The NHL and PWHL announced the 24 players chosen to participate in the 2024 PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase in Toronto. Last month, the NHL announced the PWHL would be part of the expanded All-Star events on the Thursday before the 2024 NHL All-Star Game.
The PWHL chose all players participating and was sure to include 17 of the 18 free-agent signings in league history. PWHL New York captain Micah Zandee-Hart will not participate due to injury, however. The remaining seven players represented were among the first twelve selections from the 2023 PWHL Draft, including all six first-round picks.
All but one player, Alina Müller, have represented either the United States or Canada at the senior national team level. Brianne Jenner from PWHL Ottawa is one of 12 Olympic gold medalists from the 2022 Team Canada roster. Jenner was named MVP of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Fellow Canadians Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse were named Olympic Tournament All-Stars.
Defender Claire Thompson was also an Olympic All-star, though she will not participate in Toronto and has yet to make her PWHL debut. Defender Ella Shelton also represented Canada in Beijing and currently leads the PWHL with six points (two goals, four assists) over the first two weeks of play.
The 12 U.S. Olympians are headlined by 2022 Olympic team captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, who ranks second in league points (three goals, two assists). Absent from the Toronto rosters is current PWHL goal scorer Grace Zumwinkle, who made her Olympic debut in China and earned an Olympic silver medal with Team USA.
Although the PWHL is calling the 24 selected players “All-Stars,” the selection process was not based on league performance.
“I’d say it’s a little challenging in this year because they’ve only played for a month,” PWHL senior vice president Jayna Hefford told CBS Sports in November. “It’s not quite necessarily performance-based.”
The PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase was announced ahead of the league’s first game in Toronto on New Year’s Day. Had the rosters been selected based on PWHL performance, players such as Zumwinkle or Canadian goaltender Corinne Schroeder, who recorded the league’s first shutout, may have been among the players selected.
The PWHL will not hold its own All-Star Game this year, but hopes to in the future.
“At this point. I think [the NHL All-Star Showcase] is going to take place of that type of an event,” Hefford said. “I do anticipate in future years us having our own types of events, but never say never, things are evolving fast.”
The PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase will be a 20-minute game and will air on ESPN+ on Thursday, Feb. 1.
2024 PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase rosters
Team King
- Kendall Coyne Schofield, Minnesota (F)
- Hilary Knight, Boston (F)
- Alina Müller, Boston (F)
- Kelly Pannek, Minnesota (F)
- Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal (F)
- Blayre Turnbull, Toronto (F)
- Savannah Harmon, Ottawa (D)
- Megan Keller, Boston (D)
- Ella Shelton, New York (D)
- Lee Stecklein, Minnesota (D)
- Ann-Renée Desbiens, Montreal (G)
- Aerin Frankel, Boston (G)
Team Kloss
- Alex Carpenter, New York (F)
- Emily Clark, Ottawa (F)
- Taylor Heise, Minnesota (F)
- Brianne Jenner, Ottawa (F)
- Sarah Nurse, Toronto (F)
- Abby Roque, New York (F)
- Laura Stacey, Montreal (F)
- Erin Ambrose, Montreal (D)
- Renata Fast, Toronto (D)
- Jocelyne Larocque, Toronto (D)
- Nicole Hensley, Minnesota (G)
- Emerance Maschmeyer, Ottawa (G)
