WELLESLEY ― When rookies make the transition from college to the PWHL, Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer’s biggest concern is how they’ll handle the change in pace of play.
Many first-year players, particularly early-round draft picks, are used to being the best player on the ice — bending the game to their will, not needing to play at 100 percent intensity on every shift. But in the PWHL, the world’s best ratchet up the physicality, and even the smallest mental lapse opens up an opportunity for the opponent.
It’s not an easy transition.
“It can feel frustrating when you were once the best player, and the game felt slow, and you felt like you could do everything that you wanted to do, and then you come here, and it’s not like that,” Marmer said. “You have to fight for every inch.”
Haley Winn may be the exception to that rule.
The Fleet selected Winn, a two-way defender out of Clarkson, second overall in this year’s PWHL draft and signed her to a three-year contract in August. The Fleet are optimistic she’ll be the future of a defensive group decimated by the loss of five players during the league’s expansion process and free agency this offseason.
Just 22, Winn arrived at the Fleet’s training camp this month as one of the most-hyped rookies in this year’s class — and it looks like the faster pace of play won’t be a problem.
Second-year forward Shay Maloney said the uninformed viewer wouldn’t be able to guess Winn is a rookie. Marmer said it “feels like she’s been here before.”
“The way she carries herself on the ice is she basically plays like a veteran already,” said Jamie Lee Rattray, a veteran forward and fellow Clarkson alumna. “It’s going to be awesome to see how she does here. I think she’s already ready for this level, and I can’t wait to see how it goes.”
After the first training camp session at the Fleet’s practice facility in Wellesley, first-year coach Kris Sparre called Winn a “practice driver” and commended her ability to up the tempo, a rare feat for a player in her first few days as a pro. Winn said that while the level of intensity was certainly different from her college practices, it was a “fun pace.”
“Just being confident in your abilities, trusting the process, and trusting that you know you’re here for a reason, you were picked for a reason,” Winn said.
It helps that Winn has represented Team USA on the international stage since she was in high school. In 2019, when she was 15, she had three assists in five games as the US won the silver medal at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
Three years later, as a sophomore at Clarkson, she made her senior national team debut in the 2023 Rivalry Series, where she played alongside future Fleet teammates Megan Keller, Abbey Levy, and Aerin Frankel. Winn then helped the US win gold at that year’s world championship and has since added two more world championship medals to her collection (silver in 2024, gold in 2025).
Because that international experience has helped ease Winn’s transition into the professional ranks, Marmer said the rookie’s biggest challenge will be learning how to maintain intensity over a 30-game season, instead of in weeklong spurts at international tournaments spaced throughout the year.
“She’s treated hockey like a job since she was in high school,” Marmer said. “She’s had some of the best coaches. So I don’t see it being a major adjustment for her, but you never want to be complacent. You always want to keep getting better.”
Winn will make her professional debut when the Fleet take on Montreal at Lowell’s Tsongas Center to open the season Sunday at 1 p.m. It will be the beginning of a new era for Winn, who is still in awe of the fact that playing hockey is her full-time job.
But her teammates know she’s the future of the Fleet defense — and they’re excited for her to put the rest of the league on notice.
“If any player coming into this league is going to do well, it’s her,” Rattray said. “We’re in good hands with her back there.”
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.