Netflix's 'Icebreaker' Series Casts Daisy Jelley and Connor Simos

Netflix has cast Daisy Jelley and Connor Simos as the leads of its series adaptation of "Icebreaker," the Hannah Grace novel the streamer first announced in June, Variety has learned exclusively.

Jelley will play Anastasia "Stassie" Allen. Simos will play Nate Hawkins. According to the show's logline: "She's the transfer gunning for Olympic gold. He's the campus star chasing the NHL. But when an accident forces their teams to share one rink, Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins collide—and discipline gives way to obsession, because the only thing more dangerous than wanting to win is wanting each other."

Jelley arrives with Netflix experience already behind her. She appeared in "Geek Girl," the streamer's series based on the YA novel of the same name, and she will star in the upcoming Netflix original series "Poser." Her film credits include "How to Have Sex."

For Simos, "Icebreaker" marks his first credited TV role. He will next appear in the thriller film "Subversion," which stars Chris Hemsworth and Lily James. Jelley is repped by Olivia Bell Management, Strand Entertainment, and Yorn Levine Barnes. Simos is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment.

Amanda Lasher and Jade Halley Bartlett will write and executive produce the adaptation, with Bartlett credited as creator and Lasher set as showrunner. Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan, and Mina Lefevre will executive produce via Unwell Productions. Grace, the novel's author, will also executive produce.

The source material carries considerable commercial weight. "Icebreaker" is the first of three novels Grace has published in the Maple Hills series, set at the fictional University of California, Maple Hills. The book spent 70 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Penguin originally published it in 2022, with a wide release in 2023, and it has sold nearly 5 million copies worldwide.

The series lands amid a surge of audience appetite for romance set at the skating rink. "Heated Rivalry," about two pro hockey players in a secret love affair, became a phenomenon after its release in late 2025. Amazon recently released the series "Off Campus," whose first season follows a star college hockey player and his relationship with a music student at the same school. Both shows draw on book series.

Netflix, for its part, has built a durable record adapting popular novels, from "Bridgerton" and "The Queen's Gambit" to "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." With two leads now in place and a showrunner attached, "Icebreaker" positions the streamer to compete directly in the hockey-romance boom that its rivals have already begun to mine.