# 2016–17 NWHL season

The 2016–17 NWHL season is the second season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the inaugural season returned for this season: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and New York Riveters.

## League business
### Team locations

During the off-season, the Connecticut Whale moved to Northford Ice Pavilion in North Branford, Connecticut, and the defending champion Boston Pride moved to the new Warrior Ice Arena in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton.
On August 1, 2016, it was announced that the New York Riveters moved from Brooklyn to the Barnabas Health Hockey House in Newark, New Jersey, situated within the Prudential Center as the New Jersey Devils practice arena. The facility was the site of the first Isobel Cup finals the previous season.
With the changes in arenas, it left the Buffalo Beauts, playing their second season at Harborcenter, as the sole team not to change arenas.

### League news

* August 2, 2016: The league announced a partnership with You Can Play, which also saw each team feature an ambassador.
* August 4, 2016: The league announced that all four inaugural season jersey designs would be retired and replaced with new designs voted upon by fans.
* October 7, 2016: Buffalo Beauts player Hailey Browne became the first transgender athlete in professional North American team sports, asking to be referred to by the name Harrison Browne. As the hormone treatments involved with gender transition violate anti-doping regulations, Browne would remain fully biologically female during his playing career. Browne initially retired at the end of the season to with plans to start a full transition, but returned to play for the Metropolitan Riveters the following season.
* November 17, 2016: Part way into the league's second season, the NWHL informed its players that they would all be getting up to a 50% pay cut. The league claims the pay cut is needed in order to sustain the longevity of the league. This dropped the league player minimums to $5,000 per player. Five weeks later, in an attempt to partially compensate for the salary rollback, the league introduced an incentive program where players from the home team split the revenue generated by tickets sold in excess of 500 after each game.
* February 3, 2017: The league announced that the season and playoffs would be shortened to accommodate for the players' participation in the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship and preparations for the 2018 Olympic teams. The season was originally set to end on April 16, following a three-week break for the World Championships. The regular season was instead scheduled to end on March 12 and then followed by a single-game Isobel Cup playoff semifinals and final to be held March 17–19.

### All-star game

The 2nd NWHL All-Star Game was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the first NWHL game to be played outside of its four markets. Amanda Kessel and Kelley Steadman were named as All-Star captains. Kessel would go on to score the first hat trick in NWHL All-Star history.

## Regular season
### Standings

| | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
| Boston Pride | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 73 | 29 | 32 |
| New York Riveters | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 55 | 58 | 19 |
| Buffalo Beauts | 17 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 44 | 68 | 13 |
| Connecticut Whale | 18 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 60 | 77 | 11 |

## Playoffs

| Semifinal game | Semifinal game | Semifinal game | Isobel Cup Championship | Isobel Cup Championship | Isobel Cup Championship |
| 1 | Boston Pride | 8 | | | |
| 4 | Connecticut Whale | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Connecticut Whale | 2 | 1 | Boston Pride | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 3 |
| 2 | New York Riveters | 2 | 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 3 |
| 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 4 | | | |

## Statistics
### Scoring leaders

* The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Brianna Decker | Boston Pride | 17 | 14 | 17 | 31 |
| Alex Carpenter | Boston Pride | 17 | 9 | 20 | 29 |
| Haley Skarupa | Connecticut Whale | 16 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| Janine Weber | New York Riveters | 17 | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| Meghan Duggan | Boston Pride | 17 | 13 | 7 | 20 |

## Awards and honors

* Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2017 NWHL Most Valuable Player
* Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2017 NWHL Scoring Champion
* Ashley Johnston, New York Riveters, 2017 NWHL Denna Laing Perseverance Award
* Megan Bozek, Buffalo Beauts, 2017 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award
* Katie Fitzgerald, New York Riveters, 2017 NWHL Goaltender of the Year

