As an agent, Dominique DiDia helped players navigate the uncertainty of joining a brand-new franchise. She brought those lessons with her to PWHL Las Vegas.
Dominique DiDia had a different view of expansion the first time she experienced it.
She wasn't running a team. She was an agent, helping players navigate the process of being selected by Seattle and Vancouver and figuring out what came next.
A year later, DiDia was on the other side of it.
As the first general manager of PWHL Las Vegas, she had to build an entire roster while also creating the kind of organization she had wanted to see as an agent.
“I learned a lot from being an agent last summer to players who were part of the expansion process for both Seattle and Vancouver,” DiDia said to The Hockey News. “A lot of what I wanted to do this summer took in the context, the learnings especially framing a lot of our decisions in terms of the player experience.”
That experience gave DiDia an understanding of expansion that went beyond the names on a draft board.
Players aren't just joining a new team. They're moving into an organization that doesn't have a history yet. There are questions about everything from the roster to facilities to what daily life will look like. DiDia had seen that firsthand.
“We want to make sure our players receive not only first class support in an expansion, which is always tough on the athlete, but also building a franchise, a club that can make sure that we take all of those things into mind and wanting to build a team that can compete from the get go.”
The challenge was doing that while still putting together a competitive roster.
Las Vegas' approach was fairly straightforward. The team emphasized defense and goaltending in free agency and the expansion process, allowing DiDia and her staff to focus more heavily on forwards in the draft.
When Tessa Janecke was still available at No. 3, she fit what Vegas was looking for.
“We were really looking for forwards, and the fact that Tessa Janecke was available and a strong center, we were thrilled to be able to select her,” DiDia said.
Lacey Eden went fifth, and Vegas continued to add forwards with its later selections.
“That was a priority of ours to build out forwards in the draft as we had a lot of defense we signed in free agency. Our strategy in expansion and free agency was to focus on defense and a great goaltender,” DiDia said.
DiDia's experience as an agent also meant understanding that things rarely go exactly according to plan.
She didn't want Vegas walking into the draft with a handful of players it had to have. Instead, the front office prepared for different scenarios and was willing to adjust as the picks unfolded.
“We were very flexible in not having exactly six or eight players that we wanted to select,” DiDia said. “Of course, we had options for every slot that we were going to fill in, but we know drafts can be unpredictable at times… you need to be flexible.”
That flexibility was useful beyond the draft. DiDia wasn't simply looking for the best individual players available. She was trying to figure out which players made sense together.
“We obviously want to have great players with skill and experience being great for who they are, but also chemistry matters a lot,” DiDia said. “We really want players that work well together based on the type of hockey we want to play, and the type of team we want to build.”
It's another place where her previous job comes into play. An agent spends a lot of time understanding what makes a player tick, what they value, what environment they want and where they can succeed.
Now DiDia has to consider those things from the other side of the table. She also has to think beyond the first season. Vegas has emphasized development from the beginning, and DiDia doesn't see that as something reserved for young players.
“We think not only as humans, but as players, we can get better every opportunity we have,” she said. “It’s more about wanting to develop as a player continually, even if you’re a player who’s been in this league for four years, there’s always more you can learn, more experience you can gain with the hockey we play.”
That may be the biggest difference between building a roster and simply assembling one. DiDia has spent the expansion process thinking about both sides of the equation: what Vegas needs from its players and what players need from Vegas.
Her experience as an agent gave her a window into the first expansion process and now she's using what she learned to build the organization she wants players to join.
