Frost select former Quinnipiac star Kendall Cooper in first round of PWHL draft

Stung by the expansion demolition of their carefully crafted defense, the two-time Walter Cup champion Frost filled holes in Tuesday’s PWHL entry draft by taking Quinnipiac defender Kendall Cooper sixth overall.

She’s a 23-year-old from Oakville, Ontario, who was her college team’s captain and third-leading scorer from the back line with 116 points in 158 career games.

She was also the fourth defender taken among the draft’s first six picks.

Cooper called herself “super excited” right on the draft floor after she was selected.

“I’m going to play whatever role they need me to play,” Cooper said. “I try to pride myself on consistency, someone who can be reliable and do the right thing out there.”

Boston took Gophers forward Ella Huber 10th overall after she scored 48 points in 42 games last season.

Tuesday’s draft continued a busy off-season during which the league’s original six teams surrendered important pieces of their rosters to the PWHL’s new expansion teams in Vancouver and Seattle.

The Frost lost defensive stars Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques as soon as the initial “exclusive signing period” for Vancouver and Seattle started early this month. Vancouver signed both players as soon as it opened, choosing to build their team from the back line forward.

The Frost countered in free agency by adding defender Sidney Morin, who played at Minnetonka in high school and Minnesota Duluth in college and two seasons for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet. They re-signed their own Mae Batherson, their 2024 sixth-round pick, too.

On Tuesday night, the Frost went for defense again with that sixth pick.

One pick before that, Ottawa took Chanhassen’s Rory Guilday fifth overall after she played four seasons at Cornell.

She was drafted by the team in the city, Ottawa, that held Tuesday’s draft.

“I cannot wait to be in this city, with this crowd,” Guilday told the rabid fans. “It’s a dream come true.”

The Frost took St. Lawrence forward Abby Hustler in the second round 14th overall. She is the first player from Canada’s Prince Edward Island to be drafted in the league’s short history.

They also chose Connecticut defender Ava Rinker in the fourth round 30th overall. UConn teammate Jada Habisch from Buffalo, Minn., went next to Seattle. They took Mercyhurst forward Vanessa Upson — fast friends with first-round pick Cooper — in the fifth round and made Providence defender Brooke Becker their final pick in the sixth round, 46th overall.

Hustler said she had no indication she’d be Minnesota-bound.

“It was shocking in that regard,” Hustler said. “I think they’ve been known in years past to pick who they feel is the best player, and it’s worked out for them. So hopefully I can fit that bill.”

They also drafted self-pronounced “fast and shifty” St. Lawrence center Anna Segedi 22nd overall.

Other Minnesota connections included St. Cloud State’s Emma Gentry from Alpena, Mich., taken third in the second round by Toronto. Right after that, Montreal took Gophers forward and Czechia’s Natalie Mlynkova, a 2022 Olympian and six-time women’s world participant. Boston drafted St. Louis Park’s Olivia Mobley in the third round. Mobley was one of three UMD players chosen in the third round alone — and five overall.

Mlynkova said she plays bigger than she is and smaller than she’ll be.

“I’ll get bigger, stronger,” Mlynkova said. “I’m a 200-foot player, pretty speedy and crafty, too.”

Toronto took defender Hanna Baskin — from UMD, by way of Minnetonka High — by Toronto in the sixth and final round.

Ottawa took fellow Gopher Peyton Hemp in the fourth round.

Seattle took Lily Delianedis from Edina by way of Cornell with the third round’s final pick.

New York started the night in Ottawa by taking Kristyna Kaltounkova with the first pick overall, awarded to one of only two teams that didn’t make the playoffs.

Kaltounkova is a 23-year-old from Czechia by way of Colgate University. She was a 2025 world championship tournament all-star in April in her home country.

After that, Boston took Clarkson defender Haley Winn second overall, New York traded to Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien third, Montreal took defender Nicole Gosling from London, Ontario and Clarkson fourth while Ottawa chose Guilday fifth.

It didn’t take long for that first trade, when New York traded veteran defender Ella Shelton to Toronto for the 3rd and 27th picks. The Sirens used that third pick to select 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial winner O’Brien.