New League Rumblings: This Is The Week

The end is near, as announcements are coming. Here's a final edition of the rumor mill being passed around this week regarding the new Professional Women's Hockey League.

After weeks of waiting, the time is here for announcements to begin filtering out of the new Professional Women's Hockey League.

While the details are not confirmed publicly, there are plenty of rumblings making the rounds. Announcements were originally destined to come earlier, but positive developments in league planning have delayed the news from coming. Here's what we've been hearing this week.

Everyone has speculated locations and venues in recent weeks. Most agree that Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and Minnesota are the four most likely locations to be announced this week, as those were communicated to job candidates in interviews in recent weeks, but there is a chance the others have changed.

One venue and location that has been discussed recently is UBS Arena in New York, home of the NHL's New York Islanders. Located at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, the 17,255 seat venue was opened in 2021 and would fit the new league's commitment to offering professional facilities.

Another rink that's been discussed recently in Boston, a city that was originally considered not suitable due to a lack of venues, is Walter Brown Arena. The 3806 seat arena is currently home to only one tenant, Boston University's women's hockey team after the men's team left in 2005 and the Suffolk University men's ice hockey team left in 2015. Although the arena was built in 1971, it presents a unique opportunity for branding and a face lift as Boston University's women's team could also follow their men's program to a different facility in the future.

Finally, there's thought that London, Ontario might not be as certain of a location as it was once thought. It seems other locations like New York, Ottawa, and Washington may have taken precedence, meaning although the original plan was three teams in Canada and three in the USA, there was at least discussion following the PHF acquisition of altering that alignment to four American and two Canadian teams. 

While we don't know what form it will take, meetings and discussions with the NHL have continued, and the NHL is certain to be supporting the new Professional Women's Hockey League in one way or another. 

It was recently noted that NHL owners have been expressing interest in acquiring franchises in the new women's league, but there is potential for many other forms of connection including collaborative events from All-Star games, to double headers, outdoor games, and cross-promotional marketing.

Gary Bettman and the NHL are ready to support the new singular league, as they always stated they would when the women's hockey world could finally come under one roof.

It's the norm in men's hockey for players to have exit clauses on their contracts in Europe in case the NHL comes calling. In women's hockey, the tactic has been replicated of late with several prominent European stars including Switzerland's Alina Muller, Czechia's Aneta Tejralova and Dominika Laskova, and Finland's Minttu Tuominen signing contracts including exit clauses in Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Other European players who were destined for the PHF this season including Denisa Krizova, Katerina Mrazova, Tereza Vanisova, Fanni Gasparics, and newly signed stars like Noora Raty, Susana Tapani, Theresa Schafzahl, Emma Soderberg, and Sandra Abstreiter have all chosen to wait out the situation.

One item not included in the new CBA, which will certainly be developed among the PWHL and Players' Association, either as an amendment to the CBA or as a portion of the league's bylaws, as well as with European nations will be formal transfer agreements.

This is the most hotly asked question among players and many fans of late. There has been some discussion that a brief free agency period may ensue prior to the draft, allowing a specified number of players to sign with each franchise prior to a dispersal draft, or entry draft taking place. 

Similarly, it appears post-draft, any player not selected would reportedly become a free agent able to tryout or skate with any club to either make the roster, or be used as a reserve player. 

Regardless of the rumors and discussions many in the hockey world have passed around in recent weeks, one thing is certain, following the PHF acquisition and ratification of the CBA, the new league has done a much better job at keeping information private while they made their final plans compared to past iterations of the PHF and PWHPA.

And while the wait has been felt by fans and players, it's about to end this week as the new league prepares to begin announcing information to the public.