Olympic champions to college stars: 10 most intriguing players available in PWHL's 1st-ever draft
CBC
Olympic gold medallists. College stars. Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) standouts. Players who've shined on the world stage, but never played professionally in North America.
Ninety of the best female hockey players in the world will find a new hockey home on Monday, when the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) holds its first draft.
Each of the new league's six teams signed three players in a free agency period that ended last Sunday, taking big names like Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse and Hilary Knight off the board.
On Monday, each general manager will add 15 more players to their roster, as they build their teams from scratch ahead of a scheduled January 2024 puck drop.
The draft will take place in downtown Toronto at CBC headquarters.
Minnesota will pick first, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. It will be a snake draft, meaning the order will reverse after each round, giving Montreal the first pick of Round 2.
Before the new league officially launched late last month, officials with the PWHL enlisted a panel of nine experts in women's hockey to identify players who could potentially play in the league.
"We came up with a list of over 300 players from around the world that we believe are eligible and will be interested in this league," the PWHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, Jayna Hefford, said last month.
"It's a big list, but it's not exhaustive. There is for sure a chance that we have missed a couple of players, but we're really confident in that group that we've put together."
WATCH | Hefford discusses PWHL with CBC Sports' Devin Heroux:
Players had to declare for the draft by Sept. 3, and 268 eligible players did so. The PWHL released the list of eligible players on Wednesday.
Since the list was finalized, general managers — who have only been on the job for a couple of weeks — have been busy working the phones, talking to players and their agents, and trying to determine who could be a good fit for their team.
For Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury, the big piece of the puzzle is personality. She wants to make sure each player they pick fits the team's vision and wants to be in Toronto.
The list of draft-eligible players is highlighted by Taylor Heise, a USA Hockey star and Minnesota native who is a lock to be taken first overall by Minnesota GM Natalie Darwitz.
