I wrote about the top prospects outside the NCAA and now we’re looking at the top underrated prospects outside the NCAA. I have a mix of players that I found in the PWHL draft declaration list. A lot of these players have different playing experiences, but there is something about them that I liked. There are even some veteran players I think are underrated.
The term “prospects” is used loosely here. I see it as players who haven’t played in the PWHL yet and want to do so.
I tried to pick players from all leagues with all different hockey backgrounds. There are even two sets of honorable mentions.
You can check out all of The Ice Garden’s PWHL coverage here and read about the NCAA players here.
Let’s jump in!
We begin with USports, the college hockey system in Canada.
Jessymaude Drapeau, F, Concordia University | USports
The leading scorer in USports this season, Drapeau is a player who knows how to win. She won two championships in her five years with Concordia University. This past season she won a silver in the championship as captain of the team. The 25-year-old also won the USports Player of the Year award.
Self-described as competitive and gritty, Drapeau spent a lot of time on the penalty kill and was great in the faceoff circle. This last season she focused on building up her defensive side such as blocking shots. Playing under the likes of Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette has helped her game develop. Hopefully that translates to a selection at the draft.
Grace Elliot, F, University of British Columbia | USports
Elliot finished with the third most points in all of U Sports this season. The University of British Columbia product grew offensively the last two seasons. She finished with 42 points in her fourth year, leading to her USports Player of the Year award. That was truly Elliot’s breakout season. She broke the Thunderbirds’ program records for goals (22) and points in a season. Elliot’s season was incredible as she was never held off the scoresheet for more than one game. That season, she recorded an 11 game point streak. In her final season she kept up the great offensive effort, recording 37 points. She had both an eight game point streak at the beginning of the season and 12 multi-point games the entire season.
Consistent and talented are two great ways to describe Elliot’s game. Along with Drapeau, she seems like another player out of the Canadian University system to likely make the jump to the PWHL. Also, she’s tall. She’s over six feet tall. That’s unheard of in the PWHL.
Gabrielle De Serres, D, Cergy-Pontoise | France
De Serres spent five years with the University of Toronto where she earned All-Rookie honors after leading her conference with 10 assists as a defender that season. De Serres earned OUA conference’s most valuable player and most valuable defenceman awards in her final season. That year she finished with 10 assists.
De Serres spent part of her pro career playing in France. She has also represented France at the IIHF Women’s World Champion Division IA for three years. This winter she made her Olympics debut with the national team. De Serres helped lead Les Bleus to their first Olympics ever.
But De Serres has also already played professional hockey in North America. She spent one season with the Montréal Force of the PHF in the 2022-23 season. There she appeared in 23 games and recorded three points. Though her defensive game needs more work, her international experience is still very valuable for someone trying to return to play in North America.
Erica Rieder, D, Luleå HF | SDHL
Rieder is one of the better veteran defenders outside of the NCAA. Aside from the plethora of experience she has as a player, she’s very talented too.
The 29-year-old spent five years with the University of Manitoba where she won a championship and captained the team her final season. Rieder began her pro career with MoDo of the SDHL in 2019. She played three seasons there and wore an A for two of them. Her offensive game picked up the last two seasons which saw her finish with more than 20 points. After a two year break to focus on cycling, Rieder returned to the SDHL with Luleå HF. She didn’t miss a beat, recording 40 points in the two seasons she spent in Luleå.
Described as a physical defender, a two-way player, and a powerful skater, Rieder has it all. She’s a veteran of the game, has a high hockey IQ, and is determined. It’s not easy to return to a sport professionally after dropping it completely for two years.
You can learn more about Rieder’s incredible journey back to hockey in this three part series by TIG writer Sally Hoerr.
Madeline Posick, F/D, Djurgårdens IF | SDHL
This is Posick’s second time declaring for the PWHL draft. The Wisconsin native spent last season once again with Djurgårdens IF of the SDHL. She recorded 14 points on the season and played in three playoff games. She spent the previous three seasons with Djurgårdens IF, where she played in every game and in the playoffs as well. Her game has grown steadily while playing in Sweden — especially offensively. Posick played college hockey with Wisconsin, where she won two national championships.
One of the best parts of Posick’s game is that she plays both forward and defense and this year is entering the draft as a literal two way player.
Kayleigh Hamers, D, SDE HF | SDHL
Hamers is another defender on the international side that I like a lot. She’s a veteran player, a leader, and a great skater.
Hamers has represented the Netherlands at the IIHF World Championships since 2013. She played in the Division IA, IB, and Division IIA throughout her career. She also took part in Olympic qualifiers three times.
When Hamers made the move to the SDHL in 2016, her game improved. She played with SDE HF since then and has appeared in every or close to every game. The 2020-21 season was her best with 26 points in 36 games. This last season she appeared in every game and recorded 24 points. She captained the Netherlands at this year’s Division IB World Championship where she finished with seven points in five games. Hamers has a wealth of experience internationally and in the SDHL. All of that should be considered at this year’s draft.
