2015–16 NWHL season
The 2015–16 NWHL season was the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams competed for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, New York Riveters, and Connecticut Whale.
League business
- July 2015: The NWHL Foundation hosted a Canadian Training Camp Series in four different Canadian cities.
- Late July 2015: A training camp for European players took place at Ristuccia Memorial Arena outside Boston on July 23, hosted by Boston Pride head coach Bobby Jay. Players from Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Japan attended.
All-star game
The 1st NWHL All-Star Game was held January 24, 2016, at HarborCenter in Buffalo, the home of the Beauts.Regular season
Schedule
''All times in Eastern Standard Time.''Statistics
Scoring leaders
- The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of season.
| Player | Team | |||||
| Hilary Knight | Boston Pride | 17 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 8 |
| Brianna Decker | Boston Pride | 17 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 20 |
| Kelli Stack | Connecticut Whale | 17 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 24 |
| Kelly Babstock | Connecticut Whale | 18 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 24 |
| Kelley Steadman | Buffalo Beauts | 13 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 16 |
Awards and honors
- Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Most Valuable Player
- Hilary Knight, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Perseverance Award
- Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Foundation Award
- Gigi Marvin, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Brittany Ott, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Goaltender of the Year
Transactions
NWHL draft
The 2015 NWHL draft took place in Boston on June 22, 2015. The draft was not binding on the players, who did not enter their names and did not have to give their consent. It was not clear that the players felt themselves bound by the decisions made in the draft. However, during the season the NWHL was frequently active on social media about draft picks' success in the NCAA, and on April 1, 2016, the NWHL announced that the draft would be enforced insofar as there would be salary cap penalties for teams that signed other teams' draftees.A draft lottery was held by NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan, with the New York Riveters earning the first pick overall.
Notable first round picks included University of Minnesota forward Hannah Brandt by Connecticut, Northeastern University forward Kendall Coyne by Boston, and University of Wisconsin defenseman Courtney Burke by Buffalo.
| # | Player | Pos | Nationality | Team | College/Junior/Club team |
| 1 | Alex Carpenter | F |  |