Minnesota PWHL Roster Overview
Alright folks, it’s time: we are going over every PWHL roster and try to gain a bit of an idea of what you could expect to see from these teams. Today, we’re looking at Minnesota, as we’re going alphabetical by city, and they’re second. In a previous article (which you can find just below this paragraph) you can see I wrote an article about each team’s initial free agency signings, so if you want to read about Minnesota’s three signings, read about them there. In this article, I’ll give very brief biographies about each player, and then a general takeaway or two just looking at the broader roster. I don’t expect these articles to be too long, so let’s get into it.
PWHL Free Agency Recap (2023)
While the free agency period still has a few days to go, all the spots have been filled. All six PWHL teams had three spots they could fill, and each has now done so. Over the last few days each team has revealed their franchise cornerstones, and now I can release this article in full. So, today, we are looking at each player signed during the initial free agency period for this new league.
Anyway, let’s start with the defenders:
Lee Stecklein: In college, she played with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and won three national championships. After that, she moved on to club hockey and helped the Minnesota Whitecaps win the Isobel Cup in 2019. She would only play one season in the PHF (at the time, the NWHL), and moved on to play for the PWHPA Minnesota team, and then Team Harvey’s. Internationally, she has won 8 gold medals with Team USA (one with the U18 team) and 5 silver medals (one with the U18 team).
Maggie Flaherty: Coming off five seasons of college hockey with University of Minnesota-Duluth, this is her first season of professional hockey. She has also played internationally once, playing the U18 team for the USA, at the World Junior Championship in 2018. She won the gold medal.
Natalie Buchbinder: This is her first season of professional hockey. Previously, she played six seasons for the University of Wisconsin, winning the NCAA Championships twice. She also has played internationally twice: once at the World Junior Championships in 2017 (she won gold medal) and at the World Championships in 2021 (where she won silver). Both were with Team USA.
Sidney Morin: Having played four seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Morin would go overseas to play professional hockey. She played four seasons in the SDHL, two of them with HV71, and then one in the SWHL, serving as captain of Ladies Team Lugano. Last year, she came back to America to play with the Minnesota Whitecaps in the PHF. Internationally, she has played with Team USA three times, winning two medals: one gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2018, and a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in 2013.
Moving on to goaltenders:
Amanda Leveille: She played four seasons with the University of Minnesota, where she would win four national championships. After that, she was drafted into the PHF (then known as the NWHL) by the Buffalo Beauts. She was the first draft pick to sign a contract in league history. She played with the Beauts for two seasons (winning the Isobel Cup once), before joining the Minnesota Whitecaps, where she played for five seasons, winning the Isobel Cup once with them.
Nicole Hensley: Playing four seasons of college hockey with Lindenwood, and graduating in 2016, she would wait until 2018 to go pro. She would join the Buffalo Beauts of the PHF (still the NWHL at the time), and then go to the PWHPA the next season. She would play a total of three seasons in the PWHPA. Internationally, she represented Team USA seven times, winning six gold medals. She has been to two Olympic Games, winning a gold and silver medal. In the World Championships, she has won three gold medals and two silver medals.
And finally, the forwards:
Clair DeGeorge: She has played five seasons in college, four of them with Bemidji State, and the final with Ohio State. After that, she went pro and played for Team Harvey’s in the PWHPA. She has only played once internationally, for the USA, winning a gold medal with the U18 team in 2017.
Denisa Křížová: Coming from Czechia, this forward played high school hockey for National Sports Academy before playing in college for four years with Northeastern University. In 2018, she would join the PHF with the Boston Pride for one season before going back to Europe. She would play three seasons with Brynäs IF of the SDHL before coming back to America to play with the Minnesota Whitecaps. Internationally, she has represented Czechia twenty-one times, winning three gold medals in the World Championships.
Grace Zumwinkle: Having played in college for five seasons with the University of Minnesota, this is her first season in professional hockey. She has also represented the USA five times internationally, and has won two gold medals with the U18 team and two silver medals at the World Championships with another silver at the Olympics.
