PWHL Hamilton headed into the June 17th entry draft having already secured a strong foundation on the blueline. They had Nicole Gosling and Ally Simpson. In addition, they had the pairing of Riley Brengman and Zoe Boyd that excelled defensively under head coach Kris Sparre. They chose to add to it even further in the first round. PWHL Hamilton selected Nelli Laitinen despite the undoubtedly tempting Kirsten Simms still available. This gave the team an equal ratio of five forwards and five defenders at the time of the pick.
Phases 3 and 5 of expansion near-thoroughly exhausted the free agent class, so forward depth emerged as a concern. With the manner in which Sparre’s previous team crashed out of the playoffs in mind, Hamilton needed to take as big a swing possible on someone who could put the puck in the net.
Enter Anna Shokhina.
About Anna
For the second consecutive season, Shokhina might just be the most intriguing name on a PWHL roster entering training camp.
The 29-year-old’s PWHL tenure began with a surprise healthy scratch for the Ottawa Charge’s home opener. It was practically unthinkable for a team’s second round selection in the landscape of the league. While she remained in the lineup for Ottawa’s next 12 games, it was clear Shokhina had fallen out of favour with Charge head coach Carla MacLeod. When the team needed a shakeup, she was part of their memorable six-player swap with the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Shokhina’s ice time only continued to plummet upon her arrival to B.C.. It culminated in her receiving zero shifts in the Goldeneyes’ late-season 6-5 OT barnburner against the Seattle Torrent.
Despite what Shokhina’s counting stats and deployment in 2025-26 may indicate, though, her talent remains undeniable. She’s led the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) in scoring on five occasions. She barely missed out on a sixth after finishing just two points back of someone named Alex Carpenter in 2020-21. She sits second in league history in goals, assists, and points, behind only Olga Sosina in all three categories.
Even in an ostensibly poor debut PWHL season, Shokhina’s numbers during her Ottawa tenure tell a different story. In fact, they’re stunningly comparable to those of Olympic gold-medalist Hannah Bilka’s half-season. The two put up near-identical scoring rates (2.10 P/60 for Shokhina vs. 2.15 for Bilka) and an equal number of even strength points (three apiece), despite Shokhina having less than half of Bilka’s total time on ice (114:12 vs. 251:12). There’s very clear upside here, and it’s now up to Hamilton to try to turn that potential into results.
Shokhina, Shift by Shift
So, how exactly should Hamilton go about doing that? To get an idea of where Shokhina’s best fit in this lineup could be, I’ll be going through a game of hers in detail. I want to paint a picture of her as a player, and the players she needs around her to succeed. Afterwards, I’ll throw together a couple potential line combinations, and explain how and why they fit the bill.
However, I did say that Shokhina’s PWHL stint isn’t truly representative of her abilities to me. Thus, the game in question won’t be from last season. This is Game 1 of the 2024-25 ZhHL semifinals featuring Shokhina’s Dynamo-Neva St. Petersburg taking on Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. I chose this game because I feel it emphasizes Shokhina’s strengths while additionally demonstrating some of her weaknesses. Similar to my New York Sirens power play piece, there will be timestamped links to Dynamo-Neva’s livestream archive of the game on YouTube to supplement the descriptions of each play.
Once again, I hope you like hyperlinks.
First Period
4:39 – After a quiet first couple of shifts, Shokhina makes her presence felt quickly into this one. She enters the zone with a toe-drag wrist shot. While she applies light pressure after the save, she leaves most of the forecheck to her linemates. She spends her time away from the puck looking for pockets of space behind the defense. Once she sees linemate Fanuza Kadirova take control of the puck Shokhina cuts to the net. With one defender occupied with Kadirova and the other with Kristina Glukharyova, Shokhina has the easiest tap-in of her life after one more quick pass. 1-0 Dynamo-Neva.
9:42 – Shokhina attempts to deke Nina Pirogova at her own blueline and loses the puck. She dodges a bullet when Olga Prokopenko can’t take Pirogova’s pass cleanly.
Okay, quick tangent before the next timestamp. This play immediately made me recall the December 4th, 2025 game between the Charge and the Toronto Sceptres, in which Shokhina recorded her first PWHL point less than two minutes into the game. Despite this milestone, she was given just 1:43 of ice time that night. Shokhina’s benching wasn’t elaborated upon at the time to my recollection, but looking back at the game in question, I think I found the inciting incident: she tried to deke someone at her own blueline. Awfully similar events and timings to the game we’re analyzing, with the obvious difference being that Shokhina wasn’t benched after her misplay back in March ’25. Let’s see how she responds.
