Current and Graduating College Players Not Eligible For PWHL Free Agency

Current and Graduating college hockey stars like Alina Muller and Taylor Heise will not be eligible for PWHL free agency, and instead will need to wait for the September 18 draft.

While fans in the PWHL's original six markets may have hoped to see graduating stars sign in the coming weeks to form a future core for their clubs, they'll need to wait until the September 18 PWHL Draft as current and graduating NCAA and USports players are not eligible for the inaugural free agency period.

Free agency is set to open September 1, with teams able to sign up to three players. The Draft will feature 15 rounds and is set to take place in Toronto.

Among those players who may have been targets coming out of the NCAA include recent graduates Alina Muller and Taylor Heise.

Muller, who played her NCAA hockey in Boston at Northeastern, made her intentions to stay in the market clear when she signed with the PHF's Boston Pride this offseason, while Heise, who is the top American player available to the new league is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, and grew up only an hour and a half south east of the Twin Cities in Lake City, Minnesota.

The same could be said for Patty Kazmaier winner Sophie Jaques and Canadian national team member Emma Maltais who are both graduating from Ohio State and hail from Toronto.

Those players, along with NCAA graduates such Gabrielle Hughes, Abbey Levy, Gabrielle David, Emma Soderberg, Sandra Abstreiter, Grade Zumwinkle, Jesse Compher, Sophie Shirley, Chloe Aurard, Theresa Schafzahl, Ashton Bell, Nicole LaMantia, Maureen Murphy, and USports standouts like Audrey-Anne Veillette, will all be anxiously awaiting the September 18 PWHL Draft in Toronto.

One new piece of information released this week, is that current NCAA and USports athletes are able to declare themselves eligible for the PWHL Draft. That means current NCAA players like Sarah Fillier, Caroline Harvey, Hannah Bilka, Cayla Barnes, Lacey Eden, Nelli Laitinen, Britta Curl, or Daneille Serdachny, who are all members of their respective national teams, could opt out of the remainder of their NCAA eligibility to turn pro.

Following the draft, any player not selected will immediately become a free agent eligible to sign with any PWHL team, or to tryout for a team of their choosing. 

Players can only declare themselves eligible twice for the PWHL Draft, and once selected their rights will be held by the team they were drafted by for two years.