Coming off a career year interrupted by injury, Shirley enters her first camp under François Méthot looking to carry her momentum forward.
After missing a stretch of the 2025-26 season, Sophie Shirley is looking to put together a more complete year as training camp nears. Even with the Olympic break in February, the forward was limited to 22 regular-season games and four playoff games.
The Saskatoon native was placed on long-term injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury during practice following the Fleet’s Jan. 18 game, and she wasn’t activated until March 21. Shirley has been a member of the Fleet since the beginning, selected by Boston 63rd overall in the 11th round of the inaugural 2023 PWHL Draft. Before turning pro, she spent five years with the Wisconsin Badgers, where she won three national championships in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Her 2025-26 season was a tale of two halves. Before the injury, Shirley had three assists in 12 games and had yet to score. When she returned, she wasted no time. Her first goal of the season came against Toronto on March 27, when she also recorded an assist in a 4-0 victory. Her next two goals came in a 4-2 win over Minnesota on March 29 that clinched Boston’s playoff berth, the earliest clinch in league history.
Shirley re-signed with the Fleet in June on a two-year contract through the 2027-28 season, part of Phase 5 of the PWHL’s Expansion Player Distribution Process. She heads into camp coming off a career-high nine points (three goals, six assists) in the regular season, plus a goal in Boston’s four playoff games. With François Méthot, the third head coach in franchise history, set to run his first camp, Shirley has a chance to carry her late-season momentum into a bigger role.
