:PWHL writer Rob Del Mundo will summarize the projected lineups for each of the two new expansion teams in a two-part series.. Today we look at PWHL Vancouver.
The newest Canadian team in the league looks good enough, on paper, to challenge for a playoff spot, thanks to some shrewd signings by general manager Cara Morey, who took full advantage of the league’s expansion process that drastically downgraded the six founding clubs’ rosters.
Projected Vancouver forward lines:
Hannah Miller – Sarah Nurse – Izzy Daniel
Teresa Vanisova – Brooke McQuigge – Michela Cava
Michelle Karvinen – Jenn Gardiner – Abby Boreen
Denisa Krizova – Gabby Rosenthal – Brianna Brooks
Nurse, one of only two natural centres on the team, is an easy choice for the top line, where she’d be joined by her ex-Toronto Sceptres teammates Miller and Daniel. In the offseason Miller signed a three-year contract to play in her hometown.
Our projected second line has two-thirds of the top forward unit from Minnesota’s final game of last season. In Game 4 of the final series, McQuigge and Cava flanked Kelly Pannek en route to the Frost’s second straight Walter Cup.
Fun fact: Michela Cava has won a professional championship in each of the past five seasons, playing for: 2021 SDHL, Lulea HF; 2022 Russia, KRS Vanke Rays; 2023 PHF, Toronto Six; 2024 and 2025 PWHL, Minnesota.
The third line groups Montreal Victoire teammates Gardiner and Boreen, joined on the left side by Karvinen, the 35-year old Finnish veteran of three Olympic Games. Karvinen, Vancouver’s first-round pick in 2025, would be a compatible linemate for Gardiner, who played alongside ‘Captain Clutch’ Marie-Philip Poulin last year.
Rounding out the forward unit, Rosenthal, the team’s only other natural centre besides Nurse, is slotted in the middle between two-time Walter Cup champion Krizova and Vancouver’s third-round draft pick, Brooks, a graduate of Penn State University.
Defence pairings:
Claire Thompson – Ashton Bell
Mellissa Channell-Watkins – Sophie Jaques
Emma Greco – Sydney Bard
When the co-runners-up for Defender of the Year, Thompson and Jaques, both end up on the same expansion team, the process is flawed.
Having said that, Vancouver indeed has an embarrassment of riches on the blue line. While it’d be a no-brainer to pair the left-shooting Thompson with the right-shooting Jaques, splitting up the duo would ensure that at least one of them is on the ice for most of the game.
A Thompson-Bell pairing would unite two Team Canada Olympic gold medallists. The duo of Jaques with Channell-Watkins, her fellow Walter Cup champion and defensive partner, was established in Minnesota. That leaves two former Boston Fleet teammates, Greco and Bard on the third rung of the ladder.
Vancouver Goaltenders:
Primary: Emerance Maschmeyer
Backup: Kristen Campbell
While their save percentage numbers from last season are almost identical, and Maschmeyer is three years older than Campbell, the former gets the nod as the starter. A lower body injury curtailed Maschmeyer’s season, leaving the door open for Gwyneth Philips to grab the starter’s job in Ottawa.
Meanwhile in Toronto, Campbell looked far from the player who earned Goaltender of the Year honours in 2024, particularly in the playoffs where she had multiple subpar performances in a second consecutive first-round loss to Minnesota.
It’s worth noting that both players have worn the maple leaf for Team Canada. Maschmeyer received an invitation to her country’s training roster for the 2026 Olympics, while Campbell did not.
Coming soon: Part 2, Projected PWHL Seattle lineup