## Transactions
### Draft

The 2016 NWHL Draft took place on June 18, 2016, and was the second in league history. Defender Kelsey Koelzer of Princeton was selected first overall by the New York Riveters.
| Rd | P | Player (Pos) | Team | Nationality | Former team |
| 1 | 1 | Kelsey Koelzer (D) | New York Riveters | United States | Princeton University (ECAC) |
| 1 | 2 | Lee Stecklein (D) | Buffalo Beauts | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 1 | 3 | Dani Cameranesi (F) | Connecticut Whale | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 1 | 4 | Ann-Renee Desbiens (G) | Boston Pride | Canada | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 2 | 5 | Sydney Daniels (F) | New York Riveters | United States | Harvard University (ECAC) |
| 2 | 6 | Cayley Mercer (F) | Buffalo Beauts | Canada | Clarkson University (ECAC) |
| 2 | 7 | Andie Anastos (F) | Connecticut Whale | United States | Boston College (Hockey East) |
| 2 | 8 | Sarah Nurse (F) | Boston Pride | Canada | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 3 | 9 | Jenny Ryan (D) | New York Riveters | United States | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 3 | 10 | Hayley Scamurra (F) | Buffalo Beauts | United States | Northeastern University (HEA) |
| 3 | 11 | Mellissa Channell (D) | Connecticut Whale | Canada | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 3 | 12 | Ashleigh Brykaliuk (F) | Boston Pride | Canada | University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) |
| 4 | 13 | Sydney McKibbon (F) | New York Riveters | Canada | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 4 | 14 | Emma Woods (F) | Buffalo Beauts | Canada | Quinnipiac University (ECAC) |
| 4 | 15 | Paige Savage (F) | Connecticut Whale | United States | Northeastern (HEA) |
| 4 | 16 | Halli Krzyzaniak (D) | Boston Pride | Canada | University of North Dakota (ECAC) |
| 5 | 17 | Amy Menke (F) | New York Riveters | United States | University of North Dakota (WCHA) |
| 5 | 18 | Maddie Elia (F) | Buffalo Beauts | United States | Boston University (HEA) |
| 5 | 19 | Sydney Rossman (G) | Connecticut Whale | United States | Quinnipiac University (ECAC) |
| 5 | 20 | Lara Stalder (F) | Boston Pride | Switzerland | University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) |

### Free agency

| Date | Player | New team |
| April 4, 2016 | Kelly Babstock | Connecticut Whale |
| April 6, 2016 | Morgan Fritz-Ward | New York Riveters |
| April 6, 2016 | Madison Packer | New York Riveters |
| April 11, 2016 | Paige Harrington | Buffalo Beauts |
| April 12, 2016 | Ashley Johnston | New York Riveters |
| April 12, 2016 | Kiira Dosdall | New York Riveters |
| April 20, 2016 | Jordan Smelker | Boston Pride |
| April 26, 2016 | Jillian Dempsey | Boston Pride |
| April 27, 2016 | Alyssa Gagliardi | Boston Pride |
| April 28, 2016 | Bray Ketchum | New York Riveters |
| April 28, 2016 | Amanda Leveille | Buffalo Beauts |
| April 28, 2016 | Miye D'Oench | New York Riveters |
| April 30, 2016 | Sam Faber | Connecticut Whale |
| May 1, 2016 | Kaleigh Fratkin | New York Riveters |
| May 1, 2016 | Jaimie Leonoff | New York Riveters |
| May 1, 2016 | Amanda Kessel | New York Riveters |
| May 2, 2016 | Lexi Bender | Boston Pride |
| May 2, 2016 | Lisa Chesson | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 2, 2016 | Kaliya Johnson | Connecticut Whale |
| May 3, 2016 | Cydney Roesler | Connecticut Whale |
| May 3, 2016 | Nicole Connery | Connecticut Whale |
| May 3, 2016 | Nicole Kosta | Connecticut Whale |
| May 4, 2016 | Kelley Steadman | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 4, 2016 | Shelby Bram | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 5, 2016 | Courtney Burke | New York Riveters |
| May 10, 2016 | Hailey Browne | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 10, 2016 | Devon Skeats | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 11, 2016 | Jessica Koizumi | Connecticut Whale |
| May 13, 2016 | Shenae Lundberg | Connecticut Whale |
| May 16, 2016 | Kourtney Kunichika | Buffalo Beauts |
| May 16, 2016 | Emily Janiga | Buffalo Beauts |

### Trades

| April 26, 2016 (2016-04-26) | To New York Riveters Haley Skarupa (Right) | To Connecticut Whale Michelle Picard (Right) |
| April 27, 2016 (2016-04-27) | To New York Riveters Hannah Brandt (Right) | To Connecticut Whale Dana Trivigno (Right) |
| April 28, 2016 (2016-04-28) | To Boston Pride Alex Carpenter (Right) | To New York Riveters Miye D'Oench (Right) |

### Retired

| Date | Player |
| May 11, 2016 | Jenny Scrivens |