IIHF Female Player of the Year

{{Short description|International ice hockey award}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}

{{Infobox sports award

| name = IIHF Female Player of the Year

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| sport = Ice hockey

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| givenfor = Annually to the player who "best exemplifies exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season."

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| first = 2023

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| firstwinner = Hilary Knight

| mostwins =

| mostrecent = Natalie Spooner (2024)

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}}

The IIHF Female Player of the Year award is given out annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), in recognition of the ice hockey player who "best exemplifies exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season."{{cite web|title=Hilary Knight wins the inaugural IIHF Female Player of the Year Award |url=https://www.iihf.com/en/news/45458/hilary_knight_wins_the_inagural_iihf_female_player|last=Podnieks|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Podnieks|publisher=International Ice Hockey Federation|access-date=June 19, 2023|date=June 1, 2023}} It is selected by a panel of media and IIHF representatives drawn from among the member states of the International Ice Hockey Federation.{{cite web|title=Canada's Connor Bedard honored as IIHF's first male player of the year|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article/canadas-connor-bedard-honored-as-iihfs-first-male-player-of-the-year/|website=Sportsnet|access-date=June 19, 2023|date=June 19, 2023}}

To be eligible, a player must have competed in at least one of three IIHF tournaments (the Winter Olympics, IIHF World Women's Championship, or IIHF World Women's U18 Championship) as well as in a national domestic league "of the highest caliber for that country," with "the combined performances of which were deemed superior to all other players."

It was first awarded in 2023, along with its counterpart, the IIHF Male Player of the Year.{{cite web|title=Bedard named IIHF Male Player of the Year

|url=https://www.iihf.com/en/news/47473/bedard_named_iihf_male_player_of_the_year|last=Podnieks|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Podnieks|publisher=International Ice Hockey Federation|access-date=June 19, 2023|date=June 19, 2023}} Hilary Knight, of the United States national team and the PWHPA's Team Sonnet, was the inaugural recipient.{{cite web|title=USA's Hilary Knight is 1st IIHF Female Player of the Year|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/37773525/usa-hilary-knight-1st-iihf-female-player-year|last=Wyshynski|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Wyshynski|publisher=ESPN|access-date=June 19, 2023|date=June 1, 2023}}