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A little more than a year ago, Nicole Gosling was celebrating on the ice in Utica, N.Y., with the rest of Team Canada.
The Canadians had just defeated the Americans on home ice in overtime to win the world championship, and it was the defender from London, Ont.’s first title with the senior national team.
Now, the 23-year-old is poised for what could be the biggest season of her life. She’s projected to be taken high in the 2025 PWHL Draft, which is set for Tuesday in Ottawa, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
She’s also one of the defenders fighting for a spot on the blue line for Canada at next year’s Olympics. That has been a lifelong dream.
“Obviously now there are other goals like playing in the PWHL, winning a Walter Cup, all that,” Gosling said in an interview with CBC Sports. “But hopefully one day I could play in an Olympics. That’s the ultimate goal, and then hopefully win gold, too. That will always be at the top of my list.”
She projects as an offensive, intelligent defender for whichever team selects her in the PWHL Draft. The New York Sirens have the first pick, followed by the Boston Fleet, Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Minnesota Frost, PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle.
Gosling is about as pro ready as they come, and projects to slot into a team’s top two or four right away.
She could play the same role on Team Canada for years to come, as the team ushers in a new wave of talent.
“She’s just someone that can really take control of a game with the way that she plays,” said Clarkson University head coach Matt Desrosiers, who has coached Gosling for the last five seasons.
A hockey family
Gosling comes from a big family in London where just about everyone plays hockey. Gosling’s father, Peter, played, and it was natural for Gosling and her sister to follow suit.
Her cousin, Julia Gosling, just finished her rookie season with the Toronto Sceptres and will play next season with Seattle. Julia’s father, Paul, is Gosling’s father’s twin brother.
“Playing with her has been great,” Nicole Gosling said. “We’ve had a lot of success together. We train together in the summer and everything, so there’s a lot of familiarity there.”
Another cousin, Katelyn Gosling, played in the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Yet another cousin, Cassidy Gosling, competed at Western University.
Another distant cousin is famous for another reason. That would be actor Ryan Gosling, who is Gosling’s father’s cousin’s son.
“I can’t say I’ve ever met him,” Gosling said.
Elite vision
A lot stood out about Gosling’s game for Desrosiers, who’d been following Gosling’s career in London long before he talked to her about coming to the upstate New York college.
The first thing he noticed was how smart she is.
“She’s just able to kind of see plays before it happens,” Desrosiers said. “She’s always had that ability.”
Desrosiers focuses on producing defenders who are 200-foot, multi-dimensional players. As a result, the school has churned out some of the best defenders in the PWHL, including Montreal’s Erin Ambrose, Toronto’s Renata Fast and New York’s Ella Shelton.
The coach sees elements of all of those players in Gosling. Like Ambrose, for example, Gosling can slow the game down and speed it up when she needs to do so.
She can also be relied on by coaches who are looking for feedback on how she saw a particular play, almost like a second coach on the ice.
Some of those defenders have also become mentors to Gosling.
Fast has been a roommate at several Hockey Canada camps and Rivalry Series games, and Gosling said the older defender took her under her wing.
It’s the same story with Shelton and Ambrose. They’ve helped Gosling feel at ease in a Canadian jersey, whether it’s giving her advice in the locker room or helping things feel light and less stressful.
Even just watching how the veteran players approach the game has taught Gosling to focus on owning what she’s good at rather than dwelling on what she’s not accomplished. It’s a lesson she plans to take with her to pro hockey.
“Next year, no matter where I’m playing or how I may be contributing to the team, I think it’s just being able to stay true to what I’m good at,” she said.
Gosling could find herself on the same team as at least one of those mentors next season. Ambrose’s Montreal picks fourth in the draft and could use another top defender, after losing Anna Wilgren and Cayla Barnes to Seattle via expansion.
Or maybe Gosling could find herself in Toronto, which picks third. That would give the Sceptres three strong former Clarkson defenders in the top four, should Gosling join Fast and Savannah Harmon.
No matter where she ends up, she plans to bring a calm, composed style of play.
Expect offence, too. Gosling finished her career at Clarkson as the school’s all-time leader in points by a defender.
“I understand both sides of the puck of being defensive, but also liking to contribute offensively,” Gosling said. “I bring both aspects in that type of sense. I think I can just be relied on in kind of any situation.”
Teammates experience draft process together
Gosling will have one two of her best friends with her at the draft next week: forward Anne Cherkowski and defender Haley Winn, who are both likely to hear their names called early on draft night.
Winn has been Gosling’s defence partner at Clarkson for most of her college career. Both set a competitive example inside the Golden Knights’ locker room. Gosling never shied away from physicality in practice, setting a tone that would prepare the whole team for whatever came at them in a game.
Gosling said a PWHL team will be getting a special player in Winn.
“The people who get to spend every day with her, they’re going to learn lots,” she said. “Her work ethic is unmatched. She’s always at the rink, doing extra, taking care of her body.”
Like Gosling, Winn is pushing for a spot on the Olympic team next year, but for the red, white and blue. She is already a two-time world champion with Team USA. She also led Clarkson in scoring this past season, racking up 46 points in 38 games.
Cherkowski, like Gosling and Winn, is another 200-foot player who can do a bit of everything. She can play up and down a lineup, contributing offence but also taking care of the defensive zone. That ability to be versatile is in high demand in the PWHL.
“Anyone that will pick her up is honestly going to get a reliable forward, and I think that’s what you need in this league is someone that you can rely on in any situation,” Gosling said about her teammate.
All three have leaned on each other throughout the draft process.
Since their college season ended in the spring, it’s been a mix of emotions, of new beginnings and endings. Gosling feels some nerves not knowing where she’ll end up.
But she also feels excitement to go to a new team and to have her draft moment, just like the players she watched on TV at the NHL Draft as a kid.
“You only get one, so I’m kind of just not trying to look too far ahead and just trying to take in the whole process,” she said.