TIG Round Table: Next Women’s Hockey Star

Some of our staff gathered round our virtual round table to talk about a topic suggested by a paid subscriber: which non-national team player will be the next star in women’s hockey.

We should note, the answers come in as we each have gathered our thoughts and have time, over the course of a week-ish, so its a bit of an asynchronous round table. We had some discussion about what that meant first as that’s all the prompt included. The answers were fairly varied but also all the same in very specific way.

Emma Sullivan: Michelle Pasiechnyk

Canada already has insanely talented depth goaltender options, that’s not a secret. But Clarkson backstop Michelle Pasiechnyk has been one of the best goaltenders across her four seasons in the NCAA and very much should get a look at some point in the future.

During her time as a Golden Knight, Pasiechynk holds a career .933 save percentage over 104 career appearances – this season that number is up to a .942% over 25 games. She’s been a semi-finalist for the NCAA Goaltender of the Year award three straight years, and has one of the highest workloads of any of the top goaltenders nationally. In fact, of three goaltenders in the top-10 in save percentage in the NCAA who have played 25 or more games this season, Pasiechnyk is one of two who haven’t yet made a national team appearance to date (the other being Northeastern’s Gwyneth Philips from the U.S.).

Her 1.28 goals against average is sixth best nationally, and while she doesn’t face a high volume of shots this season, the shots she does face she’s been incredibly gifted at turning away. She’s been a proven, solid netminder for multiple years in a row, and honestly should be a finalist for the aforementioned goaltender of the year award in my opinion. Kayle Osborne of Colgate was most recently named to the Rivalry Series roster while still in the NCAA, I’d have to imagine Pasiechynk isn’t too far down the list of numbers to call if the Canadians are in need of another goaltender after Osborne. I believe she has one more year of eligibility for Clarkson for a fifth season, but post-grad, I’d expect to see her making waves at the pro-level as well. 

Geremy: Gwyneth Philips

There’s a lot of good candidates for this from Stephanie Neatby to Shae Demale to Lauren Dabrowski as a few names to be considered. I’m going to with a name already referenced though before the USA national team wises up and puts her on the roster: Gwyneth Philips. The Northeastern University goalie had the tough job of filling the skates of Patty Kaz winner Aerin Frankel and it’d be extremely hard to argue she hasn’t done just that. On a statistical level Frankel left NU with a 0.956 SV% in her last season which was immediately followed up by Philips next season with a 0.960 SV% as the number one goalie. This season on a team with no players at a PPG pace Philips is sporting a 0.952 SV%. Apart from her numbers Philips also passes the eye test with flying colours. She has an elite eye for the puck and is one of the smartest goalies in the game. If she decides to pursue a pro career in the PWHL she’s going to be too good to ignore any longer by USA Hockey. 

There’s an argument to be made that Philips is benefitting from the high end defensive structure NU provides in front of her. The counterargument to that is it takes a lot of mental strength to be able to handle winning one-goal games all the time and that’s what’s happening. The highest point getter on NU is Skylar Irving with 28 points in 32 games (54th in NCAA points) and the highest goal scorer is Peyton Anderson with 13 goals in 32 games (42nd in NCAA goals). Despite the severe lack of goal support, Philips has amassed a 19-9-2 record which is an outlier. Goals win games except when you have Philips in net, in that case you really only need two goals. There are very few goalies in which you can say that you just need two goals and you’ll probably win. The idea of Philips in Toronto should terrify the other five PWHL teams. 

Maya Smith: Chloe Primerano

It’s probably really obvious but I have to go with Chloe Primerano. At the age of 17, playing for the senior national team is pretty much the only thing she hasn’t done. 

In her second season at RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, she leads all players in the CSSHL in goals (31), assists (42) and points (73) as a defenseman. And she doesn’t just lead them, she dominates them. The closest to her in the points race is 20 points behind. Oh yeah, and that’s just through 25 games, meaning she’s averaging almost 3 points per game. 

Aside from her dominance in the CSSHL,Primerano made her debut with Team Canada at the U-18 championships where she scored 16 points, broke the record for single-tournament points by a defensemen, and was named MVP and best defender. 

As if this all wasn’t enough, she committed to playing NCAA hockey at the University of Minnesota when she was 16, and will play there full-time, a year ahead of schedule, in the 2024-2025 season. 

Somehow, at the bottom of the list of accomplishments, is being drafted to the WHL, and she was the first female (non-goaltender) to be drafted. Even though she chose to stay at RINK, she attended two training camps and is one of the only female players represented by the Creative Artists Agency.  

The NCAA will be a big step up, especially playing with players who are 3-4 years older than her, but she’ll be joined by her defense partner, Gracie Graham (who also could be in this roundtable) and will be playing at one of the top programs in the US. 

I fully expect that in four or five years, we’ll be seeing Primerano walking the PWHL draft stage and winning a few gold medals along the way.  

Lydia Murray: Corinne Schroeder

She’s a bit of a borderline pick, but I have to go with Corinne Schroeder. She’s finally starting to get more recognition given the increased attention on the PWHL compared to the PHF, but I think she’s still flying under the radar more than she should be since she’s not a national team goalie. That could be changing soon, as her PWHL play got her named to Canada’s roster for the most recent leg of the Rivalry Series. However, she didn’t get in a game, and since she somehow hasn’t represented Canada at any other point, I’m counting her for this.

After an excellent NCAA career with Boston University and Quinnipiac University, Schroeder has really exploded as a pro. In her first professional season with the Boston Pride last year, she was named PHF Goaltender of the Year after going a stunning 19-1-0 with a 1.67 GAA and 0.955 SV% (both best in the league). Now in the PWHL with New York, Schroeder has not missed a beat. As of February 21, she’s 3-2-0-2 on the season for a rocky New York team with a 1.83 GAA and 0.947 SV% (both second in the league). She has already stolen several games for New York, and I fully believe she’s been the best goaltender in the league. Expect her star to only get brighter as time goes on.

Mike Murphy: Kirsten Simms

Kirsten Simms is an absolute monster and this year she is shining as brightly as any star in the game. 

In her second season of college hockey, Simms is leading powerhouse Wisconsin in scoring with 60 points through 30 games. Yes, that’s 2.0 Pts/GP. That’s just silly. The 19-year-old failed to register a point just once between December 3rd and February 17th. That’s a stretch of 16 games and in those 16 games she had nine multi-point performances. So, Simms isn’t just consistently productive, she also scores in bunches.

In simple terms, Simms is a force of nature on offense. This sophomore explosion in production did not come out of nowhere. As a freshman,15 of her 16 goals were scored at even strength and she had 7 primary assists at evens, as well. All of those primary points suggest she’s in the driver’s seat for the Badgers. And, very soon, she’ll be lighting the lamp for the senior national team.

(Data via pick224.com and EliteProspects)