Fast, Knight, Poulin Voted PWHL Billie Jean King MVP Award Finalists
May 22, 2025 - Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) News Release
NEW YORK AND TORONTO - The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) today announced that Renata Fast of the Toronto Sceptres, Hilary Knight of the Boston Fleet, and Marie-Philip Poulin of the Montréal Victoire have been voted as the three finalists for the 2025 PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award.
The PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award is presented to the player considered most valuable to their team's success throughout the regular season.
RENATA FAST, TORONTO SCEPTRES
Fast is the first defender to be voted a finalist for the award, recognizing her contributions at both ends of the ice for the second-place Sceptres. No player spent more time on the ice this season than Fast with a league leading 739:45 and an average of 24:39 per game. The alternate captain recorded multiple hits and blocked multiple shots in 12 games this season, five more than any other player, and was the first player to rank in the top three in both categories. She scored six goals and was one of only two skaters to produce a record 16 assists, finishing tied for first at her position and eighth overall with 22 points in 30 games. The 30-year-old from Burlington, ON, was the only defender with three game-winning goals, a six-game point streak, and tied for the league lead with four multi-assist games. Her 13 power play points tied for the most in PWHL history and included a record 11 assists to help Toronto reach a league-high 24.4% power play success rate.
HILARY KNIGHT, BOSTON FLEET
Knight's consideration for the award follows a campaign where she tied for the PWHL scoring lead with 29 points in 30 games and became one of two players to lead their team outright in goals (15) and assists (14) within a single season. The Fleet captain led all forwards in time on ice (666:26) and set new benchmarks for offensive production as the first player to record at least 15 goals and 10 assists in a season, all while showing a league-high 18-point improvement from Season One. Knight tied for third with seven multi-point performances, tied for second with three multi-goal games, and her six games with at least one goal and one assist tied for most in the PWHL. The 35-year-old from Sun Valley, ID, had the most dominant five-game stretch in the league this season with 11 points (7G, 4A) from Mar. 5-26, beginning with a hat-trick as part of a record-tying four-point game. The performance contributed to Boston's first nine-game point streak in team history.
MARIE-PHILIP POULIN, MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE
Poulin becomes the first two-time finalist for the award after leading the PWHL in goals and helping the Victoire capture first place for the first time in team history. Overall, the captain scored 19 times with seven assists to rank fourth with 26 points in 30 games. She accounted for 25.7% of Montréal's goals this season, representing the highest share of a team's offense by any PWHL player. Poulin never went more than two games without a point or three games without a goal. Her team posted a 10-4-0-4 record (.704) when she recorded a point, compared to 2-3-3-4 (.417) without. The 34-year-old from Beauceville, QC, scored a record six game-winning goals and led the league with five multi-goal games that included the first hat-trick of the season. She set new standards with a record plus-minus rating (+17), most shootout goals (5), faceoff attempts (669), faceoff wins (403), and her talent was recognized a league-high 12 times as one of the game's three stars.
A selection committee cast their votes for six regular-season PWHL awards, including the Billie Jean King MVP award, along with the league's First and Second All-Star Teams and an All-Rookie Team, between the conclusion of the regular season and the commencement of playoffs. The three players that received the most voting points for the Billie Jean King MVP award have been named finalists. Winners of all PWHL Awards will be announced on June 25 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Ottawa.
Last season, Toronto's Natalie Spooner was the inaugural recipient of the Billie Jean King MVP award, voted over finalists Poulin and New York's Alex Carpenter.
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