Icebreaker skated onto the hockey romance scene in 2022 and added two more books, Wildfire (2023) and Daydream (2024). On her Instagram, Hannah Grace revealed she’s expanding the Maple Hills universe in a whole new way in Champagne Problems (2027). Before we “go home in a whole new way with Saint and Ivy, along with familiar friends,” we’re returning to Maple Hills through Anastasia and Nathan’s story. In 2022, all we had was a figure skater and hockey captain fighting their attraction to each other.
In June 2026, Netflix made all our dreams come true when they announced they’d ordered a series adaptation of Hannah Grace’s novel Icebreaker. Alex Cooper will produce the series alongside showrunner Amanda Lasher. While Jade Bartlett developed and wrote the series pilot, Lasher joins Bartlett to write the series.
Hannah Grace’s Amazon listing describes her books as The Maple Hills contemporary romance series featuring interconnected standalones set at the University of California, Maple Hills. Now, Netflix and Unwell Productions from Alex Cooper are stepping into the small college town and introducing us to the college students.
Netflix rounds out series regular cast for Icebreaker season 1
On September 28, 2026, Deadline shared that Netflix has rounded out the series regular cast. Not only do we have our male and female leads, Anatasis and Nathan, but also their group of friends, teammates, and figure skating partner. The following day, they added six more cast members to round out the series regular cast. The main cast of Icebreaker has arrived, and I’m over the moon
Anastasia Allen (Daisy Jelley), known as Stassie, is the main female character. She’s a competitive figure skater with her eyes on Olympic gold. Everything is going according to plan as she follows her trusted day planner until her figure skating partner turns toxic and she’s forced to share the rink with Nathan Hawkins (Connor Simos), the hockey captain. If her toxic skating partner, Aaron Carlisle (Gabriel Tierney) doesn’t throw a big enough wrench in her plan, she didn’t plan on falling for Nathan. Despite her efforts to focus on her goals, she’s thrown together with Nathan more than she planned when their friend group starts to intertwine.
Lola (Auli’i Cravalho) serves as Anastasia’s roommate and best friend, who is bubbly and down for anything, whereas Anastasia has everything planned out. She has a connection with one of Nathan’s best friends, Ronnie (Peter Berry). Although he’s wheelchair-bound following a past injury, nothing can stop him from serving as an assistant coach for the Maple Hills hockey team.
Rounding out Nathan’s friend group and main hockey teammates are JJ (Chaneil Kular), Henry Turner (Devin Craig), and Russ Callaghan (Aidan Shaw). JJ, while serious about hockey, tends to act mischievously, especially to annoy Nathan. Henry, the later leading man of Daydream (2024), tends to be quieter and is one of Anastasia’s friends. He’s one of the younger teammates and friends, next to Russ. Although he’s quiet and a year younger than Anastasia, that doesn’t stop him from being an emotionally supportive friend, especially when defending Anastasia. Russ becomes a leading man in Wildfire (2023), where we learn much more about his home life. For now, he blends into the background of hockey time and works hard for himself at school, hockey, and his job.
What’s Icebreaker about?
Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker follows figure skater Anastasis and hockey captain Nathan. They’re both incredible at their sports, but when Anastasis’s toxic skating partner nearly ruins her success plans, she must pivot. After transferring to the University of California, Maple Hills, things get a little complicated when she must share the rink with Nathan. Anastasia has her eyes on Olympic gold while Nathan is determined to go pro after college, but their attraction starts to steam between them the more they're forced together. In a college town as small as Maple Hills, everyone knows everyone. That notion becomes clear when their friend group starts to intertwine as they try to resist each other.
Per the logline that Deadline shared, they aren’t straying too far from the heart of the story. With Lasher’s love for “steamy YA” and Bartlett love for the genre, this hockey romance is in good hands. Bartlett describes the characters as “ambitious, talented, undeniably sexy, and deeply compassionate people.” With the casting news of the series regular cast, I have high hopes for this adaptation.
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