Five Late Round Draft Picks for PWHL Teams to Prioritize
What players should PWHL teams circle for rounds five, six, and seven of the PWHL draft?
If you’re an avid PWHL fan who’s been reading mock drafts over the last two weeks, you’re already familiar with names like Sarah Fillier, Danielle Serdachny, Claire Thompson, and the various debates over when these players should be selected. As much as I’d love to spend paragraphs talking about how I think Maja Nylén Persson is underrated and should be picked much higher than people have her, I think the world has exhausted just about every mock draft possibility, and it’s time to look beyond the draft's biggest prospects. The order of the first four rounds of the draft is not unanimous, but the names expected to go within the first four rounds are very consistent across publications. So what happens after? Who should teams be looking for once the biggest names are off the boards?
Once the draft rolls into the fifth round, we will begin to see how teams drafting philosophies vary. Will they choose the younger player they can create a long term development plan with or an experienced veteran? Should they draft for need or talent? While each team will have different strategies and constraints, here are five names that are likely to be available late in the draft that every team should be considering.
Anna Kjellbin
RHD · Luleå HF · Age 30
Summary: Between wearing the “C” for Sweden at the 2024 Women’s World Championship and scoring in the SDHL’s championship-clinching game, Kjellbin has had a damn good few months. Her last three seasons have been spent with Sweden’s powerhouse team, Luleå, playing big minutes alongside defenders like Jenni Hiirikoski, Daniela Pejsova, and Ronja Savolainen. Where someone has played does hold a lot of weight in a tight draft like this, and playing for a club that is known for developing defenders and executing a strong defensive game helps give context to Kjellbin’s experience.
Why Someone Should Draft Her: Her ability to play a physical game in a smart way and strong stickhandling. Kjellbin is excellent at shoulder checking to separate the puck from the puck handler but keeps her penalty minutes low, something needed in a league that’s collectively still trying to figure out the physical component of the game. Both her situational awareness on the ice and above average puck control make her a strong passer who can thread the puck to skaters near the net when cycling.
Why She Fell in the Draft: In a defense-heavy draft, Kjellbin is older than her right handed defender counterparts like Maja Nylén Persson, Cayla Barnes, Allyson Simpson, Sydney Bard, or Hadley Hartmetz, and is likely to be picked after them as a result. In terms of actual on ice play, Kjellbin’s biggest weakness in her game is speed, but she makes up for it with an understanding of her limitations that prevents her from overcommitting in puck races where she may get beat.
Best Fit: Boston and Ottawa have the biggest positional needs, but I think Kjellbin could be a good fit for New York. Last year, New York never truly established a defensive structure, despite many talented defenders. Their current defense group of Shelton, Zandee-Hart, Hobson, and Bourbonnais is very talented but very young, with little club experience outside of their first PWHL season. For New York’s new coach, having a trustworthy, veteran depth defender to help execute a more organized game plan on the back end could be good for the team.
Rylind MacKinnon
LHD · University of British Columbia–USports · Age 24
Summary: Rylind Mackinnon is the most recent captain of the UBC Thunderbirds, an offensive-defender who had 22 points in 24 games this past college season. During her five seasons with the program (not including the canceled Covid year), Mackinnon was named a USports First Team All Star in 2024 and to the USport All-Rookie team in 2019. The offensive defender played well enough to earn an invite to Hockey Canada’s most recent development camp.
Why Someone Should Draft Her: The skill that separates MacKinnon from her counterparts is her unreal skating ability. In particular, her mechanics allow her to walk the blue line and pinch down low to find space to shoot. During her time at UBC, she commonly jumped into the rush or joined a low cycle, even playing the flank/half wall on their power play unit at times.
Why She Fell in the Draft: MacKinnon is a player that, if the PWHL had some version of the AHL, might go earlier. She has a ton of potential in her game, but she’s going to likely need top minutes in the offensive zone in order to develop, and those aren’t minutes PWHL teams have to give away to a player who may still need some polishing. MacKinnon’s style of play hasn’t historically translated well to a third pair defensive minutes eater, but with all the defensive contracts already in place, in addition to the defensive prospects ranked ahead of her, there’s not much else left. MacKinnon profiles similarly to Maude Poulin Labelle, who struggled to find a place in Montreal and then Toronto for similar reasons. However, a lot of scouts, including national team scouts, recognize how high her ceiling is, and a team could find that worth investing in.
