PWHL Ottawa general manager Mike Hirshfeld discusses his team's future plans including the draft and free agency, and provides insight into who they might sign and select.
PWHL Ottawa general manager Mike Hirshfeld discusses his team's future plans including the draft and free agency, and provides insight into who they might sign and select.
In professional sports, life comes at you fast. Just a few weeks after PWHL Ottawa missed the playoffs, general manager Mike Hirshfeld needs sign players through free agency and select new ones through the draft. All the same, compared to last season when the team and the entire league was constructed in a matter of weeks, this is comparatively relaxed.
The Hockey News interviewed Hirshfeld regarding what he has learned from his first season in charge of Ottawa's draft table, about his drafting philosophy, the 2nd overall pick decision he will have to make, the likelihood of re-signing key players, a scouting profile on draft eligible players Mae Batherson and Dara Greig --and more!
Here's THN's Q and A With Mike Hirshfeld
What did you learn from last year’s draft that you will incorporate into this season’s draft?
I think the way I would describe it as last year, when we did the drafts, we were trying to build a whole team. And we obviously had to draft 15 rounds. This year, it's about improving certain areas and getting better where we feel like there's gaps or weaknesses.
It's much more targeted this year. Last year was very holistic, it was all-encompassing. This year is about targeting areas of improvement.
What is your drafting philosophy?
I think our approach in the first three rounds, it's always the best player. And then I think after that, towards the end of the draft, then it becomes about portfolio management or roster management. How do you build a team? Where are some of the gaps? And then you target specific players.
I think it's a dangerous path to pick based on needs in the first couple of rounds, because then you don't necessarily get the best talent. We want to make sure we get the best talent that can be game changers. And that's what we're looking for.
What do you feel this team needs to improve on for next season?
We need to get a little tougher. We need to get a little bigger. We scored the second-most goals in the league. But we gave up the second-most amount goals. I think we need to improve our defender core a little bit and make sure we have the depth.
How will you approach selecting the right player at the 2nd overall pick selection?
We're looking for talent first and foremost. The player that we think has the most upside, the player that obviously fits with the foundation, the culture that we're trying to build in Ottawa.
How have you been preparing for the draft?
The reality is we've been doing this now for two months. We hired Brian Desrochers (Advisor) in Boston, we hired Chris Peterson (Advisor) in Minnesota, we hired Kathy Pippy (Advisor) to help us, we hired Jordan Colliton (Coach)--part of her role was to help us with some of the Swedish and international players.
We've been doing this as a group for coming up on two months, but not every day, obviously. The last two weeks, we really buckled down and really narrowed down our list and the players we're looking at.
How will you approach the possibility and ability to trade draft picks?
We made two trades at the deadline. I think we're open to any idea that helps us get better. So I think we're open to moving up, we're open to moving down, we're open to trading, you know, two picks for one. I think we're open to any idea.
I've been having conversations with teams over the last week. Once the season ended with the Walter Cup final, I started having conversations with teams.
How have you been trying to scout for players from and playing in Europe?
We have Jordan Colliton, who has relationships with coaches in Sweden, so she knows Swedish players really well. We built relationships with clubs in Switzerland and in Sweden. We have Carla Macleod who has the international experience of coaching against a lot of these teams. And we have lots of international players on our roster. So I think we've done a really good job as an organization building relationships in Europe.
Where are the negotiations at with unrestricted free agent forwards Daryl Watts, Katerina Mrazova, among others?
We've talked to all of them and are having good conversations. It's early stages, the window just opened on Saturday.
We feel they want to come back and play for this organization. I think they love their experience here. It's early stages, but we feel like we're in a good spot. And again, I want to talk with specific needs, but I think we'll get the ones that we want to get done. We'll get them done. My gut is a lot of teams will re-sign the players they want to bring back.
I'm assuming that the players that we think are the better players, that are going to be free agents, will get locked back up by their team. I'm not sure we'll be big players with free agents.
What will you do to address the backup goaltending position?
I think we'll do it internally. We're talking with Sandra Abstreiter about bringing her back. We were really impressed with her growth over the year. Working with Pierre Groulx (goalie coach), Sandra never had a full-time coach for in her life--working with Pierre, she came so far. And you saw at the World Championships, I mean, she's goaltender of the tournament at the World Championships.
We feel really comfortable that she'll be able to push her playing time next year. And the reality is, I think she would have played more this year, but she got injured at the wrong time. And then when she came back, every game was so important to us that we just had to get it right, we had to ride Emerance Maschmeyer down the stretch.
We really liked her. And we think she's going to be a really good player in this league. So, we're trying to get her done.
How important will it be to address the defence position via the Draft and Free Agency?
I think the draft will be a big part of it. I can't think of one team out there that doesn't need to improve their depth defence.
Mae Batherson and Dara Greig have entered the PWHL Draft, both sisters of Ottawa Senators. What is your scouting report on both of them?
[Mae Batherson’s] great. I think she's a good defender. I think she can play in the PWHL. I fully anticipate she'll get drafted in the seven rounds. I met her in person, and I know her and her brother were at some of our games this year.
On Dara, I know her. We've talked to her coach. He's very high on her. She's a great skater, feisty. A competitor. She will definitely go in the draft. Again, you can't predict these things, whether she'll get to us or not. It all depends on what other teams like but they are two players that we know well and they're definitely on our radar. So, it's just a question of whether we get the opportunity to draft them or not.
How do you see PWHL Ottawa as a destination for players after the first PWHL Season?
We feel like we put ourselves in a good position to be attractive in free agency. The fans for one thing, but we practice and play in the same arena, we have a great multicultural city, you live five to seven minutes from the rinks, the cost of living is more affordable than some of the bigger cities in this league. So you put all those things together, you have a story, a world class coaching staff. I put all those things together, we've done a good job, we're attractive to outside players, or even our own players want to say to keep experiencing 10,000 fans again.
How do you feel about the sustainability of the team?
Really good about it, to be honest. We missed the playoffs, but if you look at our analytics, we played really, really well. And there's lots of reasons we can point to, where we made some mistakes at the wrong time, partially because we were a young team. We had some bad penalties. We had more injuries than any other team in the league.
So there's a bunch of factors that just didn't go our way last year. But I think when you look at the analytics, and you look at the underlying numbers, I think we did a really good job. And when I look at players like Ashton Bell, who's 24, Gabbie Hughes who’s 24 and Daryl Watts, I think we're in a really good spot. We have a lot of young players, that I think you're only going to get better year over year, and we're about to add some more good young players.
What is your message to the PWHL Ottawa fans?
We are so grateful for what they brought to the table, for us how they helped us. There really was a home arena advantage in Ottawa. And I'm incredibly grateful for their support. They've been incredibly positive. Obviously, we're really disappointed to miss the playoffs. But again, it was some bad luck. And you know, things happen. They happen. But I can tell you, we've worked incredibly hard since the season ended. We're continually making improvements. We're tweaking some things internally, just to make us best in class. We had some really hard conversations with our group and they looked themselves in the mirror and said, where can we get even better for next year? I can tell you it's been a lot of work that's gone into it. I feel like the draft will be a first step for us. And again, I feel like we're in a really good spot.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.