PWHL Rumblings: Draft List Coming, Free Agency, PWHL Awards, & Much More

Round one of the PWHL playoffs is in the books and the Walter Cup final is set. With a championship in view, all eyes are focused on the ice, but there are many reasons to keep eyes peeled on press releases, draft, free agency, awards, and attendance.

Here's a look at what we're hearing and seeing across the PWHL this week.

Fans have been anxiously awaiting the full list of PWHL Draft declarations. While some players have made their declarations public, others have quietly declared. Fans hoping to see who is available for their team to select won't need to wait much longer as the league is now in the final stages of preparing the list to release...something that should occur in the very near future. What was the delay? The primary slow down had to do with eligibility. As stated, the league only wants players who are eligible to participate in the PWHL in 2024-2025 entered and selected. This means there has been considerable leg work behind the scenes to ensure their draft list is accurate, and that the players entering the draft are either unsigned, or signed to a contract with a valid out clause. It's been time consuming, but it's also a positive sign that the league is taking the player pool seriously, and that they're considering international relations. 

June 21 will be the opening of free agency. While teams are already in conversations with players from their teams, and interest was expressed to many during exit meetings, the league has not officially allowed contract offers to be confirmed or for extensions to be signed. There are a number of factors impacting this, but the majority of this related to ongoing conversations between the PWHL and PWHLPA. It's yet to be seen how much money will be available to teams due to built in raises for most three-year contracted players, along with the possibility of a pay scale tied to draft selection position. Once those items are figured out, along with setting a standard for when contracts can be extended and negotiated in the future, we'll potentially see some re-signings before free agency officially opens, and we may see some top draft picks signed as well.

There was quite a bit of hubbub this week surrounding the release of the PWHL's award voting committee. Many felt snubbed, particularly the longest standing women's hockey media. The league hand picked a group of media to be part of an 18 member voting committee in selecting six major awards for the league from MVP to Rookie of the Year. What came next were a pair of letters published by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA), who have voted on NHL Awards since 1967. The first letter, which featured a number of inaccuracies was quickly deleted. A second letter was released the following day which communicated that the league and PHWA were not on the same page. The problem was, less than 30 minutes prior to the release of that letter, multiple members of the PHWA met with several PWHL staff for a very positive meeting, committing to meet again and discuss future media needs, issues, and collaboration. 

There was no shortage of fan support for PWHL Montreal and PWHL Toronto at their home rinks for the playoffs, but a troubling trend emerged in the PWHL's American markets. For whatever reason, the league saw a large dip in attendance for the playoffs. Yes, you read that right. It seems illogical given the fact playoff competition is the epitome of any league and traditionally comes with larger crowds. In Minnesota specifically, talk from the organization earlier in the season circled the idea of "we have great crowds now, but wait until you see this building in playoffs." That translated to 3344 in a potentially deciding game three, and even fewer in game four seeing 2766 fans, despite the fact Minnesota now had life in the series. They were the two smallest crowds Minnesota welcomed to the Xcel Energy Center all season. Similarly Boston drew only 2781 for their series clinching playoff game against Montreal, the third smallest crowd of the year trailing only a pair of weeknight games in mid February. It will definitely be a trend the PWHL will follow closely, and could benefit Canadian cities, or cities bordering Canada like Detroit, in future expansion talks. 

We already know this is the final season in the PWHL for Toronto's Brittany Howard who has accepted a coaching position with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite girls hockey program for next season. But there are others who will walk away from the league this year and into other careers. We know that players on two and three year contracts will be back, but there are other players who we may not see again. Melodie Daoust did not declare for the PWHL Draft, which if the PWHL's rules from this year hold, means she will not be eligible to return to the league. Montreal's sweep by Boston then, may be the last time we see Daoust play. It would be a huge loss to the sport seeing another career end prematurely, but the requirement to fully enter the draft will dissuade some athletes who have established lives in certain markets. It will also be interesting to see how the long term injuries to veteran players like Ann-Sophie Bettez impact their futures. For some, playing in the league this year was the culmination of a career well spent, for others it was a beginning. Along with the draft and free agency, we're likely to see some athletes making announcements related to their on-ice futures in the coming weeks.