Without a formal development league, the PWHL is being forced to develop players in house, on the fly. How different teams manage that development, as Ian Kennedy writes, will have a significant impact on the league long term.
While women's hockey is booming across the globe, particularly following the dawn of the PWHL, the league itself is serving not only the crucial role of providing a place for the world's top players to perform, but also as its own development league.
It's a conflicting role within the league that can at times be confusing for fans, and stressful for players, but the duality of the situation remains; there is one top league, and there is no proper development system for those who are on the cusp of that league.
The result is many players needing to adapt on the fly, take their lumps and failures, and play more limited roles than they ideally would to develop while needing to contribute toward team success, and to keep their jobs.
As the PWHL said in their inaugural season about their own operations, it's like building the plane while in flight.
There are some players who can step in ready for the PWHL. For the most part, those players have been North American players with national team experience at the Rivalry Series or World Championships. For others however, fans witness their development first hand, including their mistakes.
Many European Players Taking Time To Adjust
Compounding the massive jump in calibre that players are experiencing coming from European leagues, are other elements like the smaller ice surface, which results in less time and space, different lanes, and more physicality.
It's why many European players, who did not previously compete in the NCAA, are showing that time and patience are needed in their development.
This season, many second year European players in the league are showing they gained valuable experience from their "rookie" North American campaigns. While some of it can be attributed to losses through expansion, ice times are up for a number of these players early including Ronja Savolainen, who looks like she's stepped into an elite category of blueliners in the league, Maja Nylen Persson, and Daniela Pejsova.
Pejsova in particular was a player who saw her development stunted by the PWHL's 'learn on the fly' approach to development. The promising young defender, a past Best Defender from the World Championships on Czechia's blueline, was often Boston's seventh defender, and by the end of the season she was relegated to playing forward.
The same could be said for Finland's Noora Tulus, another undeniably talented player who struggled to find her way in the North American game. The result was a near-visible draining of Tulus' confidence, less ice time as the season went on, and eventually the termination of Tulus' contract at her request so she could return to Europe. Sadly, Tulus would have certainly been a boost to the New York Sirens this season with a season of experience under her belt. Still, seeing her production go from 61 points in 36 games in Sweden, to two points in 30 games in the PWHL, was likely enough to deflate hopes for a second season.
Somehow the PWHL needs to find balance. And it's not simply European players who have felt the pinch.
More Opportunity, More Mentorship Needed
Like Pejsova after her, Sophie Jaques remains a prime example of how differing development plans from team to team, and a lack of a formal development path to the league can impact players. Jaques came into the PWHL following a strong NCAA career where she could get away with some bad habits, but more closely following a disastrous Rivalry Series performance that saw her lose her 2024 shot at the World Championships, and perhaps some confidence. It carried over into Boston where you could see the coaching staff's distrust of Jaques. As it turns out, what she needed wasn't less ice time and more protected starts; rather, it was more ice time with better protection beside her. When Jaques was shipped to Minnesota in a trade, she was immediately paired with veteran Lee Stecklein. Stecklein took on a mentorship role, and by the end of her rookie campaign, Jaques was not only contributing, she was flourishing.
This year, the veteran pairings with highly hyped rookie defenders is a step toward this mentorship where players are not only learning from their coaches, but they're being coached and taught every shift, and every time they reach the bench from veterans.
Stecklein is again playing that role this season with rookie Kendall Cooper, who is thriving alongside the veteran. The same can be said about Rory Guilday's pairing with Jocelyne Larocque in Ottawa, and Nicole Gosling playing alongside Erin Ambrose in Montreal. Yes, these are high end prospects who had expectations placed on them, but so was Jaques.
