Welcke twins, Abstreiter and Hjalmarsson headline intriguing PWHL camp invites

The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s 12 teams unveiled their 2026-27 training camp rosters on Wednesday, offering a first glimpse at how lineups might look when the Walter Cup chase begins. Beyond players already under contract and recent draft picks, a group of notable invitees will hit the ice next month trying to earn full PWHL deals.

Welcke twins split between Boston and Minnesota

For the first time in their careers, German twins Luisa and Lilli Welcke are heading to camp on different teams. Luisa has a spot in Boston Fleet camp, while Lilli will try to crack the Minnesota Frost roster. The sisters have been virtually inseparable to this point, skating together with Kurpfalz in Germany and as fixtures on the German national team over the last five years.

The Welckes helped Germany qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics and reach the quarterfinals after finishing second in their group. While they did not emerge as high-end offensive producers at Boston University, both have elements in their games that could translate more effectively at the professional level. Their split camps create the possibility of each carving out a separate role in the league.

Abstreiter, Adolfsson and Bujold target full-time returns

In goal, German netminder Sandra Abstreiter arrives at Hamilton’s camp without a contract despite a strong résumé. She was named top goaltender at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship and saw her heaviest North American workload last season backing up Ann-Renée Debienne in Montreal. In five appearances, Abstreiter went 3-2-0 with a 2.62 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and one shutout.

Hamilton appears prepared to lean on Kayle Osborne in its inaugural season and also selected Emma-Sofie Nordstrom in the draft, but bringing in Abstreiter could give the expansion club a standout tandem in net. On the blue line, Adolfsson is trying to re-establish herself in the PWHL after two full years in the SDHL. She played only one game for the Ottawa Charge in 2024-25 before returning to Sweden, where she posted seven points in 14 regular-season games with SDE HF and scored at the Milano-Cortina Olympics during Sweden’s run to the semifinals. A two-time SDHL champion with multiple World Championship and Olympic appearances, she offers Detroit an experienced presence on defence.

Up front, Bujold is back chasing a PWHL job after rediscovering her scoring touch with Lulea HF in the SDHL, recording 39 points across the last two seasons. She played for Montreal in the league’s inaugural campaign and later joined the Sirens’ reserve list before the roster freeze without signing a standard player agreement. At 30, her ability to log heavy minutes and fill various roles could make her a useful piece for a Sirens team retooling after a difficult off-season.

Drapeau, Hjalmarsson, Hicks and Knowles eye offensive roles

Several offensive-minded forwards will also try to convert camp invites into jobs. Rhea Hicks once profiled as a strong collegiate scorer, putting up 38 points in her junior year at Clarkson University before her production dipped to seven goals and 18 points after a roster exodus. Undrafted in June, she joins a San Jose group that lacks proven offensive weapons and has a chance to show head coach Troy Ryan she can help drive offence for the Bay Area expansion team.

Drapeau arrives with one of the top USports track records in recent memory. The Concordia standout capped her five-year career with 22 goals and 39 points in 24 games, leading the country in scoring while helping the Stingers reach the national championship in four of five seasons and capturing titles in 2022 and 2024. For a Toronto Sceptres team that suffered through a dismal 2025-26 campaign offensively, general manager Gina Kingsbury may see a fellow Quebec product as a potential solution.

Swedish playmaker Sara Hjalmarsson, a fifth-round pick by the Sceptres in the 2025 draft, is another key figure. On a Toronto roster that scored a league-low 51 goals last year and missed the playoffs, keeping an offensive creator like Hjalmarsson is significant. She scored three goals in her first PWHL season but was one of Sweden’s top point-getters at the Milan Olympics, finishing fourth on the team with five points in seven games.

Knowles, who has spent time with both the Sceptres and the Sirens, will try to re-establish herself with the Goldeneyes. She played 20 games for Toronto in 2024 before struggling to earn regular shifts in New York, appearing in 12 games in 2024-25 and only three last season. On a Goldeneyes team eager to stabilize in year two, she could push for a depth role.

PWHL training camps are scheduled to open on Nov. 18, two days after the gold medal game at the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Each team will play two preseason games before the regular season begins on Dec. 5.