{"id":358861,"date":"2025-12-16T11:37:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T11:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/358861\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T11:37:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T11:37:30","slug":"olympic-womens-hockey-stock-watch-risers-fallers-after-canada-usa-rivalry-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/358861\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic women\u2019s hockey stock watch: Risers, fallers after Canada-USA Rivalry Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Rivalry Series is now complete, with the U.S. women\u2019s national hockey team completing a convincing 4-0 sweep over Team Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s series finale in Edmonton came less than two months away from the 2026 Olympics, where the two powerhouse teams are expected to clash (once again) in the gold medal game. We\u2019re also just weeks away from the official unveiling of the Canadian and American Olympic rosters.<\/p>\n

The United States plans to announce its 23-player roster on Jan. 2; Canada\u2019s announcement will be sometime next month.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, let\u2019s take a look at how the Rivalry Series might affect the Canada and U.S. rosters.<\/p>\n

Team CanadaStock up<\/p>\n

Sophie Jaques, defense<\/p>\n

Jaques\u2019 productivity in the PWHL has made her undeniable (in our eyes) for Team Canada. Now feels like a great time to plug our PWHL Model that\u2019s coming soon \u2014 thanks to our friend Dom Luszczyszyn and data via @hockeyskytte \u2014 which helps quantify Jaques\u2019 offensive impact at the pro level.<\/p>\n

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According to the model \u2014 which considers each player\u2019s production, ice time and five-on-five goals for and against relative to their ice time \u2014 no defender in the PWHL has a higher net rating than Jaques. Her skating and defensive game are still a work in progress and she was benched in the gold medal game at last year\u2019s World Championships, which could be a cause for concern. But Jaques should add value to Team Canada in a (somewhat sheltered) third-pair role with power-play time.<\/p>\n

Julia Gosling, forward<\/p>\n

Gosling went from Canada\u2019s 14th forward at worlds to someone we feel comfortable penciling in for the Olympic roster. She\u2019s been solid in her first three games with the Seattle Torrent and showed off her big shot with two goals in the team\u2019s first-ever game. Gosling can scale the lineup for Canada, adding size and secondary scoring to the bottom six or leveraging that shot for more offensive opportunity at the top of the lineup.<\/p>\n

Canada struggled on the power play all series (3\/13), but Gosling proved she could be an asset there, scoring one goal and assisting another.<\/p>\n

Gosling gets one! \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

Gosling fait mouche! \ud83d\udea8#RivalrySeries<\/a> | #S\u00e9rieDeLaRivalit\u00e9<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/kLhjnSZxUu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Emma Maltais, forward<\/p>\n

Maltais was one of Canada\u2019s better players over the course of the series, and we saw her elevated in the lineup as a result. Once viewed as a gritty-energy bottom-six forward, Maltais got looks on the top line with Marie-Philip Poulin and as the second-line center with Sarah Fillier in Edmonton, which speaks to the trust coach Troy Ryan has in her at a critical time for Team Canada. Maltais didn\u2019t necessarily produce a ton \u2014 one goal in four games \u2014 but she\u2019s versatile, reliable and brings energy up and down the lineup. She\u2019s an Olympic lock at this point in her career.<\/p>\n

Brianne Jenner, forward<\/p>\n

Jenner was probably never at risk of getting cut from Team Canada, so including her here might seem silly. But it\u2019s worth acknowledging that she\u2019s looked much better since women\u2019s worlds in Czechia \u2014 her first worlds since 2012 where she failed to score a goal \u2014 for both club and country. Jenner is tied for the PWHL lead in scoring, thanks to a big four-point game last month, and scored Canada\u2019s lone goal in Saturday\u2019s series finale for her 50th career goal with Team Canada.<\/p>\n

Brianne Jenner ties the game with an absolute beauty!#RivalrySeries<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/fWBtjZEP8R<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

She\u2019s looking more like the Brianne Jenner we\u2019ve come to know over the last decade and it\u2019s coming at a great time for Canada, because if there\u2019s anyone not named Poulin who has proven they can step up at an Olympic games, it\u2019s Jenner.<\/p>\n

