Pre-Draft Check-In with the Minnesota Frost

The Minnesota Frost's tenure in the PWHL has been near short of perfect on the ice. They accomplished the unthinkable in the PWHL’s first two seasons as they have won back-to-back Walter Cup Championships. Their two cup runs have come thanks to their strong forward corps, dependable defenders, and a consistent goaltending tandem. Since the Minnesota Frost won the 2025 Walter Cup on May 26th, their roster has taken some hits, but for the most part, a good chunk of the Frost's roster has stayed the same.

A Melting Blue Line

During the exclusive free agent signing window for the PWHL’s expansion teams, the Frost lost two of their top defenders, who were a huge part of why they went back-to-back. PWHL Vancouver signed the likes of Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques leaving a big hole on Minnesota’s blue line. Additionally, the Frost also lost two-time Walter Cup Champion, Mellissa Channell-Watkins who's been a massive piece on the Frost's blue line.

With the loss of Thompson and Jaques, the Frost will enter their third season without two of the league’s strongest and most reliable defenders who are fresh off of raising the Walter Cup. Despite these two massive losses, the Frost’s defensive core is fortunately still extremely strong with the opportunity to rebuild it back up at this year’s draft. 

Through the start of free agency and the expansion draft the Frost was able to keep Lee Stecklein as well as re-signed the likes of Natalie Buchbinder and Mae Batherson to two-year deals and Maddie Rooney to a three-year deal. They've also acquired some new talent, signing former Boston Fleet blue liner and Minnesota-born defender Sidney Morin to a two-year deal.

Forward Corps Stays Strong

Throughout the exclusive signing period, the expansion draft, and now the start of Free Agency the Minnesota Frost have done a great job at keeping most of their forward core. One massive loss for them is the departure of Michela Cava who has been one of the most underrated top-six forwards across the entire PWHL. Cava signed a two-year deal with PWHL Vancouver during the start of Free Agency. Within their forward group, the Frost have also lost Liz Schepers and Maggie Flaherty.

Throughout the Frost’s first two PWHL Drafts, they did a fantastic job at selecting for their needs and cashed out with them as Walter Cup Champions. During the 2024 PWHL Entry Draft, they used their first two picks to select Claire Thompson and Britta Curl-Salemme.

The Curl-Salemme selection was and continues to be controversial for both her off-ice actions, and also for her dangerous on-ice play that resulted in the former Wisconsin forward being suspended three times in her rookie season. Looking back at the pick now, Curl-Salemme fit right into the Frost’s lineup and excelled on the first power play unit throughout the regular season and the playoffs. Minnesota also quietly made out extremely well with some of their later-round selections with the picks of forwards Katy Knoll and Klara Hymlarova.

2025 Entry Draft Needs 

With a good chunk of their core returning to the Minnesota lineup this upcoming season with a handful of big holes left at the end of the Expansion Draft and Free Agency, Minnesota’s biggest need heading into the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft will be defenders. 

After winning their second-straight Walter Cup, the Minnesota Frost will be selected sixth overall at this year’s draft. This year’s draft class is fairly strong when it comes to available defenders. I’d say right now there are about 5 or 6 defenders who will have the chance to make an instant impact at the pro level next season. 

For the Minnesota Frost, that sixth overall pick needs to be a defender. No matter who else is available, their pick needs to be on the blue line. In a lot of cases with drafts, I lean towards picking the best available, especially in round one. But with a roster like Minnesota’s and the specific need for some help on defence, I don’t think that should be the plan for Melissa Caruso and her team. The Frost enter the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft with less drama than they’ve historically had around drafts. Minnesota entered the 2024 PWHL Entry Draft with not only the first championship in PWHL history but also had a lot of talk surrounding them following the unexpected departure of former GM, Natalie Darwitz. I expect the Minnesota Frost to have a more thorough and impactful draft experience compared to what happened the year prior. 

What Draftee Name Could We Hear Called by the Frost?

Of course, anything could change from the time I’m writing this, to Tuesday night in Ottawa, but the possibility of either or all three of Haley Winn, Rory Guilday and Nicole Gosling being off the board at pick number six could be highly unlikely. 

In the history of the PWHL Entry Draft defenders seem to be a dire need for every single team, and I don’t see that being any different this year. We have a very good chance to see the first three or four picks all being defenders. With that said, the Frost will still have several PWHL-ready defenders available to them when they find themselves on the clock. 

I’m not going to spend too long talking about the blue line talent available at this year’s draft, but my lovely coworker Giselle Velazquez did so here, what I will do is talk about how badly I want to see Nina Jobst-Smith suit up for the Minnesota Frost next season. Nina Jobst-Smith is set to become just the PWHL’s third-ever German-born player to hit the ice in the league and will certainly make an impact on whatever team drafts her.

She spent her entire collegiate career on the blue line for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She finished her career with 172 games played, 67 points, 13 goals including five on the power play, and 179 total shot blocks. With Minnesota ties and the dire need for blue line help, this pick to me, if Jobst-Smith is available, it’s pretty much a no-brainer selection for the Frost. Jobst-Smith will provide reliability and consistency to Minnesota, but she also comes with an abundance of experience, including at the international level where she has represented Team Germany as a strong two-way defender. During this past season, she recorded five points in eight games for Germany this season at the Olympic qualifiers and World Championships.

As the Frost continue to rebuild their blue line on the fly after the expansion signing window, the selection of a player of Nina Jobst-Smith’s calibre could be massive for the former champs. In a dream world, we see her mentored by someone like Lee Stecklein in her rookie season with the hopes that Jobst-Smith will become a staple on the Frost for years to come.

When it comes to the Frost’s remaining picks after the first round, I’d say finding a replacement for Michela Cava in their top six is a necessity. A player like Natalie Mlynkova could easily slot in as that player if she's available.

If you take a look at Mlynkova’s Elite Prospect Page, the Czech forward’s resume is outstanding both in her point totals, but also her experience at all levels. The left winger from the University of Minnesota has a very high ceiling and a style of play that might take half a season or so to fully adapt to the pro level, but once she does she will be a strong top-six option and power play option for the Frost for a long time.

Mlynkova is a fantastic forward with high-level two-way play. She loves to carry the puck and can generate scoring chances on a dime. With Minnesota losing Michala Cava in Free Agency, the selection of Mlynkova would provide the Frost with some much-needed scoring and offensive numbers.

In this past year’s World Championship with Czechia, she led the team in offense with six points in seven games and was also named a tournament All-Star in 2024. In her college career, she was just short of being a point-per-game player with 131 points in 143 games played. Her point totals are also very balanced as she tends to not only feed the puck extremely well but also can bury it too as she had 64 goals and 67 assists with the Gophers.

It’s hard to bet against the defending back-to-back champions in a league with so much talent. Despite losing two huge pieces to their championship blue line, I find it hard to see them taking too far back of a step compared to where they’ve been in the past two regular seasons.

With a strong 2025 PWHL Entry Draft, the Minnesota Frost could once again be in a very deep spot to contend for a third Walter Cup.