2024 Top 25 Under 25: Hannah Bilka (13), Lina Ljungblom (14)

14: Lina Ljungblom

by J Gray

After being selected with the final pick of the 2023 PWHL Draft by Montréal, Lina Ljungblom played the second year of her contract with MoDo Hockey in the SDHL. She scored 23 goals and 46 points in 36 games, nearly double the next top scorer on her team. She finished third in league scoring and was the only player in the top five not to play for Luleå. In the playoffs, Ljungblom posted another 10 points in 10 games to lead MoDo to a loss to Luleå in the SDHL Championship. Ljungblom was named the MVP of the SDHL in a vote by her fellow players. She was also named a Top 3 Player on Team Sweden at the Women’s World Championship in Utica, New York.

Past and Future

Due to her October birthday, Ljungblom was 15 years and three months old when she was selected to represent Sweden at the U18 Women’s Worlds for the first time. The second time around, in 2018, she scored four goals and six points in five games to lead Sweden to their first silver-medal finish at the event.

Ljungblom played her first full season in the SDHL in 2019-20 for HV71, then moved to MoDO Hockey. In her four years with the club, Ljungblom was MoDo's top scorer three times and danced around the point per game mark each year. This season, she zipped past her personal best with 1.28 points per game.

At the international level, Ljungblom broke out in 2023 at her third senior World Championship. She became the first player to score four goals in a game at the top level since Marie-Philip Poulin in 2013 and led Team Sweden with seven goals in seven games. In 2024, she served as an alternate captain for the team. 

At only 22 years of age, Ljungblom will be among the youngest players in the PWHL when she debuts in the fall. A center for MoDo and Sweden, she may play the same role for Montréal, or the idea of letting her develop alongside Marie-Philip Poulin or Kristin O’Neill may be tempting for head coach Kori Cheverie. The team showed that they believed in her promise at the inaugural draft, and she proved they were right to do so with her play in Sweden this year. For this highly promising young athlete, her ceiling in North America is yet to be determined.

Ranking

In my personal opinion, 14 is too low for a league MVP. The NCAA may or may not be a more skilled league, but the SDHL has allowed checking for the past two seasons and Ljungblom has been playing against top players from many of Europe’s national teams. I had her in my top ten, and I’ll stand by that.

13: Hannah Bilka

by Maya Smith

Last season: 

Getting drafted fourth overall in the PWHL was just one of Hannah Bilka’s many accomplishments last season. After leaving Boston College to complete her final year of eligibility at Ohio State, Bilka took home an NCAA National Championship, assisting on the game-winning goal. 

In the regular season, Bilka led the Buckeyes with 48 points and notched a career-high 22 goals. She also slotted in on the power play, leading the unit with nine goals. This was enough for the Buckeyes to become the 2024 WCHA Regular Season Champions. 

Along with the championship trophy, Bilka earned First Team All-WCHA, Ohio State Scholar Athlete, and ACHA All-American Scholar recognition. 

Bilka joined Team USA for the Women’s World Championships, putting up four points and winning gold. 

Career:

Before joining Ohio State in 2023, Hannah Bilka made headlines playing for Boston College. As a freshman, Bilka led her team in points and led all NCAA rookies in points-per-game, assists-per-game, and shots-on-goal per game. That season, she earned WCHA National Rookie of the Year and Hockey East Rookie of the Year. 

Like many players under 25, her second season at Boston College was cut short by COVID-19 but that didn’t stop her from putting up 16 points in 19 games. 

In her junior year, Bilka put up career-high numbers and became the 34th player in Boston College history to reach 75 career points and was named to the Hockey East First All-Star Team. 

As captain in her senior year, Bilka led Boston College with 41 points, setting another career-high. 

At the international level, Bilka had already won a U18 World Championship gold medal before entering the NCAA. She returned to the U18 team in 2018, bringing home a silver medal. At just 23, she has played three years on the senior national team, collecting two silvers and a gold medal. 

Future:

With an invite to the 2024 National Team Festival, we’ll likely see Hannah Bilka back in red, white, and blue soon enough. 

Drafted fourth overall by Boston in the 2024 PWHL draft, Hannah Bilka cemented a future for herself in professional hockey. She signed a three-year deal with the team in July, so it’s clear that PWHL Boston has high hopes for her future. Her goal-scoring ability makes her a smart signing. Could we see her as a candidate for rookie of the year next season? Only time will tell. 

With a few exceptions ( *cough* Grace Zumwinkle *cough*), we saw college players take a little bit to find their footing this year in the PWHL. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a slower start from her while she adjusts to the level of play and physicality of the league. Nonetheless, I expect we’ll be talking about Hannah Bilka for many more years. 

Too high or too low?

We may have done it, folks! I think we found a player who is perfectly positioned on this list. Without spoiling what’s to come, Bilka is one of the highest-rated NCAA players on our list, and aside from the few who are in a league of their own, I think Bilka ranks pretty solidly at 13th.