Minnesota Frost 2025-26 Season Review: Success, Heartbreak, and a New Beginning
The Minnesota Frost posted their best regular season yet, saw Kelly Pannek make league history, and battled the eventual champions in a dramatic playoff series before expansion and the draft ushered in a new era for the franchise.
By Robert Brent
With the PWHL Awards in the rearview mirror and league expansion well underway, the 2025-26 season is officially in the books. The Minnesota Frost had a notable campaign, despite not ending the year as champions for the first time in the PWHL’s three-year history. Before the offseason fully gets underway, let’s review the year that was for the Minnesota Frost in 2025-26.
Minnesota Frost Post Regular Season Success
At a glance, this last regular season was a successful one for the Frost. Minnesota finished third in the standings with the best record the team has ever posted in the regular season. The team went 13-3-5-9 for 50 points with a plus-18 goal differential.
The Frost’s primary weapon this season was a balanced offensive attack, led by a high-flying corps of scorers like Kelly Pannek and Taylor Heise. Of the league’s top ten scorers, five played for the Frost. Kelly Pannek led the way with 33 points, followed by Heise (30), Britta Curl-Salemme (29), Grace Zumwinkle (23) and Kendall Coyne Schofield (23).
While many of the big-name players led the way, the Frost also got significant depth scoring from their blue line and further down in the lineup. Rookie defender Kendall Cooper notably scored 19 points with 17 assists. Fellow defender Mae Batherson also had a breakout season, improving her scoring total from three points in 2024-25 to 15 points in 2025-26.
The Frost led the PWHL in scoring for the second-straight season, recording 91 goals in 30 games. The second-place team, the Montréal Victoire, scored 78.
Minnesota’s offense led the way, but the team also got great contributions in goal. The team has rotated between Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley throughout their history, with both netminders taking turns in goal. Rooney and Hensley made a relatively even number of starts this season, with Rooney appearing in 16 games and Hensley in 13.
Rooney bounced back from early-season struggles and ultimately played the most important games of the season. The Andover native went 9-5-2 for the Frost during the regular season, with a .921 save percentage.
Postseason Run Ends in Heartbreak
Despite a late-season skid that saw the Frost lose four straight games heading into the playoffs, the team clearly showed up for their postseason matchup. Though the Frost didn’t emerge victorious in the series, the team deserves credit for an incredible series against the eventual league champions.
The series started with a bang in a 5-4 overtime victory for Minnesota. Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Klára Hymlárová and Kelly Pannek all registered two points in that game, with late-season addition Jincy Roese scoring the game-winner.
The next two games were much slower-paced, with the Montréal Victoire playing suffocating defense. The Victoire won a marathon triple-OT game 1-0 and took the lead in the series after a 2-1 victory in game three.
Minnesota bounced back to tie the series in the following game after a huge performance from defender Sidney Morin. Morin scored twice in the game to push her playoff total to four.
The Montréal Victoire ultimately emerged victorious, winning game five 2-1. The elimination marked the first time the Frost had ever tasted a series defeat in the postseason.
After the series, Taylor Heise spoke about how the loss affected the team. She hopes it will spur them on next season.
“When you lose, it’s harder on you, and I think it can propel you forward better than a win. As much as we all want to win, I know that that’s all of our goals every single day, but I think it’s gonna propel everyone,” Heise said. “Feeling a loss like this is something you don’t just feel for a day, you don’t feel it for a week, you feel it for a very long time…That’s something we’re going to think about this summer when we’re all training.”
Offseason Key Takeaways
While the Frost’s season ended on the ice in mid-May, there have been several key developments for the team in the early days of Summer. There has been time to celebrate the team’s accomplishments, along with some major upheaval in the Frost’s roster construction.
Frost Recognized for History-Making Season
One of the most exciting parts of the season for the Frost included several players reaching career milestones, breaking records, and earning award nominations. The most notable achievement came from Kelly Pannek, who broke the PWHL regular-season scoring record with 33 points.
Pannek’s 33 points pushed her past the 50-point plateau, a milestone several Frost players reached in 2025-26. Pannek, Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Grace Zumwinkle all recorded their 50th point.
Pannek’s excellent season earned her a spot as a nominee for two end-of-season PWHL Awards. The versatile forward was nominated both for league MVP and forward of the year. Teammate Taylor Heise also earned a nomination nod for forward of the year.
While Pannek did not earn the MVP award, she did reign as the 2025-26 forward of the year, a fitting end for a standout season.
Third goaltender Marlène Boissonnault also earned the Intact Impact Award after being recognized across the season for their leadership, integrity, and commitment to their teammates.
Expansion Process Leads to Key Departures
For the second straight season, the PWHL is undergoing exciting expansion, with a host of new teams joining the league. While the new blood is sure to inject interesting matchups and storylines, it unfortunately means an expansion process that saw the existing teams lose several key players. That process was no different for Minnesota.
This year, the Frost decided to protect Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, and Maddie Rooney in their phase-1 protection before re-signing, and to protect Grace Zumwinkle, Lee Stecklein, and Sidney Morin in their phase-3 protection.
Minnesota Frost general manager Melissa Caruso spoke about the expansion process immediately after filing their phase-1 protection list.
“We had some really difficult decisions to make heading into this process,” Caruso said. “At the same time, we had the unique opportunity to lock in two of the league’s top forwards, one who is also up for MVP, and an elite goaltender. At the end of the day, we’re happy with where we’re at.”
With those players guaranteed to return, the team has already preserved much of its core. That being said, the Frost weren’t immune to losing key players. Britta Curl-Salemme signed with the new Detroit club early in the process and was later followed by vital departures on the blueline with Kendall Cooper and Mae Batherson both headed to Las Vegas.
Minnesota also saw the departure of goaltender Nicole Hensley, along with key depth players Katy Knoll and Abby Hustler.
Minnesota Frost Begins Rebuild at PWHL Draft
The Minnesota Frost recently began rebuilding their roster, starting with the PWHL Entry Draft. The team selected three forwards, two defenders, and a goaltender to bolster its depth.
Minnesota spent its first-round pick on Sara Swiderski, an Ohio State blueliner from Langley, British Columbia. Swiderski registered a breakout season with the Buckeyes in 2025-26, improving her point total to 27 after putting up 12 points in the previous season.
The Frost will hope for Swiderski to make an immediate impact on the blueline just as Kendall Cooper did after being Minnesota’s first-round pick in last year’s draft. It will be especially crucial for Swiderski to step in, given the departures on the Minnesota blueline.
The Frost also drafted Viivi Vainikka (forward, 2nd round), Maddy Christian (forward, 3rd round), Tova Henderson (Defender, 4th round), Daria Gredzen (goalie, 5th round) and Lara Beecher (forward, 6th round).
Melissa Caruso reflected on the team’s draft class after the conclusion of the event.
“This year’s draft had an incredible pool of players, and we are excited about our picks and what they will bring to our team,” said Caruso. “Every selection was made intentionally with this consideration of not only this upcoming season but as we look to build for the future of the organization. We believe all our picks will fill a vital role in the team we are continuing to build upon throughout this offseason.”
The draft is a key event for teams looking to rebuild their roster after expansion. It also marks the start of the offseason in earnest. Open free agency begins today, June 19th, where Minnesota can fill in any more holes with unsigned players.
