Alina Muller is one of the top players in the world. Graduating from the NCAA, she could prompt a bidding war from professional clubs.
Alina Muller is one of the top players in the world. Graduating from the NCAA, she could prompt a bidding war from professional clubs.
One of the top players in the world, Alina Müller, is staying in North America with her NCAA career complete. Müller could create a bidding war among women’s professional hockey teams for this coming season.
"I decided that I want to stay in the U.S. or Canada,” Müller told The Hockey News. “I'm not going home yet, not going to Europe here...I love the hockey here. Hopefully I can sign with a professional team here."
Those words were certainly enough to excite every PHF team, particularly with added money available with the league’s new $1.5 million salary cap. As the PWHPA eyes the launch of a league, league officials confirm they have been in contact with European players and will have immigration services in place as well.
Alina Müller recently finished a five year NCAA career with Northeastern, where she was a nominee each season for the Patty Kazmaier Award as the NCAA’s top player. She’s a two-time Hockey East Player of the Year, two-time Hockey East scoring leader, and also led both the U-18 World Championships and 2018 Olympics in scoring.
This season, Müller finished her NCAA season with 27 goals and 60 points in 38 games, good for fourth in the nation.
It’s a resume worthy of a lucrative contract for the 25-year-old.
It’s why since the time she was 15, when Müller scored the bronze medal winning goal for Switzerland at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, she was already being referred to as the “Swiss Sensation.”
Her departure from Northeastern will leave a huge hole in the program, but will also be a major addition to wherever Müller lands.
“It amazes me what she’s accomplished,” Northeastern coach Dave Flint said of Müller’s NCAA career coming to an end. “I won’t say I’ll never coach another player like Alina, because I said I’d never have a player like Kendall [Coyne Schofield] come through the door again. And then Alina came. But she’s really tough to replace.”
A signing in the PWHPA would secure another player among the top tier of women’s players in the world. A signing in the PHF would be a landmark deal for the league. One thing is for sure, wherever Alina Müller signs, North American fans will have the opportunity to continue watching one of the best in the world for the foreseeable future.