The Ice Garden Mailbag: Trades, Women's Worlds, and the 2025-26 Draft

Welcome to The Ice Garden mailbag!

You had questions, and we (well, mostly I) have answers.

Q: With possible expansion this year, could the Ottawa Charge be looking to trade Gwyneth Philips by the deadline?

A: If this was the NHL, I'd say possibly. But we have so little knowledge about how the expansion process will go that I think trading her before the deadline is a rash decision.

Operating with NHL rules where you can only protect a certain number of players and only one goalie, it would make sense for the team to protect Maschmeyer and risk letting Philips get picked up by the expansion team. However, we don't know if that will be the case or what the exemptions might be (for example, Maschmeyer was one of the first free-agent signings; could that make her exempt from the draft?), so it seems like March 14 is just too early to make the decision.

Edited to add that now with Maschmeyer possibly being injured, it's probably even less likely for Philips to be traded.

Q: Can you highlight some findings from the Hockey Canada report on women's and girls' hockey?

A: This is a great question. I think the Hockey Canada report deserves its own article, and I've been meaning to write it for a long time.

For now, I'll include this stat, which I think is awesome: In the 2023-24 season, there were 108,313 women and girls registered in Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs, making up 19.9% of all participants– the highest percentage ever in Canada.

This is great because a) more women and girls are playing hockey, which we love to see, and b) this was the first season where the PWHL existed, meaning that many of those players were there before the PWHL even existed. Likely, there are even more of them now that the PWHL is what it is.

Q: With the Women's Worlds coming up, what team will be the Cinderella story?

So far, the only roster we've seen is Team USA, which looks strong, as usual. Without knowing exactly what the rosters look like, the teams I'd like to see find success this year are Czechia and Japan.

Czechia has had some success at the international level, especially with Carla McLeod at the helm, but they had a bit of a flat tournament last year, losing to Finland in the bronze medal game. I'd like to see them push Canada, the USA, and Finland a bit more this tournament. Plus, they are the host team, so it would be great for them to have some success.

Japan is always a team that has more bite than we think they will. With no Japanese players in the PWHL, it will be interesting to see how competitive the team is. They finished eighth in the last tournament.

Q: Who is the most underrated player this season in the PWHL?

A: This is such a difficult question. I feel like underrated is such a personal definition. But I have a few:

Michela Cava: I think when someone thinks of Minnesota goal scorers, they're thinking of Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, and Kendall Coyne-Schofield. And yes, Heise and Coyne-Schofield are scoring (Zumwinkle was injured), but Cava is quietly showing up with nine goals and six assists so far this season. She is a huge part of the success that the team has had thus far.

Jesse Compher: Similarly, Compher has put up a strong season so far with eight goals and seven assists. Without Spooner for most of the season, and now without Nurse, the Sceptres need to take scoring wherever they can get it. These totals put her fourth in scoring among Sceptres players. I wrote more about her here earlier this season.

Jennifer Gardiner: While Sarah Fillier's Rookie of the Year award is pretty much locked up, she's not the only rookie having a strong season. Gardiner is second among rookies in assists and points, and she was really good for Canada at the Rivalry Series. Playing with Stacey and Poulin doesn't hurt, of course, but she holds her own as well.

Q: How active should Ottawa be leading up to/at the deadline?

A: Should they be? I think so. Will they be? I don't think so...

Even though Mike Hirshfeld won't hesitate to get involved in trades, as we saw earlier this season when he picked up Bach and Larocque, I'm not sure that he always jumps in at the right time.

It's also so hard to know if they will be in a playoff spot or not with everything so close. I'd imagine that's why we haven't seen many moves at all leading up to the deadline. Everyone is uncertain and worried about making mistakes. I do think they are a team that could go all in to push to knock either Boston or Minnesota out of a playoff spot.

Edited to add that if Maschmeyer's injury is serious, they may see what goaltenders other teams are selling. But still, I don't think they will make many changes.

Q: Which USports player should be drafted?

A: I had to defer to my colleagues for this one since I don't follow college hockey as closely. The names that were thrown around were Leah Herrfort, who plays at Waterloo and has 25 points across 22 games this season, and Mackenzie Kordic at UBC, who is +19 on the season.

With both USports and the NCAA, it'll be interesting to see who declares for the draft in the first place.

Q: Which NCAA athlete would be a steal in the draft?

A: Again, we'll see who declares, but when it comes to forwards, keep an eye on Skylar Irving, a forward out of Northeastern University who has put up strong numbers in her last two seasons with the Huskies, Emma Gentry who plays at St. Cloud, and Millie Rose Sirum who played at Holy Cross until this season when she joined Providence. Each could play solid minutes on a third or fourth line.

For the defenders, Dayle Ross (St. Cloud) and Tory Mariano (Northeastern) would be good shutdown blueliners.

And for goalies, watch for Sanni Ahola (St. Cloud), who we'll likely see join Finland at the World Championships in April.

Q: Any trade predictions?

A: Geremy wrote an article about this, which can be found here. My prediction is that we won't see any big names moved at the deadline. As much as I'd like to see Ottawa and New York go big or go home, I think they will go home.

Q: Which NCAA players should Canada bring to the Women's World Championships?

A: The only NCAA player that I think is a lock for the team is Chloe Primerano. Her production at junior international events (16 points at the 2023 U18 championships and 10 at the 2024 U18 championships) and her 29 points in 33 games so far this season in the NCAA should get her a chance with the team.

The top two goals-per-game players in the NCAA right now, Sarah Paul and Issy Wunder, are both Canadian, but Canada is pretty stacked with regular senior National Team forwards, so I'm not sure how many spots will be open for young talent. Mackenzie Alexander is another player who could get a look, but again, I'm not sure there's room.

Canada took one defender and two forwards from the NCAA last year in Julia Gosling (F), Nicole Gosling (D), and Danielle Serdachny (F). Nicole Gosling is the only one of that group left who's still in college, so she could earn a spot again on the team.

Selfishly, I'd like to see them take an NCAA goalie as the third goalie (since Canada doesn't seem eager to play their third goalie). Julia Minotti leads Canadian goaltenders in the NCAA for goals against average, but I think Ève Gascon is the likely choice.

Q: Why do you think Rooney and Hensley weren't selected for the Women's World Championships?

A: I think there were two factors involved here. The first is that the US does a good job of prioritizing the young talent that they have and getting them time at the international level. So, it's quite possible that they were always planning to have an NCAA goaltender on the roster, leaving only two spots open. Aerin Frankel is the starter, so she has to be there, and Gwyneth Philips' showing this season for the Charge and at the Rivalry Series earned her a spot on the roster.

The other factor is that neither of them has had stellar seasons with the Frost. I think Maddie Rooney has actually stepped up her game since she was left off the roster, but Hensley has the worst goals against average and save percentage of any goalie who's played more than five games this season. When the rosters were being formed, the Frost were in a slump, and neither goaltender was playing well.

It's a bummer for both of them, but it has seemed like a kick in the pants for Rooney, at least.

Q: Which PWHL player is currently underperforming?

A: As I mentioned above, I think Hensley is underperforming. But I'm rarely willing to blame goalies who are struggling because there are so many extenuating factors. If your team isn't scoring or defending well, it's hard to win games. I will say that someone I was expecting to perform better than they have been this season is Danielle Serdachny.

She is a rookie this season, and it's not fair to expect someone who has come from the NCAA to the PWHL to produce at an insanely high level (especially if your name isn't Sarah Fillier). Still, among rookies, Serdachny's seven points barely crack the top 10 among rookies, and her two goals drop her out of the top 10. As the second overall pick, I think a better performance was expected.