12:08 – Shokhina pounces on a loose puck after Glukharyova runs out of room on her rush attempt. She tees up a wide open Kadirova for a one-timer that she hammers over the net.
14:00 – A shaky shift for all involved. Shokhina was in a good supporting position for Glukharyova in the defensive zone but mishandles the puck behind her own net, leading to some more possession for Torpedo. A missed shot rings around to the left point where Shokhina’s once again in the right spot. She can’t poke the puck out past Pirogova and a delayed penalty on Glukharyova shortly follows. Pirogova puts the puck in the net twenty seconds later. But, not only it was called off for goaltender interference after review, Shokhina had already made a line change by that point.
15:54 – Shokhina takes a shift on the penalty kill, successfully playing keep-away with Kadirova. Given Hamilton’s personnel Shokhina is unlikely to see much PK time. However, with the No Escape Rule potentially taking the decision out of their hands, having game experience there is never a bad thing.
18:08 – Right off the draw, Shokhina forces a rushed D-to-D pass. She then takes the puck for herself when it’s mishandled. Once again, she tries the toe-drag release and while her shot gets blocked, she follows up with a play to the middle, eventually finding its way to an open Kadirova for a chance.
19:01 – Shokhina picks up a loose puck at her own blue line. With her approaching a minute on the same shift as the previous play and already not taking her earlier rushes with very much speed, she circles back once she recognizes pressure from a backchecking Prokopenko. Her linemates, however, don’t take this opportunity to go for a line change. Shokhina is forced to make an unsuccessful play to Kadirova’s wing that luckily didn’t burn them late in the frame.
Second Period
0:47 – Torpedo’s Yekatarina Chegosheva picks off a Dynamo-Neva clearing attempt, but is closed in on by Shokhina and stripped of the puck. Shokhina then hits Kadirova with a beautiful cross-ice saucer pass that ends up on net for a chance.
3:27 – Once again, Shokhina receives the puck at her own blueline and faces pressure from Yulia Kucherenko. Instead of going for the deke like she did in the first period, Shokhina patiently reverses to incentivize the forechecker to pursue her further. Kucherenko doesn’t take the bait, but in doing so gives Shokhina the time and space she needs. Although her breakout pass to Glukharyova is mishandled, the play culminates in a Torpedo icing.
4:53 – Shokhina collects the puck at the left wall and circles the net, seeing Oxana Bratischeva get lost in coverage on her way around. She finds the seam in front of the net, and Bratischeva gets a couple dangerous looks out of it.
9:45 – This is Shokhina’s best shift of the game for me. She drifts over from the left wing to give Kadirova a breakout option with Glukharyova occupied in the corner, eventually dropping it back to Kadirova after crossing the opposing blueline. Torpedo quickly looks to take Kadirova’s rebound the other way, but an excellent backcheck from Shokhina forces an icing. Both off the ensuing draw and near the end of her shift, she’s in perfect position to cover for Liana Ganeyeva when the defender pinches in, and finds Bratischeva with an outstanding stretch pass following the latter for good measure.
13:20 – Her line gets deservedly rewarded their very next time out. Shokhina leads the breakout, handing it off to Glukharyova and taking off for the opposite side of the ice. Kadirova and Shokhina work the give-and-go, and the former slides it around Torpedo goaltender Nadezhda Morozova’s pad on the backhand. A goal and an assist now for Shokhina, and a 2-0 lead for her team.
13:58 – Torpedo unsuccessfully challenged the Kadirova goal, so Shokhina’s right back out on the power play. She takes a breakout pass off her skate, makes two quick cuts to shake off pressure, and hits Kadirova with a beautiful cross-ice pass for another one-timer.
15:57 – Alas, the period had been going a little too well for Shokhina. Her shot right off the draw is blocked, and Chegosheva absolutely burns the Dynamo-Neva defense off the ricochet to earn herself a breakaway. Alyona Ashina bails them out though, kicking out the left pad on her forehand attempt to preserve the two-goal lead.
Third Period
0:28 – Shokhina’s line gets to work right away. She sends a breakout pass to Kadirova. The return attempt gets lost in her skates, but Glukharyova is there to support and regain control. She draws in all five Torpedo skaters before poking it back out to Kadirova, who hands a wide open Shokhina her second empty cage of the night to complete the tic-tac-toe.
