With players from more nations joining the PWHL and on their way to the world's top league, the IIHF and PWHL need to find a solution to either synchronize the top divisions of the World Championships, or expand the field.
The PWHL's international break is set to align with the IIHF's top division World Championship tournament, but it does not align with the other levels of competition in the IIHF.
The IIHF's top division will compete from April 3-14 in Utica, New York. A week later in Austria, the IIHF's Division 1A World Championships will get underway running from April 21-27. While the vast majority of the PWHL's star power will be in Utica, as the game's international contingent continues to grow, more players from outside the IIHF's top division will be impacted and forced to choose between representing their country, or staying in the PWHL.
This season, that includes PWHL New York's Chloe Aurard who was recently named to Team France for the IIHF Division IA World Championships.
If not for her injury, Hungary and PWHL Ottawa forward Fanni Gasparics would have also faced a similar decision, which will still exist for PWHL New York defender Taylor Baker, another member of Team Hungary. Similarly PWHL Boston forward Theresa Schafzahl will face that decision for Team Austria.
At the upcoming 2024 PWHL Draft, many players from outside the IIHF's "top 10" nations will be declaring for the draft. That group is likely to include Austria's Anna Meixner, Norway's Emma Bergesen, Mathea Fischer and Ena Nystrom, Italy's Naddia Mattivi, and the Netherlands' Kayleigh Hamers.
It's a consideration that will continue to grow with the development of women's hockey across the globe as we've seen with the rapid rise of China's women's program, and the many international players in the NCAA who could become PWHL prospects in the coming seasons like Norway's Millie Rose Sirum, Denmark's, Emma-Sofie Nordström, and China's Anna Segedi and Tia Chan.
The PWHL and IIHF should begin collaboratively looking at solutions to allow the best players on the planet from all nations to continue to develop in the PWHL, and competing internationally.
Two solutions exist. The first is synchronizing the top division and Division 1A World Championship tournaments. The second solution could be finally bringing the men's and women's tournaments into alignment featuring a larger 16 team pool in both men's and women's play.
Either way, punishing women from nations who are developing national programs by restricting them from competing with their countries, or punishing PWHL teams for selecting these players is not a pathway to improving global competition. Instead a collaborative strategy involving more nations between the IIHF and PWHL should be the focus.