Summarize this content to 100 words: The Athletic has live coverage of the USA vs. Czech Republic Women’s Hockey game. The quest for Olympic gold in women’s hockey begins on Thursday, and we’re here to set the stage by counting down the best players in the game.In years past that hasn’t been the easiest exercise, with fewer games played by the best in the sport and less meaningful data. But the introduction of the PWHL has changed everything. Now we have direct insight into how the game’s best play over a longer schedule within one league and the numbers to back many of those insights up.This list — the top 15 forwards and top 10 defenders going to the Olympics — serves as a blend of that information. It’s a combination of the qualitative insight necessary for the sport and a quantitative approach made possible by the PWHL.On the qualitative side, opinions from those within the game served as a sounding board for who the best of the best are. On the quantitative side, we’re introducing our PWHL ratings: a total value stat measuring impact on offense and defense using box score stats, ice time and five-on-five play derived from the NHL version. (Shout-out to @HockeySkytte who runs PWHL Analytics for all the data necessary to make that possible). You can find the methodology at the bottom of the page.So without further ado, here are the best forwards and defenders going to the Milan Cortina Olympics.The top 10 forwards1. Marie-Philip Poulin (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +5.7 (2nd)As usual, Poulin tops the list. She started the season with the highest projected Net Rating, and while she’s since been surpassed by Kendall Coyne Schofield over the last few weeks thanks to a torrid hot streak, we’re not going to question Poulin’s body of work with the Montreal Victoire. No one has more goals than Poulin’s 36 over the last three years and she still has the highest Net Rating over the last three seasons (plus-13.7).Poulin is the best all-around player in the world and as a center gets an edge over Coyne Schofield (a winger). Poulin can score, win faceoffs and play reliably in her own zone. She’s also the only player on the planet to score in four Olympic gold medal games, so we really shouldn’t have to do much convincing here. The players themselves also voted for Canada’s captain as the best player in the league in The Athletic’s PWHL player poll.2. Kendall Coyne Schofield (USA)Projected Net Rating: +6.3 (1st)Nobody generates offense at five-on-five like Coyne Schofield. Over the last three regular seasons with the Minnesota Frost, Coyne Schofield has been on the ice for 58 goals at five-on-five with a point on 43 of them, both of which lead the league. In 2025-26, her scoring pace is at a career high with 10 goals and 16 points in 15 games. It’s those two factors — five-on-five impact and recent strength — that technically have Schofield rated ahead of Poulin.Coyne Schofield has made a name for herself in women’s hockey as an incredibly fast skater and she uses that speed well to drive play and generate offense for club and country. She’s only 5-foot-2 but drives the net hard (leading the league with 0.54 xG per game) and at 33 years old hasn’t lost a step.3. Sarah Fillier (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.5 (8th)We expect Fillier to look much closer to her Forward of the Year finalist form in Milan. She’s had a tough season with the New York Sirens, where she’s getting shots — 3.7 per game, which ranks fourth in the PWHL — but has been snakebitten for most of the season with an unsustainable 1.8 shooting percentage. For context: she shot 12.4 percent last season when she led all rookies with 13 goals. All that has influenced her rating dropping from third in 2024-25 to eighth among forwards at the Olympic break.The loss of Alex Carpenter to the expansion Seattle Torrent — plus a switch back to her natural center position — has given Fillier more responsibility in her sophomore season. She’s spent most of the season with a rotating cast of wingers, none as elite at finishing as Carpenter, which has translated to opposing defenders giving Fillier more of their focus.We have no doubt she’ll figure it out, though. That’s why she’s still No. 3.4. Abbey Murphy (USA)Projected Net Rating: +5.1 (3rd)How good is Abbey Murphy? She hasn’t stepped foot in the PWHL yet, but we’re already pretty sure she’s a top-five forward in women’s hockey.Nobody has more goals (36), points (61), or penalty minutes (57) in the NCAA than Murphy, whose University of Minnesota coach called her “Connor McDavid with a chip on her shoulder.” Murphy has one of the best shots in women’s hockey and is a creative playmaker.It’s always a bit tricky to project how the college-to-PWHL transition will go. But based on how