European players are finding their way to the PWHL draft declaration, some important people are calling for Dempsey, national teams are being name, trades and more.
Things are about to get exciting in the PWHL. Well, they've been exciting, but with the trade deadline a week away, out of market games set to take place this week, and draft declarations underway, behind the scenes discussions are already underway.
Here's a look at what we're hearing and seeing across the PWHL this week.
European Players Finding Their Own Way
European leagues, teams, and federations, for the most part, still have not passed PWHL Draft declaration information on to players overseas. With the PWHL not putting out a public link as they did last year, the result is many European players and their agents struggling to get the required information to declare. Players are slowly finding their own way to the information through friends and former teammates overseas, but it's clear most European groups have no intention of fully opening the floodgates for their best players to come to North America.
Speaking of European players, as declaration info diffuses throughout the players, more are stating the plan to declare, or have already declared. For some in the SDHL and NCAA, they're waiting until their season is over to worry about this step. Looking at the SDHL's final four this week, we might see a large group of players from these rosters declaring. From the back-to-back champions Lulea, at least four members of their roster, all of whom are members of their national teams, are expected to declare. From Brynas, last year's runner up, it looks like five or more players may declare.
The Pressure Is On For A Dempsey Return To Boston
Last week, Jeff Marek reported talks were underway to bring Jillian Dempsey back to Boston. Both teams denied there had been any talks about a trade. There is, however, growing outside pressure asking PWHL Boston to bring Jillian Dempsey home to New England. That pressure includes outside calls to the team from government officials, city of Boston representatives, and even famed men's hockey players. It's an interesting tactic for people outside a league to call a team advocating for a player to be traded to their city, but it shows how important Jillian Dempsey is to Boston, and women's hockey in Massachusetts.
Trade Deadline Approaching, Will Anyone Move
I've heard this same sentence from a few GMs, "why would I trade for them when I can get them for free in the offseason?" It's a sentiment many GMs are feeling at the moment because the vast majority of the league will become unrestricted free agents this offseason. Perhaps the more pressing factor is, most GMs believe in the group they built, and want to see through the campaign. Any move we see will need to be strategic. Another point of discussion among GMs is the potential to shed cap room heading into the offseason. This means that players on two and three year contracts could move again as we saw earlier this year with Sophie Jaques from Boston. There is certainly some 'buyers remorse' going around the league right now, not necessarily for term, but for value they paid for certain players.
National Teams Coming Into View
The PWHL is definitely having an impact on national team selections. We saw that this week with Abby Roque, Becca Gilmore, and Abbey Levy being left off USA's national team, Micah Zandee-Hart being cut from Canada, and the play of players like goalie Kristen Campbell in the league redeeming their position with their national team to re-earn a spot. Other nations including Switzerland have started to name their national teams ahead of the World Championships in Utica.