PWHL Hamilton Pre-Season Preview

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Emily Clark	Alina Müller	Elyssa Biederman
Abby Hustler	Brianne Jenner	Peyton Hemp
Kayla Vespa	Alexa Vasko	Jade Iginla
Megan Woodworth	Mya Vaslet	Anna Shokhina

Left Defence	Right Defence	Goalie
Nicole Gosling	Riley Brengman	Kayle Osborne
Nelli Laitinen	Allyson Simpson	Emma-Sofie Nordström
Zoe Boyd	Anna Kjelbin

A Lot to Like

This looks like a well-constructed roster. It should excite anyone who looks at it.

If Emily Clark can up her production to the level she was at in the 2024–25 season, when she had 19 points in 30 regular season games and another five in eight playoff games, Hamilton’s top six will be hard to beat. Especially with Alina Müller and Brianne Jenner in the mix.

Note that Müller, who scored 21 points in the 2025–26 season, followed Kris Sparre, former head coach of the Boston Fleet and 2026 Coach of the Year award winner, to Hamilton. That familiarity will be crucial in the early goings for this forward group.

It’s not just the forwards that look good. The D core contains big names too. Hamilton signed 2026 Rookie of the Year nominee Nicole Gosling on the blueline and then drafted Nelli Laitinen with the 6th overall pick, acquiring a defender with a lot of international experience ahead of her pro career. Sparre also retains familiarity with former Boston Fleet defender Riley Brengman.

Then, of course, Hamilton’s second signing was goalie Kayle Osborne, who was the youngest player on Team Canada’s Olympic roster in Milan.

On no front does this team have glaring issues, unlike the other expansion squads.

What Are the Weak Points?

Simply put: Not many.

If there’s anything worth pointing out, it’s the shaky play of Kayle Osborne in the second half of the PWHL season with New York. Pulling from an article written for PDub Hockey when New York was eliminated from playoff contention:

Prior to the Olympics, [Osborne] recorded three shutouts, a .917 save percentage, and a goals against average of 2.21.

[She] struggled in net following the Olympics, where she saw no ice time. In 12 starts following the Games, her save percentage fell to .861, and her GAA fell to 3.08.

If Hamilton wants to have any hope of a competitive season, they’ll be relying on Osborne returning to her pre-Olympic form. Alternatively, they could create a tandem between Osborne and another goalie to ease the workload on her. Many attributed Osborne’s decline to the fact that she started 27 games for the Sirens last season—the second most of any goaltender in the PWHL.

Names to Watch

With incredibly solid contributors with PWHL experience coming from all facets of the lineup, a list of players to stay aware of as the season starts could go on for a while. Here’s three names that haven’t been mentioned much so far in this article.

Brianne Jenner

It’s honestly impressive to go this long without mentioning Brianne Jenner in detail, and that speaks to the quality of players that Meghan Duggan has been able to bring in.

In case you needed a refresher, Jenner, 35, has spent the last three seasons as the captain of the Ottawa Charge. Throughout that time, she played in 82 regular season games and scored 61 points (28 goals and 33 assists), tied for 5th all time in the PWHL. In the playoffs, she appeared in 16 games and had four points.

The Charge had a ridiculous record of 22–2 in games where she scored.

Jenner is also a four time Olympian with team Canada, participating in every Olympics since 2014.

No doubt she’ll be integral to the leadership of Hamilton. More than likely, she’ll earn the captaincy there as well.

Elyssa Biederman

Frankly, Biederman was a steal for Hamilton. They took her in the third round at 30th overall. For comparison, our draft rankings had her going late in the first round.

At only 156cm, she’s undersized, and that could make a transition to the PWHL challenging. However, her scoring touch is undeniable. She ended a four year collegiate career at Colgate University as their third-highest scorer of all-time. Her 183 career points for the Raiders is behind only Kristýna Kaltounková (233 points in five seasons) and Danielle Serdachny (239 points in five seasons).

On a projected top line with Emily Clark and Alina Müller, the sky is the limit for Biederman, who is extremely proficient in both shooting and passing. If there’s going to be any name from after the first two rounds that makes an immediate impression, it’ll probably be her.

Emma-Sofie Nordström

If the biggest concern for Hamilton from the jump is whether or not Kayle Osborne is able to return to form, it’s good to know who’s backing her up.

Nordström was an interesting selection, even in the 5th round. The Hockey News’s final draft board predictions had her 88th out of 125 ranked players. With only 72 spots in the draft, this implies they weren’t anticipating her being drafted.

Nordström is the first player from Denmark to ever be drafted into the PWHL. She’s been a netminder for her country dating back to the U18 level and debuted for the senior team in the 2020–21 season. Since then, she has appeared in four world championships across the Division one and 1A levels, and made the Danish Olympic roster in 2022.

She played NCAA hockey at St. Lawrence University after spending the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons in the SDHL with Linköping. Nordström made 95 appearances in four seasons with St. Lawrence, which plays in the ECAC alongside programs like Colgate, Clarkson, and the Ivy League schools. In that time, she had a save percentage of .937 and a goals against average of 1.88.

With numbers like that, she’ll almost surely be able to adapt to the pros. If she does, Hamilton will be in a great position.

Hamilton Hopeful

Expectations in the Hammer are inevitably going to be high for the city’s first taste of professional hockey in over a decade, and PWHL Hamilton is primed to deliver.

Anything can happen with a brand new team, and it may take time for the pieces to come together. However, when they do, it might not be a stretch to say that of all four expansion teams, this is the one that’s set up to be the biggest competitor early on.