past players have translated NCAA scoring to the PWHL, Murphy’s 36 goals and 61 points would be equivalent to a 15-goal, 25-point pace. That would have been second (tied with Hilary Knight and Tereza Vanišová) and fifth in the league last season.Murphy has also established herself on the international stage with two World Championships and an Olympic silver medal won as a 19-year-old in 2022. And she was the best American forward at the Canada-USA Rivalry Series, scoring five goals and eight points in just four games.5. Taylor Heise (USA)Projected Net Rating: +4.4 (11th)There is no better playmaker in women’s hockey right now than Heise. She sees the ice incredibly well and can place cross-seam passes on a platter for her linemates. She’s been a top-five player this season on a stacked Frost team.Nobody has more assists than Heise (36) over the last three years in the PWHL. She’s also fifth all-time in PWHL scoring (51 points in 63 games), putting herself firmly in the conversation with all-time greats like Poulin, Coyne Schofield and U.S. captain Hilary Knight.6. Hilary Knight (USA)Projected Net Rating: +4.8 (5th)Heading into her fifth and final Olympics, Knight is still one of the faces of women’s hockey and a high-end talent. She was one of the best players in the PWHL last season, finishing with a co-lead in scoring (29 points in 30 games) and was named a finalist for MVP and Forward of the Year. She was second in Net Rating behind only Poulin, which is what drives her high projected impact.Knight historically gets a lot of credit for her goal scoring, but has rounded out her game well as a playmaker — she leads the Seattle Torrent in assists — and as a reliable defensive forward.
7. Alex Carpenter (USA)Projected Net Rating: +4.2 (12th)Carpenter was one of the hardest players to place when balancing her reputation and current PWHL production heading into the Olympics.She got a few nods as the league’s best player in The Athletic’s player poll. She has good speed, an excellent shot and sees the game better than most. Carpenter has also been one of the PWHL’s most productive players, with 52 points in 64 games, which ranks fourth all-time.However, out of the top 15 forwards we’ve selected, she’s only outscoring Susanna Tapani — a defensive forward — and Laura Stacey, who is shooting under three percent this season. Perhaps the adjustment to a brand-new roster with the Torrent has affected this season. She’s still an undoubted top-10 talent though, and could have a massive tournament on the American top line with Knight.8. Daryl Watts (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.6 (6th)Watts can do it all on her own — and she’s had to on a weak Toronto Sceptres team. How she plays with more talent around her will dictate how her Olympic debut goes for Team Canada. Her placement here reflects our belief that she’ll make a major impact.Watts loves to shoot the puck and is top-three in shots per game in each of the last two seasons. She makes it count, too, with 28 career goals in the PWHL, second to only Poulin. Her impact at five-on-five is exceptional and she’s one of the game’s strongest offensive forces.
Sarah Nurse has been a force in the few PWHL games she’s played this season. (Rich Lam / Getty Images)9. Sarah Nurse (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.6 (7th)No player has been better in the PWHL this season than Nurse. The problem? She’s only played five games. Nurse is on a revenge tour after being left unprotected in the expansion draft, scoring four goals and six points in five games this season. The most illuminating Nurse number might be that the Vancouver Goldeneyes are up 7-0 at five-on-five with Nurse on the ice this season; they’re down 28-17 otherwise. Nurse’s impact on five-on-five offense is second only to Coyne Schofield.Nurse is tough to rank with just five games on the board this season, but they’ve been so strong that this almost feels like underrating what she might do — especially considering she led the last Olympics in scoring with 18 points.10. Kelly Pannek (USA)Projected Net Rating: +4.1 (13th)Pannek has long been known for her defensive prowess and that shows up in the numbers. She has the strongest expected defensive impact among forwards going into the Olympics thanks to a plus-4.3 Defensive Rating over the last three seasons, which ranks second among forwards. When Pannek is on the ice, other teams have an extremely hard time scoring.Defense alone is not why she landed in the top 10, though. Pannek is having a breakout season offensively with 15 points in 15 games for the Frost. Combine that with her sterling shutdown ability and she has a good case as the best two-way forward in women’s hockey.The next five11. Alina Müller (Switzerland)Projected Net Rating: +4.1 (14th)12. Laura Stacey (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.5 (10th)13. Kristýna Kaltounková (Czechia)Projected Net Rating: +5.0 (4th)14. Susanna Tapani (Finland)Projected Net Rating: +3.1 (18th)15. Brianne Jenner (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.5 (10th)The major theme from the next five up is defensive prowess. Susanna Tapani, Alina Müller and Laura Stacey rank first, third and fourth in Defensive Rating among forwards over the last three seasons. The Boston Fleet’s Tapani outscores opponents heavily at five-on-five, teammate Müller is flirting with the top 10 in overall value this season, and Montreal’s Stacey is firing the most shots per game this season. The Ottawa Charge’s Brianne Jenner is having a resurgent offensive season, but her defensive game just holds her back from the top 10.Most intriguing of all the names, though, might be Sirens rookie Kristýna Kaltounková, who already has an eye-popping projected Net Rating of plus-5.0 — third among PWHL players. That’s the result of her incredible ability to create chances (third in xG per game) and fill the net, where she leads the league with 11 goals in 16 games. For now, it’s only her short resume keeping her away from the top 10; she’s a rising star.The top five defenders1. Caroline Harvey (USA)Projected Net Rating: +3.9 (2nd)It may feel ambitious to put a player outside the PWHL as the top defender in the world. But what Harvey has already shown in the NCAA and past international events should already cement her status as one of the very best players in the world.Her production for the University of Wisconsin is absurd: 54 points in 26 games this season. That would equate to 22 points in 30 games in the PWHL, which would’ve tied Renata Fast and Sophie Jaques for best in the league among defenders last season.Harvey is a world-class skater and a real threat with the puck on her stick. She already has Olympic experience (2022) and is the third-highest-scoring defender in Women’s World Championship history, behind only Finland’s Jenni Hiirikoski, who has played 96 games to Harvey’s 34, and American defender Angela Ruggerio, who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.2. Megan Keller (USA)Projected Net Rating: +3.4 (4th)Keller is having a dominant offensive season for the Boston Fleet, leading all defenders in scoring and on pace for a 4.6 Offensive Rating. She has the second-highest Offensive Rating of any defender over the last three seasons.The model is not as high on her defensive work this season because of a high volume of goals against, but that is mostly due to a lack of a context for how difficult things are in Boston. Playing 27 minutes a night against top competition isn’t easy and the lack of player-level xG data hurts here.That Team USA has paired Laila Edwards — who is a forward at the University of Wisconsin but a defender on the national team — speaks to Keller’s responsibility.
Renata Fast hasn’t quite matched her previous highs this season, but her body of work is excellent. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)3. Renata Fast (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +3.0 (7th)Fast was the first defender to be named an MVP finalist in the PWHL after a dominant season where she finished tied for first in scoring among defenders, was third in blocked shots and led the league in hits and time on ice. If we did this ranking before the season, Fast would have undoubtedly been the No. 1 defender.But the margins among the top D are so thin and Fast hasn’t looked quite as strong in the PWHL this season. She’s missed time due to injury and has played tough minutes on a struggling Sceptres team, which the model does not account for. If you strip away the offense from Fast’s game – she only has three assists this season – you’re still left with a physical, defensive menace, which will be important for Canada as it tries to “upset” a more dynamic American team.4. Lee Stecklein (USA)Projected Net Rating: +2.0 (12th)Stecklein is the best defender in women’s hockey, without question. She has long had a reputation for it thanks to her long stick, great reach and hockey IQ — and the numbers bear that out considerably. Stecklein doesn’t have the offensive gifts for a high Net Rating, but her defense is transcendent enough to be worthy of a top five placement. Over the last three years she has a plus-7.7 Defensive Rating, 1.1 goals higher than anyone else, and 4.1 better than third. She’s basically in a league of her own and has been at her best this season with the Frost, allowing 27.5 percentage points fewer goals at five-on-five with Stecklein on the ice relative to her minutes. Her impact in that realm leads the league and is the main driver of her exceptional Defensive