Defensive Depth Overflowing In The 2024 PWHL Draft

Last year, teams scampered for defenders early in the draft. Jocelyne Larocque, Ella Shelton, Erin Ambrose, Savannah Harmon, Ashton Bell, Jaime Bourbonnais, and Sophie Jaques were all top 10 picks in the 2023 PWHL Draft.

With the 2024 PWHL Draft approaching, there will certainly be another run on defenders at the top, but there's also immense depth on the blueline this year that will leave some defenders on the outside looking in.

In the opening rounds, PWHL Draft prospects like Cayla Barnes, Ronja Savolainen, Claire Thompson, Maja Nylen Persson, and Daniela Pejsova will hear their names called. They'll be followed by a second wave featuring Allyson Simpson, Megan Carter, Mae Batherson, Anna Wilgren, Sydney Bard, Stephanie Markowski, Hadley Hartmetz, Sini Karjalainen, Madeline Wethington, Rylind MacKinnon, Kathryn Reilly, Anna Kjellbin, Lindsay Agnew, Lauren Bernard, Kayleigh Hamers, Emma Bergesen, Maggie MacEachern, and Alexie Guay.

Listed above is 23 defenders. That's enough to replace almost four blueliners per team. And that's where the issue, a good one for PWHL teams, arises. Beyond this group, there are still another half dozen under the radar blueliners who could become the next Mariah Keopple's who unless you know them well, you may not know what they're capable of. That list could include Chayla Edwards, Charlotte Akervik, Camryn Wong, Lauren DeBlois, Kelly-Ann Nadeau and others.

When you look at current PWHL rosters, each team has a noticeable two defenders who could be replaced, and a few have a third. But beyond that, beyond the 15-18 blueliners league wide who could be pushed out, there's too much depth in the draft and not enough roster spots. League wide, there are 18 defenders on multi-year contracts, and 23 defenders on one year contracts. But not all of those one year contracts will be replaced. Among those players are Aneta Tejralova, Mariah Keopple, Amanda Boulier, Allie Munroe, Emily Brown, Sidney Morin, and Kaleigh Fratkin who have all played significant minutes for their teams.

Even if you were to draw the line there, it means there are likely, at most 15 blueline spots in the PWHL next year.

Some members of the PWHL Draft declaration group have already signed contracts in the SDHL with opt-out clauses for the draft, and we could see a wave of talented defenders heading to the SDHL and SWHL in the days following the draft if they aren't selected.

So who will make the cut? Here's a look at how the PWHL's defensive draft pull stacks up.

There's no world that Cayla Barnes, Ronja Savolainen, Claire Thompson, Maja Nylen Persson, and Daniela Pejsova aren't in the PWHL next year and contributing to a top four. These players are all national team veterans who have years of experience in pro or international competition that have allowed them to prove they can defend in best on best situations. You can add players like Allyson Simpson and Megan Carter to this list as well, as they are a few of the top NCAA defenders out there.

There's been a lot of talk about Ohio State's top four, which along with Barnes includes Hadley Hartmetz, Stephanie Markowski, and Lauren Bernard. It's believed they'll all have a place in the league, but they aren't alone as elite defenders from the NCAA. Mae Batherson, Sydney Bard, Anna Wilgren, Madeline Wethington, and Kathryn Reilly are all good bets to claim spots as well. That however, puts the list at 15 defenders as well. Teams will need to decide how to proceed, because European veterans Lindsay Agnew, Anna Kjellbin, Sini Karjalainen, and Kayleigh Hamers will also be knocking at the door. Agnew should be a lock for a bottom pair, and it would be hard to pass on Kjellbin's experience, while the other two would have been upgrades on almost any roster this season. Similarly, U Sports stars Rylind MacKinnon and Emma Bergesen are a pair of defenders teams shouldn't sleep on, who could both become steals.

And the list can go on with MacEachern, Edwards, Guay, Akervik, Wong, Deblois, Nadia Mattivi, Rachel Teslak, Rae Breton, Kelly Ann-Nadeau, and others.

From a league lacking defensive depth, things are about to get deep on the blueline.

If you're wondering where all of these blueliners will go, do not under any circumstances allow yourself to look ahead to the 2025 PWHL Draft. USA national team members Rory Guilday and Haley Winn, Canadian national team member Nicole Gosling, and NCAA stars like Kendall Cooper and Vita Ponyatovskaya will join the mix. And players in Europe like Jenni Hiirikoski and Emma Seitz will watch their contracts expire opening the door for them to come to the PWHL.

And of course when you go a year further, things get even more complicated as the league will prepare to welcome Caroline Harvey, Nelli Laitinen, and a plethora of defenders who can and should be playing in the PWHL.

Beyond the 2025 draft, the call for expansion will be deafening the league will have reached a saturation point where even elite NCAA players will be on the outside looking in, particularly in net and on the blueline.