Previous ranking: 11
2026-27 team: Seattle Torrent
Abbey Murphy jumped seven spots from last year’s Top 25 Under 25 after putting together a season that somehow added even more to an already lengthy résumé.
Murphy saved her best college season for last. The University of Minnesota captain scored 40 goals and added 26 assists in just 31 games, leading the NCAA in both goals and points per game. She was named WCHA Forward of the Year, earned First Team All-American honors and finished as a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award. By the end of the season, Murphy had also become Minnesota’s all-time leader in goals with 143, passing through a program that has produced no shortage of elite scorers.
Her year did not stop with Minnesota. Murphy won Olympic gold with the United States in Milan, recording 2 goals and 5 assists in seven games. She followed that by going second overall to the Seattle Torrent in the 2026 PWHL Draft, the first forward selected.
The scoring numbers jump off the page, but Murphy’s game has never been particularly subtle. She attacks with speed, shoots often and seems happiest when she can turn a shift chaotic. She will battle for pucks, get herself into traffic and create offense without needing much space to do it. That style has occasionally come with a trip to the penalty box, but it is also part of what makes her difficult to defend. The confidence to attempt a play that might not work is usually paired with the skill to make enough of those plays work anyway.
What comes next?
Murphy now makes the jump from being one of the NCAA’s most dangerous scorers to a Seattle team that badly needed more finishing last season. The Torrent selected her second overall for a reason; Murphy brings an element of speed, shooting and individual offense that Seattle did not consistently have in its inaugural season.
She also will not have to carry the offense by herself. Seattle retained Alex Carpenter and Julia Gosling, giving the Torrent several options for how to deploy Murphy in the top six. Carpenter and Murphy already have experience together with Team USA, while Murphy’s ability to generate her own chances gives Seattle another scoring threat beyond its already established top players.
Expecting 40 goals from a PWHL rookie would obviously be unreasonable. The space disappears faster at the professional level, and Murphy will be facing stronger defenders every night than she did in college. The more interesting question is how quickly the parts of her game that made her so dominant at Minnesota will translate. Her shot is already a weapon, and she has spent years playing against international competition. If she can continue creating chances at pace, Murphy has the tools to become an impact player in Seattle quickly.
Too high, too low? No. 4 feels about right for Murphy entering her first PWHL season. There is an argument for putting her even higher after the year she just had, especially considering how dominant she was offensively in the NCAA and how comfortably she has already played against international competition.
The only real question left is the one she has not had the chance to answer yet: what does Murphy look like over a full PWHL season? The players ahead of her have an advantage Murphy cannot replicate until she actually plays professional games. If her scoring translates anywhere close to expectations, though, she may not have much room left to climb on next year’s list.
