As we reach the home stretch of the PWHL and its award season, its always interesting to look back at the season and see which players have stood out the most. In the PWHL this season, there has been no shortage of remarkable players who’ve put up great numbers all year. While nobody has eclipsed the point-per-game mark that Natalie Spooner achieved last season en route to her MVP win, some players have gotten pretty close, and others have excelled in different ways.
With all that said, here are, in my opinion, the top 5 best PWHL players for the 2024-25 season.
Best PWHL Players: Honourable Mentions
While just barely missing the list, a few players were tough cuts and deserve to be named honourable mentions. My list doesn’t contain any player from the Toronto Sceptres, though Daryl Watts, Hannah Miller, and Defender of the Year finalist Renata Fast are all quite close. Also just missing the cut was fellow Defender of the Year finalist Claire Thompson of the Minnesota Frost.
Tereza Vanišová of the Ottawa Charge tied for second most goals this season, and narrowly missed my list. Also missing the list from the Charge was my pick for the league’s second best goalie, Gwyneth Philips. Finally, I have Minnesota forward Kendall Coyne Schofield just missing the cut.
These 7 players are all in close contention for a top 5 spot, and I expect quite a few of them to make the all-star teams when the awards are announced. But with all that said, here are the top 5 best PWHL players!
Number 5: Sophie Jaques (Minnesota Frost)
Jaques is a finalist for Defender of the Year, but perhaps the most intriguing part of her game is her offense. Jaques scored 22 points over the course of the regular season, which is tied for most of any defender. If this wasn’t impressive enough, though, she missed 5 games, meaning she scored these 22 in just 25 games. This puts her at a PT/g rate of 0.88, which is 4th in the league for qualifying players.
Jaques is tied for 2nd in playoff points right now as she’s helped lead her Frost to a finals appearance. She is one of the best PWHL players right now not just because she can defend as good as anyone else, but because she can generate offense better than any defender.
Number 4: Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens)
The odds-on favourite to win rookie of the year, Fillier proved why she’s one of the best PWHL players despite her team’s struggles this season. Despite being on a team that’s lost quite a bit more than it has won this season, Fillier has a +/- of +10, which is the highest on her team and one of only three Sirens to be in the positives.
On top of this, Fillier’s offensive prowess has entirely carried over from Princeton. In the 30 games she’s played, she’s netted 13 goals and 16 assists, tying her for most points and highest PT/g in the league. She’s also towards the top of total hits with 38. Fillier is really good in every aspect of the game, and should be among the very best PWHL players for years to come.
Number 3: Hilary Knight (Boston Fleet)
If we had the chance to see Knight in the postseason, she may have been even higher on this list, but the Fleet unfortunately just barely missed out. Knight is tied for 1st in points and PT/g in the entire league, and she’s tied for second in goals at 15. Additionally, Knight is one of the league’s leaders in TOI, signifying just how much her team’s success is dependent on her own fantastic play.
Just a season ago, Knight was a far-cry from being one of the best PWHL players, but as this season has developed, the 35-year-old has proven that she still has what it takes to be up there with the best.
Number 2: Ann-Renée Desbiens (Montréal Victoire)
Montreal really just has a way of finding elite goaltenders, I guess. I know that it’s sort of crazy to have a goalie at #2 on a best PWHL players list, but Desbiens is doing for Montreal right now what Carey Price did for the city in 2015 and what Patrick Roy did for the city in the 1993 playoffs; she’s been absolutely phenomenal.
Desbiens leads the league in wins with an astounding record of 15-2-2, and this is not just a product of having a good team; when Montreal’s other goaltender played this season, the team was 4-6-1. Desbiens’ win count surpasses any other tender by quite a bit.
She also leads all goalies in just about every counting stat: she has the lowest GAA in the league by over 0.2, and the highest save percentage with 0.932, a figure that would make the best NHL goalies do a double take. If there’s any goalie who deserves to be among the best PWHL players, it’s Desbiens.
Number 1: Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal Victoire)
When you put into perspective that my two best PWHL players both come from the Victoire, it begins to seem like they’re destined to win it all this year. Still, though, Poulin has been nothing short of brilliant this season. First, she leads all skaters with a +/- of +17, but it goes so far beyond that.
Poulin has the second highest faceoff win percentage of qualifying players at 60.2%, always setting her team up for scoring chances in O-zone draws. More than this, though, Poulin has been a scoring machine this season, netting 19 goals in 30 games to win the league’s scoring title. Pairing this with her 7 assists, Poulin is a comfortable 4th in total points this season.
Poulin was one of the best PWHL players last season, but with what she’s done this season, she now leads the league in total career points at just shy of 50. Poulin has had a lot of pressure on her to perform as Team Canada’s longtime captain, and this season she’s really proven that she can perform in the PWHL as well.