Mushy middle<\/p>\n

Jennifer Gardiner\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gardiner had an excellent women\u2019s worlds debut last year, scoring 10 points in seven games beside Poulin, who led the tournament in scoring and won MVP. She scored a critical game-tying goal in the gold medal game, which proved she could be productive against top competition too. But through the Rivalry Series, Canada mostly shuffled Gardiner around the bottom of the lineup, which probably isn\u2019t the best sign.<\/p>\n

Still, Gardiner is versatile enough to play up and down the lineup and has a track record as a good linemate for Poulin, which is a good option to have on the roster even if the staff seems reluctant to go back there.<\/p>\n

Natalie Spooner\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spooner remains a difficult player to evaluate for Canada. She looks much better than she did coming back from ACL surgery last season, but still might be a step slower than her MVP form in 2024. A rookie like Caitlin Kraemer might be a younger, more versatile option as Canada\u2019s 13th forward, but it would be unlike Canada\u2019s brain trust to cut a veteran for a rookie at this stage in an Olympic cycle. On top of that, Spooner has only played four PWHL games this season and has almost two months to get her legs more fully back under her for the Olympic tournament. Canada might also benefit from Spooner finding some chemistry with her Toronto Sceptres teammates Daryl Watts and Emma Maltais \u2014 a line they could carry over from the PWHL to the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Stock down<\/p>\n

Jocelyne Larocque<\/p>\n

For over a decade, Larocque has been one of Canada\u2019s best shutdown defenders who could be relied on to eat minutes against top competition. Over the last two years, however, 37-year-old Larocque has noticeably lost a step. Not only does she have little to give offensively, her defensive impact has been in serious decline from a +3.0 defensive rating in 2023-24 to -0.2 through four games in 2025-26 for the Ottawa Charge.<\/p>\n

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For Team Canada, she\u2019s also become prone to big mistakes, like in the gold medal game at last year\u2019s worlds when she sent a puck right onto Taylor Heise\u2019s stick in overtime.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s hard to imagine Team Canada cutting Larocque, given her time in the program and her leadership role in the locker room, and there aren\u2019t exactly great alternatives at this stage in the game. Micah Zandee-Hart isn\u2019t a massive upgrade, according to the model. And while Kati Tabin has posted great defensive numbers in the PWHL, she\u2019s only played two games for Canada compared to Larocque\u2019s 204.<\/p>\n

Danielle Serdachny<\/p>\n

Serdachny played a fourth-line role in three of Canada\u2019s four Rivalry Series games, which isn\u2019t necessarily a reason to put her stock down. She\u2019s played a depth role well in the past \u2014 even scoring the game-winner at 2024 worlds in Utica. But with only 23 roster spots \u2014 compared to 25 at worlds \u2014 someone has to come out. And at this stage, if we give Gosling the inside track and assume Kristin O\u2019Neill remains a lock at 4C, Serdachny might be on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n

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Team USAStock up<\/p>\n

Abbey Murphy, forward<\/p>\n

Murphy has long been an Olympic lock, but her play in the Rivalry Series has proven she\u2019s among the players to watch heading into Milan. Starting with a hat trick in the first game in Cleveland, the University of Minnesota star tied Hilary Knight for first on the team with five goals and finished a point behind Taylor Heise, whom Wroblewski called \u201cthe epitome of an Olympian,\u201d for second on the team with eight points.<\/p>\n

While she can be an agitator, Wroblewski contends that\u2019s overblown and that \u201cshe\u2019s just playing hockey.\u201d Her hockey IQ is elite. She has a Patrick Kane-like force field on the flank where you\u2019re almost scared to challenge her, which allows her to be on an island all by herself and she shoots the puck as well as anybody in the sport. But what sets her apart is her skating. Wroblewski said, \u201cIt\u2019s noticeable amongst the finest and best skaters in the world. She\u2019s a step ahead of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rory Guilday, defense<\/p>\n

