL dropped its 2025 Draft details on Tuesday, with the league’s third-annual entry draft set to take over Ottawa, Canada — home of the Charge — on June 24th.

Eligible NCAA standouts and other pro hockey prospects have until May 8th to declare for selection, following the PWHL’s May 3rd regular-season finale.

Notably, the second-year league follows the Gold Plan when it comes to determining draft order. Under this system, teams eliminated from the playoffs have an incentive to continue hunting wins, as franchises who amass more points post-elimination secure higher draft picks.

The New York Sirens and 2024 champions Minnesota Frost currently sit below the postseason cutoff line, meaning both teams could snag the most draft capital when the league returns from international break later this month.

Team USA's Abbey Murphy skates during a 2023 game against Canada.
Team USA's Abbey Murphy is the likely 2025 PWHL Draft No. 1 pick, unless she returns to the NCAA. (Chris Tanouye/Getty Images)

NCAA stars likely to top 2025 PWHL Draft selections

Last year, the New York Sirens selected Princeton star Sarah Fillier as the overall No. 1 pick, with the rookie forward having an immediate impact in her debut pro season.

Fillier currently ranks second in individual points scored on the 2024/25 PWHL stat sheet, trailing only US hockey legend and Boston Fleet captain Hilary Knight.

As for who will join Fillier and Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise — the inaugural 2023 PWHL Draft No. 1 pick — atop this year's draft, two NCAA standouts are likely contenders.

Should she declare, University of Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy is the projected 2025 No. 1 pick.

However, Murphy could return to the Golden Gophers for a final NCAA season following her international duty with the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship semifinals-bound Team USA.

Should Murphy defer her pro debut, 2024/25 NCAA MVP Casey O'Brien is the likely top selectee, having already declared for the draft.

The Wisconsin captain wrapped up her NCAA campaign as this season's leading scorer, claiming 88 points on 26 goals and 62 assists en route to this year’s national championship — the third NCAA title of her college career.

USA Hockey tapped 25 players to represent the US at April’s 2025 IIHF World Championships in Czechia on Wednesday, as the team looks to avenge their overtime loss to Canada in the 2024 IIHF Final.

A total of 21 players from that silver medal-winning squad will return to this year's roster, which will be led by superstar forward Hilary Knight.

Knight already boasts 14 World Championship medals, more than any other athlete in IIHF history, and is poised to help the US make a record-extending 24th appearance in the IIHF championship game.

Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield passes the puck during a 2025 PWHL game against the Boston Fleet.
Following their 2024 PWHL title, Minnesota has six players on USA Hockey's 2025 IIHF roster. (David Berding/Getty Images)

PWHL and NCAA stars comprise Team USA

Boston Fleet captain Knight is one of 16 PWHL athletes to make Team USA's lineup, showcasing the impact of an in-season domestic league while teams around the world compete for international honors.

While all six PWHL teams are represented on the roster, the inaugural Walter Cup-winning Minnesota Frost will send a league-leading six US athletes to Czechia.

Trailing just behind Minnesota with three IIHF-bound skaters apiece are 2023/24 runners-up Boston and the Toronto Sceptres, who currently sit in second- and third-place on the 2024/25 PWHL table.

Completing the lineup and, more generally, gaining the experience to keep Team USA atop the sport are an impressive nine NCAA players, led by five skaters from No. 1 ranked Wisconsin.

One of those Badgers, sophomore goaltender Ava McNaughton, will join 2024 Wisconsin grad and Montréal Victoire defender Anna Wilgren as the team's two IIHF World Championship debutants.

Additionally, Frost defender Lee Stecklein and Sceptres forward Jesse Compher will round out the four athletes who did not feature on the 2024 roster. Both players will make their first return to the IIHF stage following silver medal-winning performances at the 2022 edition in Denmark.

"The 25 players selected to represent the US bring skill, talent, and passion on the ice," said US Women’s Hockey GM Katie Million. "The depth of our player pool never makes these decisions easy, but we’re excited to shift our focus on bringing a gold home from Czechia."

Team USA hockey players watch the flag be raised after a 2024 IIHF World Championship victory.
USA Hockey named 25 players to the 2025 IIHF World Championship roster. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)

Team USA's 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship roster

How to watch the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship

The puck will drop on the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship on Wednesday, April 9th, and run through the tournament's 12 PM ET championship game on Sunday, April 20th.

Team USA will first take the ice against Finland at 9 AM ET on April 9th.

All US games will be air live on the NHL Network.

Harvard women’s hockey coach Katey Stone is retiring, the school announced Tuesday. The move comes after nearly three decades at the helm but also in the wake of abuse allegations that have roiled the program.

Stone’s retirement comes after reports in the Boston Globe and The Athletic earlier this year detailing wide-ranging abuse allegations, including hazing. The investigative stories led the university to commission an external review of the program in March by law firm Jenner & Block.

While Tuesday’s announcement did not mention the review or its status, a school spokesperson told The Athletic that the investigation was complete.

“When we release anything, I’ll let you know,” the spokesperson told The Athletic when asked if the firm’s findings would be made public.