Kelly Pannek: She played for the University of Minnesota and won back-to-back championships. When it comes to playing professional club hockey, she played three seasons in the PWHPA. Internationally, she plays for Team USA, she has won four gold medals and three silver medals.
Kendall Coyne Schofield: In college, she played for Northeastern and was awarded with the Patty Kazmaier Award for being the best female college player in 2016. In professional club hockey, she won the Isobel Cup in 2019 with the Minnesota Whitecaps (back when the PHF was the NWHL), and then went on to play three seasons in the PWHPA. When it comes to international hockey, she has been the captain of Team USA since 2019 and has won 8 gold medals (one of them being at the U18 level) and 6 silver medals (one being at the U18 level).
Liz Schepers: She played five seasons of college hockey, all with Ohio State, and was named team captain in the 2020-21 season. She turned pro for the 2022-23 season, playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the PHF.
Michela Cava: She played four seasons of college hockey, two with Connecticut, and the last two with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She went pro for the 2016-17 season, getting drafted in the third round of the CWHL draft by the Toronto Furies. She would only play one season there before moving to Europe, to sign with MODO Hockey of the SDHL. She would play with them for two seasons before going over to Brynäs IF, and then Luleå HF, with whom she won a championship with. In the 2020-21 season, she moved to Russia, playing for the KRS Vanke Rays, and winning a championship with them. In the 2021-22, she moved back to North America, signing with the Toronto Six, with whom she would win the final Isobel Cup.
Sophia Kunin: Having played in college for four seasons with the University of Wisconsin and having won one championship with them, she went pro for the 2019-20 season. She spent four seasons in the PWHPA leading up to this season. Internationally, she represented Team USA once in the World Junior Championships (2015) and won a gold medal.
Susanna Tapani: She first came onto the scene in 2009, playing for Finland in the World Junior Championships. She has been a constant internationally since then, winning one bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. She also has two bronze medals at the Olympics, and four more at the World Championships, along with one silver medal at the World Championships. Until this upcoming season, she only played in North America once, playing for the University of North Dakota for one season (2013-14). Since then, she has played professionally, playing mostly in Finland, bouncing between HPK, Lukko, and TPS. Outside of Finland, she’s played for Linköping HC of the SDHL and KRS Vanke Rays of the ZhHL (and winning a championship with the latter).
Sydney Brodt: Not only did she play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth for four seasons, but she served as captain for three of them. After graduating, she went on to the PWHPA for a season, before going to Europe to play for Linköping HC in the SDHL. As with the PWHPA, she only stuck around for one season before going to the PHF and serving as captain of the Minnesota Whitecaps. Internationally, she has played for Team USA twice, once in the World Junior Championships and once in the World Championships. She won a gold medal in both.
Taylor Heise: Finally, we come to the first overall pick in the draft. I actually wrote an article about her recently for paid subscribers, but I’ll give a brief biography of her playing career here. She mostly recently has played five seasons for the University of Minnesota, and won the Patty Kazmaier Award (for best female college hockey player) during her time there. Internationally, she has represented the USA five times, and won three gold medals with the U18 team, one at the World Championships, and a silver at the World Championships.
Note: there are players they signed in the second free agency period, but since only a few will be making the roster, I’m not going to give biographies for any of them. I’m only doing so for their draft picks and initial three free-agency signings, since it’s expected all of them will be on the roster.
So, taking a step back, what are my thoughts on this roster in general? This is a roster that is focusing on homegrown talent, especially offensive talent. To be honest, it reminds me a lot of my beloved Minnesota Whitecaps from last season. It may not have been that great defensively, but it had a lot of Minnesota-born offensive players who could keep the pressure up, and relied mostly on goaltending for defense. I expect more of the same here. And, let’s be honest: when your goaltenders are Leveille and Hensley, relying on them to carry the defense isn’t a bad bet.
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