Elle Hartje Thankful For A Future That Can Now Include The PWHL

Elle Hartje spent years preparing for life after hockey, but all that changed when the PWHL was launched. Now the Yale captain is set to enter the PWHL Draft as one of the top prospects for the league.

Five years ago, Elle Hartje was choosing her post secondary program with the belief that it was all about preparing for the workplace and a career outside of hockey. She chose Yale knowing she'd get to play important minutes as a hockey player, but also because she believed her time as a hockey player was finite.

Fast forward and Hartje recently completed her senior season at Yale, and has declared for the PWHL Draft, where she's excited to have a chance to continue playing the game she loved, now as a professional. Something that for the majority of her life was never a possibility.

"I couldn't be more excited to be continuing my hockey career," said Hartje of the opportunity to turn pro. "When I decided to go to school five years ago, it didn't really feel like something that was plausible for me."

But while she studied and played, women in the PHF, PWHPA, and abroad continued to push for better pay, more professional environments, and eventually, it culminated in the launch of the PWHL.

"I couldn't be more grateful to everyone who made it happen and to the fans that are showing up all the time," said Hartje "I'm just like, very, very excited to get to keep playing hockey because obviously it's my number one passion."

During her NCAA career, Hartje, a Detroit, Michigan product, collected a variety of individual accolades. After scoring 131 points in her final season of minor hockey, Hartje had a solid rookie campaign with Yale in 2019-2020 scoring 25 points in 28 games. When the world stopped for COVID-19 however, it actually gave Hartje a chance to turn off everything else in her life, and focus exclusively on hockey. To do that, she took the season away from Yale and headed to Europe playing in the EWHL with Bratislava. 

"I came back from COVID, and I think my coach would relay this sentiment - bigger, stronger, faster, more confident, better. In that same vein of confidence, my coaches have never had anything but the utmost trust in me, and I think that was huge for me."

What followed was Hartje playing in all situations for Yale. She was on in the final minutes of games, powerplay, penalty kill, defensive zone, and when Yale needed someone to offensively take over. Hartje responded with 51 points in 36 games in 2021-2022 followed by 52 points in 33 games in 2022-2023. This year was another strong performance as she scored 40 points in 32 games. Those totals included breaking Yale's all-time scoring record, a mark that had stood for 36 years.

Despite her numbers, and her reputation as a player with elite playmaking abilities and vision, Hartje points to a lesser known part of her game as the keys to her success. For Hartje, she believes her offensive success starts by focusing on defense first. 

"I would really point to my 200-foot game with an emphasis on the D-zone, which might be a surprise to some people who haven't seen me play," she said. "I really believe that the defense is the start to a great offense, and so as a center, that starts in the face off circle. I take a lot of pride in my face off and that was something we focused on in my time here at Yale."

With her NCAA career done, Hartje is now looking to join former Yale teammate Claire Dalton, who plays for Montreal, in the PWHL. Ranked 16th in The Hockey News' recent Top 75 PWHL Draft Rankings, Hartje is certain to be a high pick in the draft, and become an instant contributor to her new team. 

From a player entering university knowing her time was limited, to a player leaving university seeing only opportunities ahead, the PWHL and pro hockey is waiting for Elle Hartje.