DULUTH — It’s draft week, with both the Professional Women’s Hockey League and National Hockey League both holding their annual drafts this week.
The 2025 PWHL Draft is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT on Tuesday in Ottawa while the 2025 NHL Draft with take place over two days in Los Angeles. The first round begins Friday at 6 p.m. CDT while rounds 2-7 take place Friday starting at 11 a.m. CDT.
The PWHL will be drafting players who have exhausted their college eligibility while the NHL is primarily taking players who have yet to enter the NCAA ranks yet, though some college players do get selected.
Here are the some of the UMD women’s hockey alumni to watch for Tuesday night in the PWHL Draft and some future UMD men’s hockey players to watch for in this weekend’s NHL Draft.
Minnesota Duluth defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith (28) passes the puck against Minnesota State forward Whitney Tuttle (7) on Friday, Feb. 14 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
There aren’t a lot of PWHL mock drafts or prospect lists out there — at least nowhere near as many as the NHL-draft-industrial complex — but the Bulldogs fifth-year senior defenseman and co-captain is on every one.
The 23-year-old German national team member posted two goals and three assists in eight games this spring between
and the IIHF World Championship. The All-WCHA second-team pick had three goals and 15 assists in 37 games with the Bulldogs in 2024-25, and finished her college career with 67 career points.
Jobst-Smith holds passports from three countries.
She was born in Great Britain, where her father, Andrew, is from. Her mother, Jessica, is from Germany and Jobst-Smith spent a year there playing hockey in 2018-19. Her family moved to the Vancouver area when Nina was 3.
Minnesota Duluth forward Clara Van Wieren (25) passes the puck against Wisconsin during the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal on Friday, March 7 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
The 23-year-old 2024-25 WCHA Most Outstanding Student-Athletes from Okemos, Michigan, played both center and wing over her five years at UMD. Jobst-Smith’s co-captain had a career-year in 2024-25 with 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points to co-lead UMD in scoring. The All-WCHA third-team pick played more games than any Bulldog in program history with 174, missing just one series, during the COVID-19 pandemic her freshman year.
Five of the last nine Bulldogs to wear the ‘C’ as captain or co-captain over the previous nine seasons at UMD have been drafted in the first two PWHL drafts. Three of the last four Bulldogs to wear the C between 2022-2024 — Mannon McMahon, Gabbie Hughes and Ashton Bell — have been picked by Ottawa.
The Charge,
runners up to the two-time Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost,
had four former UMD captains on its roster last season after trading for
Bell was selected by PWHL Vancouver this spring in the expansion draft.
Minnesota Duluth forward Olivia Mobley (15) skates with the puck against St. Cloud State on Friday, Jan. 10 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
UMD’s 2024-25 co-captains are among the 10 Bulldogs who declared for the PWHL Draft in 2025, which will now feature eight teams with the addition of Vancouver and PWHL Seattle for 2025-26.
A pair of Bulldogs transfers — former Penn State wing Olivia Wallin and former Quinnipiac/Ohio State wing Olivia Mobley — can be found on draft boards after leading UMD in scoring in 2024-25. Mobley had the team-high of 19 goals and Wallin shared the team-high of 40 points with Van Wieren while leading in assists with 24.
Minnesota Duluth defenseman Hanna Baskin (10) skates with the puck against St. Cloud State on Friday, Jan. 10 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
Hanna Baskin, a defenseman, is also popping up as a possible late-round pick. She had 21 assists in 2024-25. A former Bulldog and Bemidji State Beaver, Reece Hunt, is also considered a dark horse pick after she played in Sweden in the SDHL, though her season ended after six games due to a torn ACL and MCL.
Other former Bulldogs to declare for the draft Tuesday include goaltender Tindra Holm, center Jenna Lawry and forwards Naomi Rogge and Kas Betinol.
The 19-year-old (turning 20 in October) Russian played last season for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL and before that at Shattuck St. Mary’s. The 6-foot, 185-pound center is one of seven freshmen joining UMD in the fall and one of seven new faces at forward.
Shlaine — whose older brother Artem played for Arizona State as a fifth-year in 2024-25 — is ranked No. 129 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in its final 2025 draft rankings. He finished with 25 goals and 35 assists in 68 games last year with the Stars.
Shlaine was also ranked in NHL Central Scouting’s final 2024 draft rankings at No. 153, but he went undrafted. Artem was picked by the New Jersey Devils in 2020 but went unsigned, joining the AHL’s Texas Stars for the end of the 2024-25 season.
The 6-foot-4, 183-pound goaltender from Sweden made NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings for the 2025 draft, but was dropped despite finishing with a .937 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average in 19 games with the NAHL’s Austin Bruins.
Axelsson, who will return to juniors in 2025-26 for at least one more season before coming to UMD, started 2024-25 in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede, getting in just four games. He had a .837 save percentage and 4.95 GAA.
Axelsson, who turns 19 in November, is the son of former Bulldog Niklas Axelsson, who played at UMD from 1993-95.
Two local Bulldogs to watch
Minnesota Duluth defenseman Ty Hanson (2) skates with the puck against Western Michigan on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
A pair of local players, Hermantown’s Ty Hanson and Proctor goaltender AJ Reyelts have popped up on draft boards before, but have passed over in the draft each time. The right team could take a chance on either in a late round Saturday. Neither is ranked for 2025.
Hanson, who just completed his freshman year at UMD, has gone undrafted twice after being ranked No. 217 by NHL Central Scouting in 2023. He had four goals and 14 assists in 36 games last year at UMD.
Reyelts, who committed to UMD this summer, will play for the Penticton Vees in the Western Hockey League next season. The 6-foot-1, 181 pound goalie was ranked No. 28 among North American goalies for last year’s draft. The 2024 News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year posted an .890 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average in 46 regular season games with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL in 2024-25.