Rating.5. Erin Ambrose (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +3.3 (5th)Ambrose has always been a cerebral defender, playing a key power-play quarterback role for Team Canada back in 2022. She has since parlayed her offensive savvy into being a strong two-way defender in the PWHL and has become an analytics darling as a result. Ambrose may not be the best offensive or defensive defender in the game, but she may be the strongest at combining both elements. Over the last three years with the Victoire, she’s seventh in Offensive Rating and second in Defensive Rating behind only Stecklein. Her plus-10.6 Net Rating is just a shade below Sophie Jaques for first in the PWHL.The next five6. Haley Winn (USA)Projected Net Rating: +3.0 (8th)7. Ella Shelton (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +2.6 (9th)8. Sophie Jaques (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +4.6 (1st)9. Claire Thompson (Canada)Projected Net Rating: +3.5 (3rd)10. Ronja Savolainen (Finland)Projected Net Rating: +2.4 (9th)Context and usage is so important when it comes to measuring a defender’s value, and the lack of it with the available PWHL data leaves a lot more gaps. Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson are perfect examples of that. Both rank in the top three in projected Net Rating for their offensive gifts (where Jaques has the highest Offensive Rating the last three years), but that was largely playing with or behind a stalwart in Stecklein with the Frost. On the expansion Goldeneyes, both Jaques and Thompson have been pushed into bigger roles with more responsibility, hurting their defensive numbers.That’s one reason we have more confidence with the two-way ability of Haley Winn and Ella Shelton just outside the top five. Winn is playing 28 minutes per night for the Fleet, something the Sceptres’ Shelton is well-accustomed to as one of the PWHL’s biggest minute-eaters. Shelton leading defenders in both goals and points in 2024 helps too.It’s also a reason to keep an eye on Finland’s Ronja Savolainen. She crushed sheltered minutes last season for Ottawa and has proven herself further this year on the Charge’s top pair. Over the last three years, Savolainen has the fourth-highest Defensive Rating among defenders.MethodologyHow we built our PWHL modelWhile PWHL data is not as robust or complete as the NHL’s, stats that are common to both leagues can be used to draw inferences.Using data from PWHL Analytics via @HockeySkytte on X/Twitter, we used each player’s points, shots, on-ice goals for, ice time and team strength (goals and expected goals) to help inform how good a player is offensively, while using ice time, goals against and team strength to do the same defensively. Essentially, we cross-referenced stats available to both leagues to measure how much they explain Offensive and Defensive Ratings in the NHL using a multiple regression (about 90-95 percent for offense and 50-65 percent for defense, depending on position).It obviously won’t get the whole picture — even the NHL data doesn’t — but it can help put things into proper perspective by putting the available pieces together within the same context. That doesn’t make it the be-all, end-all, especially with so much other context missing (like the ability to drive play and the quality of teammates and competition). But hopefully it serves as a strong first step towards measuring value in women’s hockey.Based on the multiple regression, here’s how everything is weighted.How we created projections for non-PWHL playersFor the sake of Olympic hockey, just having PWHL ratings wasn’t enough. Only 28 percent of the skaters going to the Olympics play in the PWHL and accounting for Team USA’s collegiate star power was especially vital. We needed some sort of proxy for talent for those outside the league, which meant hacking together some PWHL equivalencies.That proved challenging with the lack of sample size between leagues, especially from European leagues. One way around that was using the NCAA as an intermediary, where there’s not only a larger relationship with the PWHL but also with the main European leagues.The sample size of players moving across leagues is still small, so take any of this with a grain of salt — it’s just a rough guideline. But based on how players performed in the PWHL and NCAA compared to their time elsewhere, here’s what a point in each league is roughly equivalent to in PWHL terms.SDHL (Sweden): 0.37NCAA: 0.36SWHL (Switzerland): 0.19Auroraliiga (Finland): 0.14DFEL (Germany): 0.07That covered all but 34 skaters, almost all of whom were from Japan, France and Italy. For the remaining players, we used a sliding scale where each player was slightly worse than the last based on the variable difference of other Olympic rosters.