Best Fit: Boston. The team needed more offense last year, and excluding Megan Keller, they got very little production from their defensive core. The team has a strong enough defensive system to ease MacKinnon into playing at the professional level while still benefiting from her strong skating and transition skills.
Darcie Lappan
LW · Clarkson University · age 22
Summary: Each year in the NCAA, Lappan has shown serious growth as a player. She spent three years at Colgate before transferring to Clarkson for two years, where she got a little more ice time and opportunity. A team that drafts Lappan is getting a player who can add a spark of offense to their third and fourth lines and shoot just as well as she can pass.
Why Someone Should Draft Her: Lappan is strong on the puck and has the ability to move in tight space or defense especially around the net front. Her quick wrist shot has allowed her to score on rebounds and turnovers in high-danger areas.
Why She Fell in the Draft: Lappan doesn’t have the offensive ceiling that a lot of the forwards ahead of her do nor the creativity in the offensive zone to be a top six winger in the league at the moment. She has the potential to be a great depth player, but she will have steady competition from more veteran players trying for those spots.
Best Fit: Toronto barely played their fourth line all season and could use a reworking of their depth forwards. Lappan is a player who could fill that role for them.
Chayla Edwards
RHD · University of Wisconsin · Age 23
Summary: Edwards has the most thankless job in hockey as the shutdown defender. The two-time national champion is best described by one word: reliable. She’s the player you want on the ice with a one goal lead when the opponent has the net empty. Like Kjellbin, Edwards is coming from a program that has produced so many other PWHL players which will help her draft case.
Why Someone Should Draft Her: What separates Edwards from a lot of other stay at home defenders is her strong skating ability. Combined with her good awareness away from the puck, Edwards thrives in a player on player system that most PWHL teams run in their defensive zone. Despite tough defensive assignments, Edwards does a good job avoiding the penalty box.
Why She Fell in the Draft: Similar to Lappan, a low offensive ceiling is what hurts Edwards. Her passing and transition abilities are more muted than those likely to be drafted ahead of her. Edwards grades out as a third pairing defender, and the draft and free agency having so many defenders but teams having so few spots is working against her.
Best Fit: Ottawa. They need right handed defensive depth badly, having played most of the year with Bell and MacInnis (now a free agent) as their only natural right handed shooting defenders.
Ilona Markova
RW/C · Agidel Ufa (Russia) · Age 22
Summary: Markova is considered a wild card this draft, the biggest being that it is very hard to scout her play from the last two seasons. As a Russian native, she can’t compete in any international competition, and while scouting the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) has never been easy, it certainly is a hell of a lot harder now. That leaves the 2021 Olympics and the limited information or video there is of her club play as the only materials available to scout Markova. What we do know about Markova is that she has multiple U-18 tournament accolades, three championships in the ZhHL, and one ZhHL All Star appearance. Last season, Markova had 40 points in 42 games, good for 19th in the high scoring environment that the Russian league has.
Why Someone Should Draft Her: Her shot. Markova showed in the Olympics that she can shoot from any time and anywhere with a special ability to stickhandle. All PWHL teams could use help with converting shots into goals, and in the later rounds, it may be worth drafting Markova to see what she can bring. She hasn’t shown elite passing or playmaking ability, but she may become your uncle’s favorite player as she will certainly fire a shot when he yells at the team to shoot from the stands.
Why She Fell in the Draft: In addition to the “very hard to physically scout” thing, there is concern about her not playing against the world's top talent in the last few years and how that impacted her development. The uncertainty could make teams feel she’s not worth it compared to some of the other names that will still be out there.
Best Fit: Minnesota. Despite the championship, the team had the lowest shot percentage in the league, only one right winger signed with the team next season, and only five forwards in total signed. The fact that they’re also carrying seven contracts over the $80,000 threshold instead of six means they may struggle to snag some of the top free agents and have to get creative in the draft to find scoring. Markova probably also has no opinion on Ken Klee or Natalie Darwitz, which means she’ll be unbothered by whatever is going on there.