It happened last year when PWHL Montreal drafted Lina Ljungblom, and when Cami Kronish left her SDHL contract for the PWHL, but moving forward, no contracted players will be drafted or signed by PWHL teams.
Call it the Lina Ljungblom rule if you must, but there will be extra attention paid by teams and overseers this season to ensure no currently contracted players will be selected in the 2024 PWHL Draft.
Ljungblom was the final pick of the 2023 Draft selected by PWHL Montreal, but due to the fact she remained under contract with Sweden's MoDo, she could not come to North America. At the time, there was uncertainty as no agreements had been formed, and the decision by both Ljungblom and Montreal was made in good faith.
Perhaps the more contentious move that sparked this decision was the signing of Cami Kronish by PWHL Boston, as Kronish left her contract with AIK in Sweden for what the club called "personal reasons," and immediately began skating in Boston before signing with the team.
Moving forward however, it appears players under contract in European leagues, whether it's the SDHL, Naisten Liiga, SWHL, DFEL, or EWHL, those contracts will be honored. The same will go for PWHL contracted players wishing to move the other direction.
"All the parties agree we would all like to respect contracts," said the IIHF's Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer. "IIHF has a very strict transfer regulations and the PWHL basically was agreeing that we should work together on that. Our legal director is going to be in contact with the PWHL just to make sure none of the teams are going to draft players with existing contracts. I think that's a common goal as well, to respect the contracts."
The IIHF does believe there is an out clause in Sweden that could allow contracted players to leave for a higher paid position elsewhere, but that the leagues, including the PWHL, will respect contracts regardless of "outs" that could be used.
It's believed that an option may exist for PWHL teams to "buy out" a contract, or vice versa, if an agreement can be met and the player is eligible for the PWHL by declaring for the draft. In this way, unselected players who go on to have a successful season in Europe and catch the attention of the PWHL could have a pathway to return to the league in the same season.