The 2024 PWHL Toronto Draft: Forwards and Centres

The 2024 PWHL Toronto team had seven draft picks in this draft. Three of them were drafted as forward players and one of them was drafted as a centre player. Here is a list of players that they selected in the draft.

The 2024 PWHL Toronto Draft of Forwards and Centres

Julia Gosling (Sixth Overall, First Round)

Born in London, Ontario, Julia Gosling, the 5 ft 11 player made 11 appearances for the Canadian women’s national under-18 team, with a total of eight points (five goals and three assists) as she won bronze in 2018 and gold in 2019. This is what Ted Brown, her former Devilettes coach, said about her (source: Isha Bhargava of CBC News):

"She's a power forward which means that she's strong, she is extremely fast at skating, handles the puck very well, and is not afraid of a little body contact. She plays all areas of the game," he said.

Looking specifically at her stats from the St. Lawrence Saints, she scored 22 goals and dished out 29 assists for her team. She has also stepped up when her team needed her most with seven game-winning goal scored.

One of her more notable games came on December 2, 2023, when she scored two goals and dished out three assists to get a narrow 6-5 win over Dartmouth.

Izzy Daniel (18th Overall, Round Three)

Izzy Daniel was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2001, the 5 ft 5 player played college ice hockey at Cornell and most notably won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2024 (an award for the top female college player in the U.S.).

This was just one of many awards she won with the college, as she also won the ECAC Hockey Player of The Year, the Ivy League Player of The Year, First Team All-ECAC Hockey (unanimous), AHCA First Team All-American, USCHO First Team All-American, and the First Team All-Ivy. She also led the team with 59 points, which included 21 goals and 38 assists. This is how the Cornwell head coach, Doug Derraugh, described Daniel (Source: Nicole Haase of USA Hockey):

“She's a pass first kind of player,” Derraugh said. “She really relies on her teammates and looks to help them be better and wants them to grow, as well. She wants her teammates to score goals, more so even maybe then herself.”

A player who can dish out assists would help for offensive players like Sarah Nurse as Daniel looks to make an instant impact in her professional ice hockey career.

Noemi Neubauerová – Drafted 30th Overall (Fifth Round)

This is what Neubauerová, forward of PWHL Toronto, said about being drafted by them with a big smile (Source: Chris Sinclair of The Rinkside Rundown Podcast):

“It’s absolutely, absolutely amazing. I’ve been very very grateful and grateful that Ven selected and Toronto too, and I had amazing conversations with Gina, the general manager. So, I am very honoured.”

Neubauerová has shown to be a player that can dramatically improve, as there was a huge jump in her stats from the Freshman to the Sophomore year with the Colgate Raiders as she went from five goals and five assists to nine goals and eight assists. She was also on the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team in her last two years in college.

She is also an Olympian, as she played in the 2022 Beijing Olympics with the Czech Republic.

Anneke Linser – Drafted 36th Overall (Sixth Round)

Lastly, there is Anneke Linser, an American forward that played professionally in Sweden for Djurg?rdens IF hockey. To understand what type of player she is, here is what Venla Hovi of the New York Riveters said at the time of the signing and before the acquisition of the PHF by the PWHL last year (Source: Ian Kennedy of Hockey News):

“She is a two-way forward, a great forechecker with a long reach and is very effective around the net,” said Riveters head coach Venla Hovi at the time of the signing. “She thinks the game well and is therefore smart positionally and shares the puck with poise.”

This is also what Djurg?rden's Johan Schillgard said about Linser when the Swedish team signed her (Source: Kennedy of Hockey News):

“With Anneke, we get a player who is the right age for our plan and future. She also has an attitude on the ice that really appeals to us.”

Linser has shown goal-scoring ability, scoring the second-most goals for a rookie while being with the Minnesota Duluth in the 2018-19 season. She also had the third-most game-winning goals with six goals and 11 assists and a +26 plus/minus for more than 126 career games.

The 2024 PWHL Toronto Draft Overview

The 2024 PWHL Toronto draft part one was all about their forwards and centres on the team. The team has some really great players such as Natalie Spooner and Sarah Nurse, even though Spooner is going to miss some games due to an injury.

The official names and logos for the six PWHL teams will be revealed on August (Source: PWHL), so there is a lot to look forward to. Also, there will be a part two of the PWHL Toronto draft looking at their defenders and goalies.?

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Photo Credit: PWHL Toronto Facebook Page of an Anneke Linser Headshot on June 12, 2024.