We’ve gone through the top forwards, and through the top defenders. We’ve even looked at the best goaltenders available in the NCAA overall. Now, the last thing I’m here to do is to go through some underrated names in Hockey East.
The game plan is simple: I picked a starting lineup of underrated names I could see being selected in the PWHL entry draft on June 17. Three forwards, two defenders, and one goaltender. These are the names that may be slightly overlooked before the draft, but who all would be solid additions to any of the 12 teams in the PWHL.
Forwards
Alexia Moreau, Holy Cross | Louisville, Quebec
Holy Cross has certainly not been the highest ranked Hockey East team for the past few seasons. However, Moreau has been a consistent top performer on a conference level.
In 100+ games with the Crusaders, Moreau put together 66 career points, highlighted by a 22 point performance in 2025-26. She’s primarily a goal scorer, with 37 in her four year career, making her the best goal scorer at HC in their Hockey East era. This past season, she scored six of her 13 goals on the power play, and knows what it takes to convert on the advantage.
What I like most about Moreau is her versatility and faceoff productivity. In all four seasons, Moreau won more faceoffs than not, including when she was a freshman. From the jump, she was tasked with taking — and winning — the bulk of the Crusader’s faceoffs. This past season, she finished with 337 total wins, the seventh most in HEA. She’s the all-time leader in career faceoff wins at Holy Cross as well. She’s their only player in the HEA era to register over 1000 wins overall.
For back-to-back years, Moreau was an assistant captain, and helped transform the program into a real contender in conference. Her presence on the team was felt throughout her time in Worcester, and she has elevated the program overall mightily. She’s definitely a player teams should have an eye on, especially with that competitive mindset she’s displayed.
Jaden Bogden, Northeastern | Edmonton, Alberta
Before she moved to Boston, Bogden was a solid middle-six piece for Clarkson. In 96 games she put together 19 points, including 12 en route to the Frozen Four with the Golden Knights in 2023-24.
Then she transferred to Northeastern, where she became a top-six fixture and a top scoring player. In 2024-25 she sailed past her career-high with 22 points in 35 games, highlighted by 16 assists. Then, most recently she had another 15 points with the Huskies, and served as an assistant captain in her final NCAA season.
Bogden often ran into penalty issues throughout her career. This season she finished with 21 penalties in 33 games, and had over 50 in her 166 game career. I do think that makes her a bit more enticing for one of those bottom-six spots. A player not afraid to put her body on the line with a scoring upside? A coach could do worse when adding a player to their lineup.
One of the spaces Bogden performs the best at is in the net front. Often she was tasked with setting up in front of the crease for the Huskies — this paid off in spades with her highest single-season goal total of her career with eight. For a team looking to crash the net and take advantage of any rebounds given up, Bogden is a perfect player for them. Especially if they’re trying to get a little taller at the same time.
Alyson Hush, UNH | Scarborough, Ontario
In Hush’s first two seasons with New Hampshire, she played in just 37 games. Across those games she had two points, one goal and one assist, and rarely saw the ice for extended stretches of time.
Then, as a junior, she played in all 35 games for the Wildcats. She registered 14 points including 11 goals, and blossomed into a productive player right in front of everyone. As a senior she followed that up with her best season yet, scoring 26 points in 35 games to close out her career in Durham.
What really transformed Hush’s game was her productivity on the power play. In her most recent season, the forward led UNH with five goals on the advantage, one shy of the high she set a season before. New Hampshire had the best power play of any school in Hockey East this season, and in part that was due to Hush.
While Hush is mainly a winger, and isn’t the tallest player as well, what she can add is a solid presence to the depth of an offensive lineup. Her numbers the last two seasons are similar to what we saw out of former teammate Kira Juodikis at UNH, who was drafted by the Sirens last year. I’d like to see what Hush can do on a professional level. She certainly has the mindset to keep grinding away to make her presence felt, as displayed by her time in the NCAA, which can translate to the pros as well.
Defenders
Maeve Carey, Boston University | Gloucester, MA
As captain of BU this past season, Carey certainly did not have the strongest year overall. However, the entire team had a difficult year, and based on the success Carey had in spite of that, I believe she has what it takes to perform in the PWHL.
This season, Carey became a puck eater. With 68 blocks, the defender finished seventh overall in Hockey East in the category, and blocked over 30 more shots than her next closest teammate. Often, Carey was playing top pairing minutes for the Terriers, and, as I’ve said before, had to help revamp the entirety of the defensive structure following the departures BU saw at the end of 2024-25.
What really stands out to me about Carey is her ability to play up in Hockey East. Before transferring to BU for her junior season, Carey was playing top minutes at Stonehill, where she had two strong seasons. Then she transferred to BU, and immediately became one of their top players.
And within one season was named captain of her squad. Which speaks highly to who she is as a person, not just as a player.
What you get with Carey is definitely a more shut down than puck moving style of game. Her offensive numbers weren’t anything to write home about, but she makes up for that by playing those shut down minutes. She’d be a worthwhile depth piece for any team.
Jade Arnone, Boston College | Sherborn, MA
On the flip side to Carey, we have Arnone. In three years with Boston College, Arnone was a reliable, productive piece of BC’s puzzle. This past season in the Heights, she compiled nine points, including seven assists, and finished her career with 28 points across three seasons. During her freshman year at Harvard, she had another eight as well before her transfer across town.
Arnone is a strong defender who’s prepared to get in the right lanes in front of her net to make her netminder’s life easier. She registered 44 blocks in back to back seasons, and totaled 168 in four NCAA seasons.
Her height adds a lot to her game as well. At 5-foot-11 Arnone is the tallest defender from Hockey East in the draft. She has run into issues with her physicality, especially with the quicker whistle in Hockey East. If she can tighten up her game, she certainly can be a complimentary piece for any of these teams. I’m interested to see how that physicality translates to the PWHL, especially if those whistles are a tad quieter.
Overall, she’s not the flashiest defender. But considering the top talent in this draft, I’d say that would cause me to look at Arnone a little more. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her go earlier than maybe some would expect. I’d be more surprised if she didn’t get drafted at all.
Goaltender
Abigail Hornung, Holy Cross | Ashland, MA
A lot of oxygen has been taken up by Tia Chan over the last few years in Hockey East. But that doesn’t give Hornung enough credit, who has been outstanding for the last two seasons.
As a freshman and a sophomore, Hornung played just 80 total minutes. Then, in 2024-25, she made 26 starts and played nearly 1500 minutes. In those games she was a force to be reckoned with. She finished her season with a .940 save percentage, had a sub-2.00 goals against average, and made over 700 saves. That .940 mark is the best in a single season in HC history, not just in the HEA era.
Following that season, Hornung made another 24 starts as a senior. She finished with a .933 SV% in 1400 minutes, made over 600 saves and recorded three shutouts. Her stats were some of the best of all goaltenders in the conference for back-to-back seasons. Altogether, she was integral to helping Holy Cross have their most successful season yet.
Hornung, like Moreau, helped truly elevate the program to new heights this season. She’s not the tallest netminder in the draft, nor is she the shortest. She can be a solid depth option for any of the 12 teams in the draft, especially those looking to round out their room following the expansion process.
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