Under Stone’s leadership, the Harvard hockey team formed a culture in which players “were routinely pitted against each other, subjected to hazing and initiation rituals that involved forced alcohol consumption and sexualized skits and traditions,” The Athletic reported.

Among the team’s traditions was an annual event called the “naked skate,” which dated back decades, though Stone and her coaching staff called it an unsanctioned activity in a meeting with the team earlier this year. The most recent skate occurred in January, one day after the publication of the Boston Globe story, which described a 2022 incident in which Stone uttered a racially insensitive comment in front of Indigenous members of the team.

According to the Globe, Stone said the team was playing like there were “too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”

Following that incident, two Indigenous players, Maryna MacDonald and Taze Thompson, left the team. So did Sydney Daniels, an assistant coach with Indigenous roots. She later filed a complaint against Harvard and its athletic department.

Associate head coach Lee-J Mirasolo took a leave of absence from Harvard starting in late March, then left the program in early May to take a head coaching position at Stonehill College. Freshman defender Jade Arnone transferred to Boston College after the 2022-23 season.

Stone also has been accused of downplaying injuries and mental health issues and leading derogatory chants directed at players. One player’s parent noted that the program appeared to be “a mental-health Hunger Games.”

“For coaches, stepping down from the bench, leaving the program you have poured your heart and soul into for this many years, is especially hard,” Stone said in the news release announcing her retirement. “I believe a coach knows in their heart when it is time for change and I look forward to supporting the next chapter in Harvard women’s hockey. I am grateful to my coaching colleagues and administrators who have supported my journey. Thank you to my players and alumni for sharing your lives with me.”

In a letter to Harvard hockey alumni obtained by The Athletic, athletic director Erin McDermott encouraged players to submit recommendations for new head coaching candidates. The search will begin immediately.

“Hiring head coaches is one of the most important responsibilities that I hold given the impact on student-athlete experience,” McDermott wrote. “I look forward to the process and am confident that we will hire an excellent coach.”

Ohio State graduate student Sophie Jaques was named the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner, which is awarded annually to the best Division I women’s college hockey player. Jaques is the first Ohio State athlete and first Black player to win the award. She is also just the second defender to receive the honor, joining Harvard’s Angela Ruggiero, who won in 2004.

“I am extremely honored and humbled to receive the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award,” Jaques said during her acceptance speech at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota on Saturday. “I am grateful to be a recipient of an award named after the incredible athlete, scholar and human being, Patty Kazmaier. While this is an individual award, I have been supported by a whole team of people throughout this season and my career at Ohio State, and I owe this all to my coaches and teammates over the last five years. Receiving this award is something I never even could have imagined was possible.”

Jaques is the WCHA record holder in career goals by a defenseman (61) and also owns 95 career assists. The Toronto native is the 10th Canadian winner of the Patty Kazmaier award, joining Jennifer Botterill (2001, 2003), Sara Bauer (2006), Sarah Vaillancourt (2008), Vicki Bendus (2010), Jamie Lee Rattray (2014), Ann-Renee Desbiens (2017), Daryl Watts (2018), Loren Gabel (2019), and Elizabeth Giguere (2020).

Jaques was a top-three finalist for last year’s Patty Kazmaier award and went on to help Ohio State win its first ever NCAA championship in women’s hockey. The Buckeyes will attempt to defend their national title in Sunday’s final against the Wisconsin Badgers (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

Last spring, Jaques graduated magna cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and she is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Ohio State in the same field. The 22-year-old is also the vice president of SHEROs, which according to an Ohio State press release, is an “organization that provides a safe space for minority female student-athletes to have open discussions and promote diversity in sport.”

The other finalists for the 2023 Patty Kazmaier award were Northeastern University forward Alina Mueller and Colgate forward Danielle Serdachny. Mueller was also a top-three finalist in 2020.

Wisconsin freshman Caroline Harvey scored a clutch overtime winner in Friday night’s Frozen Four semifinal against the University of Minnesota to send the Badgers to Sunday’s NCAA women’s hockey championship game.

“Honestly, I blacked out, but it was pretty crazy,” Harvey said of her game-winner at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.

Harvey, 20, deferred her freshman year at Wisconsin in order to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she was the youngest member of the silver medal-winning U.S. hockey team. On Thursday, the New Hampshire native became just the second Wisconsin freshman to earn All-America honors.

Friday’s NCAA semifinal marked the sixth meeting between Minnesota and Wisconsin this season and was the third determined in overtime, with two other games ending in a tie.

Minnesota took the early lead after 2022 Patty Kazmaier winner Taylor Heise scored just over three minutes into the game. In the third period, Wisconsin scored two goals in 57 seconds with tallies from Laila Edwards and Sophie Shirley. After pulling goalie Skylar Vetter for an extra attacker, Minnesota forced overtime with 1:11 remaining in regulation thanks to a goal from Madeline Weathington.

In Friday’s other NCAA hockey semifinal, Ohio State defeated Northeastern 3-0. Ohio State enters Sunday’s championship aiming to defend its 2022 NCAA title, while Wisconsin could break the record for most NCAA titles in women’s hockey. The Badgers are currently tied with Minnesota at six titles each.

Sunday’s NCAA hockey championship game between Ohio State and Wisconsin will air on ESPNU (4 p.m. ET).