2:51 – Torpedo quickly responds during Shokhina’s next time out. Pirogova receives the puck from behind the net and sends it in front through Yulia Smirnova’s legs. The pass glances off Shokhina’s stick and then her skate before finding its intended target in Yelena Zaripova. This leds to a chaotic scramble that Chegosheva eventually converts to make it 3-1. This play is more unfortunate for Shokhina than anything as she’s in good position to cover Pirogova’s passing lane, but just can’t get a handle on it. If anything, the wide turn she takes after the deflection is her mistake here.
Dynamo-Neva concedes again 27 seconds later with Shokhina on the bench. This is the only one of either team’s goals in this game where she wasn’t on the ice.
7:46 – Instead of applying pressure directly to the puck carrier, Shokhina cuts right to block the passing lane. She manages to get her stick on it and takes possession. She passes across her body while circling the net to try to catch Morozova sliding to the wrong side of the net, but the netminder tracks it all the way and easily turns away Kadirova.
10:26 – Darya Zubok gets sent off for holding. Her surname derives from the word “zub,” meaning “tooth,” leading the auto-translation on the boxscore to note a penalty called on #86, “The Tooth of Daria.” This has absolutely nothing to do with Anna Shokhina.
11:17 – I’m timestamping this one a little early. Specifically I’m doing it on a Kadirova breakout, to highlight the difference in approach between her and Shokhina. Kadirova turns on the jets and takes it over the line herself, circling the net before making a play out front. None of Shokhina’s rushes have looked like this, with her taking the more methodical route and primarily looking for a pass or a deke, for better or worse.
After Kadirova gets them into the zone, Shokhina sets up on her off-wing this time. She makes an excellent saucer pass from behind the net to the left point. Once the puck is recovered and returned to her, she takes her space to the other side of the ice and tries a shot-pass to Kadirova that’s almost tipped in.
16:27 – Shokhina’s demonstrated her vision and her ability to create space for herself. Now it’s time for her shot to take center stage. Kadirova’s speed up the right wing creates a two-on-one rush, and her cross-ice saucer pass is right in 97’s wheelhouse. Shokhina absolutely rips it short side to complete her hat trick, and put away the game for Dynamo-Neva.
19:31 – Hold that thought, Torpedo’s got one more in them. Zaripova recovers the puck from a scrum in the corner. Her centering pass once again glances off Shokhina and right to a pinching Alina Malinovskaya, who squeaks a backhand five-hole. Once is unfortunate, but twice in a game is an indication that while Shokhina’s positioning is solid, she needs to be stronger on her stick in the defensive zone.
Nonetheless, off the back of Shokhina’s hat trick and helper, Dynamo-Neva take Game 1 of the series by a score of 4-3.
Style Summary
If I had to describe Shokhina’s game in a single word, it would be “opportunistic.” She’ll rarely be the most active player in any given possession. That said, when there’s a missed pass or a blind spot in coverage from her opponent, there’s no one better to make them pay for it. All three of Shokhina’s goals were a product of capitalizing on open space. Even if they didn’t appear on the scoresheet, the numerous high-danger passes she executed showed her recognition of that open space goes beyond just what she herself can take advantage of.
However, this playstyle explains why Shokhina didn’t adapt to the North American game as well as someone like Kadirova, who she consistently outscored in the ZhHL and was prioritized over in the draft accordingly. Shokhina’s brand of opportunistic hockey minimizes the reliance on skating speed and physicality, undoubtedly the weakest aspects of her game, yet also the hallmarks of the higher tempo the PWHL plays to. She thrives in space and in chaos, but her kit lacks the best tools for creating them herself in this league.
That’s where her linemates come in.
Think of Shokhina’s line with Kadirova and Glukharyova as the prototype for this exercise. They’re a balance of relentless pressure and reliable positioning, with enough combined offensive flair as to not leave Shokhina out to dry in that respect. Here are two potential line combinations, one geared for a top six role and the other for the middle six, that Hamilton could deploy to put Shokhina in the best possible position to succeed.
Top Six: Emily Clark – Alina Müller – Anna Shokhina
I promise, this goes deeper than just pencilling Shokhina in next to the team’s best forwards and calling it a day. Even if it didn’t, it’s actually something that hasn’t yet been tried with her in the PWHL. I’ve listed Shokhina’s most common linemates sorted by the number of times they were listed together on the lineup card, with their statistics during the period of time they were teammates with Shokhina in parentheses.