In the final game of the Rivalry Series, the Americans essentially played with seven defenders instead of eight \u2014 a design solely to give Guilday the best possible audition to earn herself the seventh D spot. After missing the Wednesday contest with an elbow injury, Guilday sure looks like she landed that spot judging by the way Wroblewski talked about her after the game. He said she was \u201crock solid\u201d and \u201cvery stoic back there,\u201d then gave her the greatest endorsement a stay-at-home defender can receive: \u201cI felt safe with her out there.\u201d Not bad for a player who entered the series in November fighting her way back onto the roster.<\/p>\n

Hannah Bilka, forward<\/p>\n

Bilka\u2019s stock was on the rise after you could noticeably feel her absence on the U.S. team at worlds last April. Now she\u2019s back in the mix, playing with Heise and Murphy, and on the top power play, which speaks volumes about where she\u2019s at in the eyes of the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Bilka has always been a dynamic offensive talent, but there were some questions if she could check, play a 200-foot game and be hard enough to play against. She has answered all those questions since August to the delight of the USA staff. One of the biggest changes came in Plymouth when Megan Keller tweaked something minor and Bilka took her spot on the power play and aced the exam.<\/p>\n

Grace Zumwinkle, forward<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been an up-and-down four years since Zumwinkle made her Olympics debut in 2022. After making the Beijing team, Zumwinkle didn\u2019t make the 2023 worlds and was the second alternate in the 2024 worlds. She earned a spot on last spring\u2019s team and has continued to get better, earning more ice time under Wroblewski.<\/p>\n

It helps, too, that Zumwinkle looks healthy and ready for a big third season in the PWHL \u2013 she already has two goals in four games, which is half of her production from a down sophomore season. At her best, Zumwinkle is a strong north-south skater who can play through contact in the middle of the ice. She has put in tons of work and should be in for her second Olympics in 2026.<\/p>\n

Laila Edwards, defense<\/p>\n

It was fair to wonder if Edwards\u2019 swap from MVP-caliber forward to defense might affect her chances at making the U.S. Olympic team. Edwards has been making strides at her new position since worlds in Czechia and was absolutely stellar throughout the Rivalry Series. She led all U.S. defenders with six points, she defended in an elite manner and when she wanted to jump up in the play, you were reminded just how good of a forward she was due to her exceptional instincts offensively. That she\u2019s an Olympic lock a year after her debut on D speaks to how impressive and versatile an athlete Edwards really is.<\/p>\n

Mushy middle<\/p>\n

Kirsten Simms, forward<\/p>\n

Simms was perhaps the biggest debate we had at the bottom of the U.S. lineup. She\u2019s not your typical fourth-line winger \u2014 Jesse Compher might fit that role more traditionally \u2014 and she also took two bad offensive-zone penalties in Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

However, given the 23-player roster, Wroblewski might want someone like Simms as a failsafe in case of injury higher up the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt changes the way you pick a team,\u201d Wroblewski said about the women\u2019s roster limit. \u201cNormally \u2026 You could take that maybe gritty, heart and soul type of player as your 12th and 13th roles knowing that you could bring along a more skilled player as a 14th player, and have her in the seats. Then if somebody gets hurt, now you have that ability to inject a skilled player.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut without that 14th player, now you have to really think about, \u2018What if that power player got hurt?\u2019 You\u2019re not gonna have her in the waiting as the 14th player, so you might be thinking about making sure that she\u2019s a part of your 13, which changes the dynamic of your group.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re reading the tea leaves correctly, Simms might have the inside track.<\/p>\n

Stock down<\/p>\n

Lacey Eden, forward<\/p>\n

Eden has been on five straight World Championship teams for Team USA dating back to her 2021 debut in Calgary. But she might be falling down the depth chart as players like Simms, Zumwinkle and Britta Curl-Salemme \u2014 who we see as a lock at 4C \u2014 have pushed for roster spots in Milan.<\/p>\n

Savannah Harmon, defense<\/p>\n

Harmon was Team USA\u2019s seventh defender in Czechia and was benched for the gold medal game after a major defensive gaffe in the semifinals led to the opening goal versus the Czechs. She\u2019s been better in the PWHL this season for the Toronto Sceptres, but only played in one game in the Rivalry Series in favor of younger options like Guilday, Emma Peschel and Anna Wilgren.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, if we assume Guilday is in, Harmon is the only player who could be out on this current U.S. blue line.<\/p>\n

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