Müller Marks A New Era For The PHF

When Alina Müller signed with the Boston Pride, it marked a seismic shift in momentum in women's professional hockey, bringing elite talent to the PHF.

When news broke about Alina Müller signing with the PHF's Boston Pride, it marked a new era for the league, and professional women's hockey.

The significance of the signing cannot be lost among the best players in the world, including those from Canada and the USA. 

In 2022, TSN ranked Müller as the 11th best player in the world, directly ahead of players like Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Amanda Kessel. Prior to that, TSN had her ranked sixth.

The Ice Garden, long the primary source and experts of women's hockey coverage, ranked Müller as the top under-25 player on the planet in 2020.

While those lists would look different if they were remade today, Müller would remain among the world's elite, because she is among the world's elite. It's her unquestioned spot in this category that gives significance to her signing in the PHF after a storied NCAA career with Northeastern. 

Why?

Since the CWHL folded in 2019, the resulting PWHPA has claimed to be home to "the greatest women's hockey players in the world," as their 2022 recruitment package given to NCAA and USports prospects read.

With Müller joining the PHF, along with the presence of players like Finland's Jenni Hiirokoski and Petra Nieminen playing in the SDHL, and IIHF World Championship MVP Sarah Fillier and top defender Caroline Harvey still in the NCAA, the conversation continues to shift.

Müller was a top ten finalist in each of her five seasons with Northeastern 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.

Müller's signing, alongside recent moves of Patty Kazmaier winners like Loren Gabel, Daryl Watts and Elizabeth Giguere signing in the PHF, and Olympic gold medalists Kali Flanagan, Sidney Morin, Amanda Pelkey, and Kacey Bellamy joining the league; as well as World Championship gold medalist Becca Gilmore and World Championship bronze medalists Dominika Laskova, Aneta Tejralova, Denisa Krizova, Katerina Mrazova, and Tereza Vanisova all in the PHF, the dynamic is shifting.

While some of the top 20 American and Canadian born players in the World remain in the PWHPA, the depth of the PHF has emerged as superior, and with top end talent like Müller and the anticipated additions of other NCAA standouts such as Chloe Aurard and Theresa Schafzahl to the PHF this season, not only is the depth shifting, so is the top end skill.

The PWHPA can claim the better top lines, but the PHF can now claim the better talent top to bottom.

When the PWHPA announces a new league, it will spark a new all out war for players that could prove catastrophic for one, or both leagues. As the PHF has grown, and the PWHPA continues to plan, the two entities could re-enter a similar situation to what existed in 2019 when the CWHL board voted to shutter the league. Both groups are better prepared today, which also means more is at stake. 

The future generation, however, players like Alina Müller and other graduating NCAA, USports, and European prospects hold the power. They will decide what direction the future of professional women's hockey moves.

Should one of the superstars from Canada or USA's national teams decide this offseason to follow Müller to the PHF, it would create the instantaneous stability for the next generation of professional players worldwide. In essence, it would end the cold war of women's hockey.

In the meantime, the PWHPA continues to plan for their proposed league, with the core of the group moving to the second half of their professional careers. Three of four PWHPA teams had an average age higher than every PHF team this season, while the fourth, Team Sonnet, had an average age higher than five of the seven PHF teams. It's a youth movement that continues to favor the PHF.

While incoming members have not been announced, it's expected that some young stars from Canada and the USA will join the wait alongside others invested in the PWHPA, providing an infusion of youth and lowering the age average, whether it is for a formal league or another season of touring. 

In the PHF, the league prepares for their ninth year of existence, and thanks to the Boston Pride's signing of Alina Müller, the future has never looked brighter for the league.