- 12: Anna Segedi (15 GP, 1-1-2)
- 9: Michelle Karvinen (17 GP, 2-4-6)
- 8: Mannon McMahon (30 GP, 4-2-6)
- 5: Fanuza Kadirova (11 GP, 2-2-4)
- 4: Gabbie Hughes (11 GP, 1-5-6)
- 3: Kateřina Mrázová (13 GP, 1-2-3)
- 3: Anna Meixner (30 GP, 3-3-6)
- 3: Alexa Vasko (13 GP, 0-0-0)
While there are some solid forwards on this list, they were far from the primary offensive drivers on their respective teams (at least prior to Kadirova going on a shooting percentage bender for the ages). Hughes is the sole player pacing above half a point per game, and she had the same point total playing with and without Shokhina despite three more games of the latter.
Onto more pertinent things that have never been tried with Shokhina before: I’m surprised she never got a single look with Emily Clark in her time on the Charge. Clark is among the fastest skaters in the PWHL, tied for fifth in the league in shots on goal and placed top ten in hits, and featured on the line that so memorably shut down Marie-Philip Poulin in Ottawa’s 2024-25 playoff run. She checks just about every box we’re looking for in a Shokhina linemate.
As for the line’s pivot, you can’t go wrong with Müller. She’s reliable in all three zones, and no slouch on the physical side either with her 30 hits in as many games. Müller heads into the season tied for the all-time lead in assists (40), and that plus her excellence on faceoffs (63.3% across 400 draws in 25-26) enabling the facilitation of set plays will give Shokhina’s shot ample chance to shine.
On that subject, a center’s handedness often doesn’t come up in discussion outside of the faceoff circle, but it’s something I feel has additional impact in this case. Müller shooting left means that the blade of her stick is open to the right side of the ice, making it significantly easier to make a play on the forehand to that wing. In this composition, Shokhina would be the target of stronger and more accurate breakout passes from Müller that she can convert into controlled zone entries, while the less precise area passes or full dump-and-chase plays are directed towards the speedy Clark. Even if things won’t always play out like this, it’s a consideration that only adds to the cohesion of this trio.
Middle Six: Anna Shokhina – Peyton Hemp – Elyssa Biederman
Hemp only ever lined up at right wing for the Charge in her rookie season. However, she was a dependable center for the Golden Gophers in her final two years of college. Shokhina’s to the center’s left this time, so the right-shooting Hemp creates the same dynamic described above with Müller. This gives the added benefit of Shokhina receiving passes on her forehand. Additionally, though the two never began a game on the same line prior to the trade, they have found a small sample of success offensively in quite notable fashion.
Biederman, meanwhile, is the player I’m most intrigued to see as a potential linemate for Shokhina. I’m going to let Eli Fastiff do the talking here, as his scouting report on Biederman prior to the draft along with everything already established about Shokhina perfectly illustrates the offensive synergy between the two:
Biederman is known for her ability to skate circles around defenders, all while keeping her head up to find open teammates. Her biggest question mark as a professional will be how her small stature translates to the more physical PWHL, but Biederman’s shifty skating should allow her to avoid contact when she has the puck on her stick. Plus, her high-energy forechecking style yields plenty of easily convertible turnovers.
Skating circles around opponents? Finding open teammates? A high-energy forecheck that creates turnovers? Sign me right up.
Post-Game Thoughts
I’ve touched on just two of the 55 player combinations and 330 positional permutations of forward lines that PWHL Hamilton can create involving Shokhina. As many of those that can be quickly dismissed, there are just as many that deserve serious consideration. Finding the one that eventually clicks into place is a difficult process, yet necessary if a team is to succeed.
Heading into last season, the expansion Goldeneyes and Torrent were considered Walter Cup favourites. They then proceeded to select first and second in the entry draft after all was said and done. As a result, there’s a palpable hesitation around crowning any of this year’s newcomers as cup contenders or even playoff qualifiers. A good team on paper and a good team on the ice can certainly be one and the same, provided they’re utilized correctly. That caveat is the hurdle on which Vancouver and Seattle stumbled, and the one that faces these four groups heading into this season.
Anna Shokhina is the type of player that makes you look good on paper. Now, it’s up to Hamilton to turn her into the player that takes them over the hurdle.
