Claire Butorac (born September 24, 1999) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward for the

Minnesota Frost The Minnesota Frost are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Xc ...

of the

Professional Women's Hockey League The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; , LPHF) is a women's professional ice hockey league in North America. The league comprises eight teams, four each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a Season (sports), regular season ...

(PWHL). She played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

at Minnesota State.

Early life

Butorac played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

while growing up. She attended Andover High School in

Andover, Minnesota Andover is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 32,601 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. County Roads 9 ...

where she was a four-time letter winner in ice hockey and three-time letter winner in

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. She was named a Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award semifinalist in 2018.

College career

Butroac began her collegiate career for Minnesota State during the 2018–19 season. During her freshman year, she appeared in all 35 games and recorded two goals and three assists. During the 2019–20 season in her sophomore year, she appeared in all 37 games and recorded eight goals and four assists. She led the team with a 17.4 shot percentage and tied for the team lead with eight goals. During 2020–21 season in her junior year, she appeared in all 20 games and recorded one goal and four assists in a season that was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. During 2021–22 season in her senior year, she recorded three goals and eight assists in 25 games. During 2022–23 season in her graduate year, she recorded seven goals and 16 assists in 36 games.

Professional career

On May 14, 2023, Butroac signed a two-year contract with the

Minnesota Whitecaps The Minnesota Whitecaps were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at the Richfield Ice Arena. Established in 2004, the ...

of the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

(PHF). The PHF ceased operations on June 29, 2023, as a result she never played a game for the Whitecaps. On November 30, 2023, Butorac signed a one-year contract with

PWHL Minnesota The Minnesota Frost are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Xc ...

. During the 2023–24 season, she recorded one goal and two assists in 21 regular season games. Due to an injury to Taylor Heise, Butorac played on the first line along with Kendall Coyne Schofield and Kelly Pannek in February 2024. During the

Walter Cup The Walter Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) playoff champion. History Origins On April 4, 2024, the Professional Women's Hockey League announced in a press release the name of th ...

playoffs she recorded one goal and two assists in ten games and helped Minnesota win the inaugural Walter Cup. During game four of the semifinals against

PWHL Toronto The Toronto Sceptres are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Coca-Cola Coliseu ...

, she scored the game-winning goal in double-overtime to force a decisive game five. During the 2024–25 season, she recorded two goals, and four assists in 29 games and helped the Frost win their second consecutive Walter Cup. On June 22, 2025, she signed a one-year contract extension with the Frost.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butorac, Claire 1999 births Living people American women's ice hockey forwards Minnesota State Mavericks women's ice hockey players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Sportspeople from Coon Rapids, Minnesota Walter Cup champions 21st-century American sportswomen Minnesota Frost players