Fleet’s Aerin Frankel a double-winner at PWHL Awards as Goaltender of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP Award

Sport admin June 17, 2026 0 Comments

Fleet’s Aerin Frankel a double-winner at PWHL Awards as Goaltender of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP Award

DETROIT — The Fleet were the biggest winners at Tuesday’s PWHL Awards, taking home five trophies, including Aerin Frankel winning league MVP.

Often regarded by teammates as the best goaltender in the world, the Fleet star was announced as both MVP and Goaltender of the Year at a league ceremony in Detroit following a record-setting 2025-26 season.

Haley Winn was named Rookie of the Year, captain Megan Keller Defender of the Year, and former Fleet coach Kris Sparre Coach of the Year after his first PWHL season.

Frankel is the first goaltender in the league’s three-year history to win the Billie Jean King MVP Award. She beat Montreal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens and Minnesota forward Kelly Pannek (Forward of the Year) for the honor.

For Goaltender of the Year, for which she has been nominated three times, Frankel was up against Desbiens and Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips.

A product of Northeastern, Frankel was the backbone of a Fleet team that struggled to score at times, but still finished tied for first with a league-record 62 points in the regular season. Her 19 wins included 14 in regulation, tied with Desbiens for the league lead and a season record. Ten of Frankel’s wins came despite two or fewer goals of supporting offense.

“I’ll play in front of her any day of the week,” Keller said at the team’s breakup day in May. “She’s saved my butt on multiple occasions. I’ll always say and always believe she’s the best goalie in the world.”

Frankel, 27, set records with three consecutive shutouts and a clean streak spanning 226:09, and she finished 18 starts with one or fewer goals against. She and the Fleet surrendered just 45 goals on the season, second-fewest in the league all time.

Her eight shutouts doubled the previous record. She finished the regular season second in the league with a 1.17 goals-against average and .953 save percentage, both career bests.

Winn, who Boston selected second overall in last year’s PWHL Draft, was named Rookie of the Year — the cherry on top of a spectacular first professional season for the defender.

She was a finalist for the award alongside Nicole Gosling (Montreal) and Casey O’Brien (New York).

“Haley Winn stepped in and is maybe one of the best pros I’ve ever seen,” Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer said earlier this month. “It’s really impressive, her ability to be so professional, and I think players in our locker room are going to learn a lot from her as well.”

Winn, who recorded five goals and 14 assists in her first season, also was a finalist for Defender of the Year, but lost out to Keller, the Fleet’s captain.

The league’s top-scoring blue liner this season (7-15–22), Keller, 30, was named a finalist for the honor alongside Winn and Vancouver’s Sophie Jaques.

At 5 feet 11 inches, Keller’s frame, reach, and strength on the puck are unmatched, and she was second in the league behind Winn in time on ice, averaging 26:39 per game. Her 22 points this season tied a record for a defender, and she finished with the second-most goals and third-most assists among blue liners.

Wearing the captain’s “C” for the first time, Keller became one of the most influential voices in the locker room. Fleet players, coaches, and staff routinely gushed about her leadership.

“Megan Keller is one of the best leaders that I’ve been around,” Marmer said earlier this month. “She is the heart and soul of this team, and having been here since our inaugural season, she has an incredible feel of what the culture is and how to get our team and our players to align with those values and to buy into that culture.”

Sparre, who departed the Fleet in May to take the top job with the PWHL’s expansion team in Hamilton, was named Coach of the Year over fellow finalists Kori Cheverie (Montreal) and Carla MacLeod (Ottawa).

Boston took a step forward under Sparre, earning 18 more points than it did in 2024-25. The Fleet’s 45 goals allowed was a 31-goal improvement from their 2024-25 mark.

Winn and forward Abby Newhook were named to the All-Rookie Team. Winn also was a Second-Team All-Star, and Keller and Frankel were named to the First Team.

Fleet reacquire Huber

The Fleet and PWHL Detroit completed a trade, with Boston acquiring forward Ella Huber and Detroit’s third-round pick (No. 27) in Wednesday’s draft in exchange for the Fleet’s second- (No. 22) and third-round (No. 34) picks.

Huber, a four-year player at the University of Minnesota who spent the 2025-26 season with the Fleet, signed a one-year deal with Detroit on Monday as part of Phase 4 in the PWHL’s Expansion Player Distribution Process.

As a Fleet rookie, the 24-year-old from Northfield, Ill., appeared in all 30 regular-season games (four goals, two assists) and four playoff matchups (two assists), after being selected 10th in 2025.