This is what we're hearing and seeing happening in the PWHL this week including team locations, coaches and general managers, and the draft.

With the PWHL free agency over, the league has its first 18 players. We learned that Kelly Pannek's signing with Minnesota was the first in league history, and saw the six general managers secure national team players from Canada and USA to open the league. 

Now, there's one week remaining until the draft, and teams will be feverishly working to contact players, and make their draft lists.

Here's what we're hearing and seeing this week:

New York Area May Be Connecticut

Venues have started to emerge in the larger discussion of markets. Talks of TD Place Arena in Ottawa, the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, Walter Brown Arena in Boston, and perhaps the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. None have been confirmed, although the anticipation is these announcements will come soon with GM hirings and free agency over. One of the locations drawing the most attention is New York, which if rumors hold true, will be playing out of Bridgeport, Connecticut, roughly an hour and a half outside of New York City. Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport was opened n 2001 and currently plays home to the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL. While the arena seats 8,412, the Islanders were third last in AHL attendance last season averaging 3122. 

While this will be home base, as PWHL board member Stan Kasten stated in press discussions, many teams in the league will play neutral site games within their market, and outside of their market. For the PWHL's New York team, this is believed to include games at UBS Arena, home of the NHL's New York Islanders.

While the PHF's Connecticut Whale played just over an hour North of Bridgeport in Simsbury, Connecticut, the PHF franchise was struggling to draw fans. In fact, the founding NWHL/PHF franchise was looking to relocate either within Connecticut or elsewhere due to their struggles. The team would have played out this season in Simsbury, but a relocation of the franchise was already in discussion.

Hirings and Near Hirings

The majority of PWHL teams have a head coach. In Toronto, we've learned that coach will be Canadian national team bench boss Troy Ryan, who will leave his role at Dalhousie University to join Toronto's PWHL franchise.

While no coach has been announced, Montreal GM Daniele Sauvageau has stated her coach will be a woman. That announcement launched speculation that two individuals, Caroline Ouelette and Kori Cheverie, who have both worked with Sauvageau in various capacities in the past, are the leading candidates.

While the PWHL's six general managers are now well known to the league and media, one name has emerged as a person offered a general managers position in the PWHL, who ultimately turned down the role. That individual is current American Hockey League (AHL) vice president of hockey operations Hayley Moore. Moore previously worked at the league level in the NWHL and was the general manager and president of the Boston Pride.

The former Brown athlete, who also played in the CWHL with the Boston Blades, turned down the offer to lead one of the PWHL's franchises this season. Had she been hired, the league would have had five women in general manager positions instead of the current four.

Draft Declaration List

The league has stated they will publish the Draft Declaration list this week, so fans and media will have a few days to speculate who from the 289 player list will be chosen in the 90 player draft.

The list will also reveal who from the PWHPA, PHF, and college hockey may have chosen to step away from the game.

What happens after first overall?

Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz is expected to take University of Minnesota standout, Taylor Heise, first overall. Heise was a Patty Kazmaier winner at the school and back-to-back WCHA Player of the Year. She's also emerged as Team USA's offensive leader.

After Heise leaves the board, all bets are off. Alina Muller is likely the nest best available, and would provide generational offensive talent to whoever can scoop her up, but with Toronto picking second, Gina Kingsbury could be tempted to take one of several Canadian national team members like Erin Ambrose, Natalie Spooner, Claire Thompson, or Emma Maltais. She could even choose goaltender Kristen Campbell.

If Kingsbury holds the national line, Boston will almost certainly grab Muller, who is finishing her NCAA career in the city with Northeastern, and had signed to stay in the city with the PHF's Boston Pride prior to the acquisition of the league.

In total, 90 players will be selected across 15 rounds in the draft, which begins at 1pm in Toronto on September 18. The league invited 50 players to the draft offering between $200-$850 in stipends for those 50 players identified as "Top Prospects" leading up to the event. The remainder of the 289 players who declared themselves eligible for the draft were also invited, but without the stipend or "top prospect" label.