Meghan Agosta, F, DNP
One surprising name on the PWHL declaration list was Canadian Olympian Meghan Agosta. The 39-year-old hasn’t played since the 2019 edition of The Rivalry Series. She announced her retirement from the Canadian national team in 2024. The forward played in four Winter Olympic Games and led the scoring in the 2010 Games with nine goals and six assists in five games. She’s a product of Mercyhurst, where she played four seasons from 2006 to 2010. She recorded 65 or more points in each season. Agosta actually works for the Vancouver police department. She was at the announcement for the Goldeneyes last year as part of the league’s expansion, and she was honest about wanting to make a comeback then as she’s also been coaching in the city.
So, Agosta hasn’t played professional hockey in seven years but it would be interesting to see how she’d come back to the game. She’s given it thought before and declared — all she needs now is a chance.
Mariia Batalova, D, Agidel Ufa| ZhHL
Last year’s PWHL draft featured the first Russians to make the trek over to the league. Fanuza Kadirova and Anna Shokhina are now part of the PWHL. There are even more Russians hoping to make that same jump this upcoming season.
Mariia Batalova is a 30-year-old defender. She appeared in three IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships and three World Championships. Batalova also appeared in two Olympics with Russia. In the Olympics she played in 10 games total. Her time in the ZhHL has been very successful. Her offensive game has grown tremendously in the eight years with Agidel. Batalova reached the 30 point mark in the regular season in 21-22 and did the same in two of the last four seasons. In the 23-24 and 24-25 seasons, she recorded 43 and 40 points. While her goal total isn’t the highest, she can score. But she does have a steady stream of assists totals in the 20s and 30s the last four seasons. With the success of Kadirova and Shokhina in the PWHL, I think the ZhHL will produce more PWHLers this year.
Nina Pirogova, D, Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk | ZhHL
Similar to Batalova, Pirogova is also a defender. She appeared in four U18 Women’s Worlds along with four World Championships. She is also a two time Olympian where she appeared in 12 games. Pirogova’s ZhHL career has been very successful as a defender. Like Batalova, her offensive game is fantastic. During her time with Tornado Dmitrov, she recorded two seasons with more than 30 points. In the last five seasons, Pirogova has scored 40 or more points three times. While her totals were a little lower than usual this last season, she’s still a talented offensive defender. She’s also spent six seasons as an alternate captain on two different teams. That says a lot about her and the trust her teammates have in her. Looking at the span of her career, Pirogova has the offensive skill to take the next step to North America.
Laura Fortino, F, Real Torino | Italy
The 35-year-old is a three time Olympian representing two countries at the Winter Games. She won a silver and gold medal with Canada then left the national team. Fortino is of Italian descent so she moved to play in Italy to be able to represent the country at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The veteran, who coaches and plays hockey still, led the charge with an Italian team that hadn’t played in the Olympics since 2006.
Fortino’s resume is stacked with a successful career at Cornell, six World Championships, and time in the CWHL. This year she spent a lot of time training for the Olympics and took initiative to help Le Azzurre prepare for the Games. The mix of playing and actively coaching (Fortino is a coach in the Ontario Hockey League) shows how Fortino can bring a lot to the table especially for a newer PHWL team.
Honorable mentions:
Neena Brick, F, MoDo Hockey | SDHL
The 22-year-old Brick finished her first season in Sweden with a 19 point campaign. Prior to that, she played four years at Colgate. She won the ECAC Championships three times. Brick even recorded a 40 point season in her third year with the Raiders. Described as having a good finishing ability, Brick is another option in the later rounds.
Taylor Lind, F, DNP (last played NCAA in 2023-24)
Lind doesn’t technically count as an NCAA player because she did play some hockey last year. The forward declared for last year’s draft but wasn’t selected. She later received a training camp invite from Vancouver. There, Lind got her first glimpse of the PWHL and even appeared in two preseason games for the Goldeneyes. She spends her time training so she’ll enter the league prepared once again. Lind is a dedicated player. Last year, she trained with some of the Vancouver players last year before camp, so she has an understanding of the league whenever someone needs her. Lind is a skilled player with physicality and the ability to play a simple game.
Bri Eid, D, HC Davos Ladies | SWHL A
Eid played in Switzerland last season after finishing a four year career with Long Island University. The defender had some solid years with the Sharks and enjoyed a good season with HC Davos. She had good defensive numbers in college and hopefully the PWHL can help her grow her game.
More honorable mentions: USports: Sophie Hudson, Émilie Lavoie, Annalise Wong, and Elise Hugens. SWHL: Laura Fuoco, Joelle Fiala, Tatum White. SDHL: Jenna Goodwin, Aly McLeod, Naomi Rogge. Japan: Kiku Kobayashi.
Stay tuned to The Ice Garden for more PWHL draft and expansion coverage!