Perhaps in Ottawa, it's a lesson learned not only from seeing Jaques rise to the league lead in scoring among defenders in her second season, but also playing a critical role in defeating the Charge in the postseason that helped them see the light. Last year Ottawa sunk second overall pick Danielle Serdachny to the bottom of their depth chart, and the result was a lacklustre season where Serdachny was underutilized from the start, and then had yet to develop when Ottawa needed her most in the playoffs. This season, the Charge have another highly touted player in Russian forward Anna Shokhina. They scratched her for their opener, but put her in during their second game, and the result was clear – the more she played, the better she got. Shokhina's first shifts were unquestionably bad. Had Ottawa put her on the bench after those shifts, no one would have blamed them. But the fact is, Ottawa needs Shokhina to develop and contribute, as they needed Serdachny last year, and they cannot risk repeating the same error.
Perhaps the bigger issue for the league is the number of high-potential prospects who can't continue their development path and make a living simultaneously. With limited spaces in Europe, that will only diminish as European leagues continue to reduce the number of roster spots available to international players, many good players with upside, but who are unable to make a PWHL team out of camp, or even get a PWHL camp invite, will continue to leave the sport. This includes leagues like U Sports, where a much larger step exists from university to professional hockey, but where untapped potential is also being largely ignored.
Right now, development will differ significantly from team-to-team, and coach to coach. If the PWHL had independent ownership for each franchise, that would be on the teams, but under the current single-entity ownership model, the league cannot allow prospects picked by one team to flourish, while others are stifled.
Similarly, it makes no sense for PWHL teams to have three reserves each sitting and watching for the majority of a season, when they could be playing and improving. It's a reason why so few reserves are able to earn full time roster positions the following season.
Will A Development League Form?
The quick answer to this, if fans are looking for a system in North America similar to the AHL and ECHL, is no. The AHL is the NHL's top development league where most draft picks and free agent prospects spend years honing their skills and improving before they become full time NHLers. Some need only a part of a season, some need a full season, some need more. Still others begin in the ECHL, and work their way up, although that list is significantly smaller.
Launching a full fledged professional development league in North America for the PWHL would cost many millions of dollars per season, and with players at the bottom of the PWHL's pay scale struggling to earn a living wage, it's hard to believe players at the bottom of a development league's pay scale would have any hope. In the ECHL in 2024-25, the salary cap per team, per week was only $14,600. On a 23 player roster, that equates to $634 per week per player. Those contracts are only for the season, not year round. This year the PWHL season is 22 weeks, which would equate to $13,948, less than PWHL reserve players make.
Finding hundreds of players willing to forfeit well paying jobs that utilize their university degrees is unlikely for that rate, even with the dream of progressing to the PWHL someday. This holds especially true if you assume most of those players would be signing league minimum salaries for a year or two in the PWHL while they continue to prove themselves. Some would chase the dream, but not many.
For the league itself, it's not a cost, nor a logistical feat that they can manage. The president is there. Founded in 1997, the WNBA is still without a formal development league, although there are currently attempts, including the proposed 4-team UpShot League, which interesting enough was started by the owner of the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen and Savannah Ghost Pirates, with both cities set to house UpShot League franchises. While the NWSL does not have a formal development league, yet, the now 13-year-old league does have viable North American alternatives for players hoping to crack the league including the Northern Super League and USL Super League.
With those leagues as models, the PWHL likely believes they are still a decade from having the foothold to create a development league, or for one to form organically by other investors. For now, the league's focus is on expanding their own footprint.
While they do that, perhaps it's time for the PWHL to do as they have on many occasions, and think outside the traditional model of development. Could the league hold optional in season rookie camps during international breaks to allow players to be taught by skill coaches focusing on body checking and other elements that differ from college to pro like quicker releases and puck protection, along with education on nutrition, sleep, and recuperation? Could the league do this in a post-draft development camp like NHL teams conduct? There are options to bridge the gap, and long before the PWHL looks at launching a feeder loop, they'll need to look at ways to support rookies being tasked with directly jumping into the league.
In the meantime, the PWHL will need to continue to serve as both the NHL and AHL for women, showcasing the top talent on the planet while simultaneously developing young players.