The Minnesota Frost is up 2-1 against the Toronto Sceptres in the first series of the PWHL playoffs. The Frost have allowed at least 3 goals per game, but make up for it by repeatedly finding the back of the net. An unlikely point leader has emerged in this series.
Defenseman Lee Stecklein.
The 6-foot, 170-lb. Minnesota native is no rookie. She got her start in Roseville, played at the University of Minnesota, and the 2024-25 season is her second with the Frost.
However, she has previous professional experience playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps, which was part of the NWHL, the former pro women’s league. Stecklein has also donned the USA jersey 3 times for the Olympics and 9 times for the World Championships, and has 8 golds and 4 silver medals to show for it.
Historically, Minnesota has been able to depend on Stecklein defensively, but she hasn’t produced many points. During the PWHL’s 2024 inaugural season, she played in all 24 games and produced 8 points. She ended the season with a 0 plus/minus, and added another 3 assists in Minnesota’s 10 playoff games.
In 2024-25, Stecklein had 9 points and had a 23:02 average TOI over 30 games. Comparatively, Sophie Jaques got 22 points and ended the season as the point leader among the defensemen. However, Stecklein has scored 3 goals and had 3 assists in only 3 games.
During Game 1 on May 7, she started her point streak by assisting Britta Curl-Salemme’s goal, but Minnesota couldn’t pull off the win.
Stecklein’s biggest contribution was to Minnesota’s Game 2 win last Friday, where she scored two goals and got an assist.
Kelly Pannek had the puck along the boards and sent it to Claire Thompson, who passed it back. Pannek took a look and sent it down to Stecklein, who managed to tip it in, tying the game 1-1.
In the image below, Stecklein is the right defenseman near the bottom of the screen, and made an excellent read and risk. All 5 Sceptres were facing away from her, so she waited until Thompson and Pannek had it under control and darted behind Toronto Forward Daryl Watts to go for a tip. Stecklein takes the path along the red arrow, and Pannek’s pass follows the green arrow. Stecklein is also on her backhand, making the tip a much more difficult play to execute.
The play above shows the kind of risk Minnesota needs to take in the playoffs, and the faith Stecklein has in Thompson, Pannek, and goaltender Maddie Rooney. If her teammates had fumbled the puck, Watts would’ve had a breakaway, and Stecklein would have had to scramble back.
6 minutes later, Stecklein got back on the score sheet by assisting Michela Cava’s goal. She took a slapshot from the point 2 minutes later, scoring Frost’s 3rd goal of the night.
After the game, head coach Ken Klee said that Stecklein is “known as a world-class defensive defenseman, who always has a good stick, good gap, [and is] hard to play against.” Klee is happy with Stecklein’s defensive skills. Despite her low point production, she has 690:53 minutes this season, more TOI than any other defenseman.
However, the postseason requires the entire team to make an extra effort. Klee continued that it’s “playoffs, [so] we know we have to find different ways to score goals and different people have to contribute, and [Stecklein] knows that and she exemplifies that.”
In a regular-season game, Stecklein might’ve stayed back to cover Watts and let the forwards crash the net, but she went for the tip-in, which paid off.
“We have a lot of offensive threats and people they have to be worried about, which opens up some stuff,” Stecklein said, reflecting on her offensive success during the game. “You just have to be ready to take advantage of it, luckily it’s gone my way so far.”
The Frost’s depth opens up offensive opportunities and gives Stecklein room to take risks.
Stecklein continued her point streak to help Minnesota win Game 3 last Sunday. She joined Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield on the rush. Heise brought the puck into the zone, and Sceptres defenseman Anna Kjellbin forced her outside. She saw that Coyne was also covered, so she sent the pass up to Stecklein in the high slot, who went top shelf on Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell.
Her final point was a backdoor pass to Cava, who tapped in Minnesota’s 7th goal of the game.
Stecklein has been a defensive stalwart for the Frost for 2 seasons. However, she has stepped up during the playoffs to help Minnesota take control of the series.
Stecklein remarked in her post-game interview that Frost’s depth has been instrumental. Cava, Coyne, Thompson, and others have shut down Toronto, which gives Stecklein room to join rushes and go deep in the offensive zone.