Three top women’s hockey players named to Oilers’ development camp roster
A few of the young stars of women’s hockey are going to be on the ice with some of the NHL’s next wave of talent.
The Edmonton Oilers released the roster for the 2026 development camp on Monday. While notable prospects like 2026 draft pick Rudolfs Berzakins and Tommy Lafreniere (2025) will be donning the blue and orange, they will be joined by forwards Abbey Murphy and Caitlin Kraemer, as well as defender Chloe Primerano, marking the first time female players have been invited to an NHL development camp.
The trio will be on the ice at Rogers Place starting on Tuesday, with the camp going through Thursday. Murphy is unquestionably one of the best players in the game, despite not having yet played a game in the professional ranks. The 24-year-old just finished up an illustrious five-year career at the University of Minnesota, where she left Minneapolis as the program’s all-time leading goal scorer. After averaging well over 30 goals over the past four years, Murphy scored 143 goals and 261 points in 170 games. On top of that, Murphy has been a key part of the United States’ success on the world stage in recent years. She helped the Americans win gold at the 2023 and 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, averaging a point per game at the Winter Olympics this past February, as the U.S. won Olympic gold for the first time since 2018.
Murphy’s play led to her being taken second overall in the 2026 PWHL Draft by the Seattle Torrent. She’s expected to provide a spark for a team that finished with the worst record in league history.
Primerano and Kraemer are part of the next wave of Canadian hockey. Primearno made headlines back in 2022 when she became the first woman selected in the WHL Prospects Draft. While she didn’t pursue a men’s junior career, the North Vancouver native became a star with her play at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships. In 2024, she set a new tournament record in points by a defender (16). The following year, she matched Marie-Philip Poulin’s career mark of 26 points, the most by a Canadian in tournament history.
The 19-year-old, who won’t enter the PWHL until 2028, has been dynamite for Minnesota in her first two years, scoring 30 points in her freshman and sophomore campaigns. She even saw time with the Canadian National Team, playing in the Rivalry Series over the past couple of seasons, playing at the 2025 Women’s Worlds.
Kraemer, another 2028 PWHL Draft prospect, is another player who used the U-18s as a launching pad for her career. She set a Canadian record for goals in a single tournament (10), doing so twice in 2023 and 2024, placing her third all-time in career goals at the event with 20. The Kitchener, Ont. native has been one of the top players on a pesky Minnesota Duluth team, scoring 61 points over the past two years.