Noora Räty was a member of the PWHPA Board that voted not to collaborate with the PHF. Now, she's signed to play with the PHF's Metropolitan Riveters.

The historic nature of Noora Räty's signing with the PHF's Metropolitan Riveters was two-fold. First, she's the most individually decorated player to sign in the league in the post-CWHL/NHWL era. Second, at the time of her signing, Noora Räty was one of nine member of the PWHPA's Board.

PWHPA board members include Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight, Brianne Jenner, and Sarah Nurse, among others. Immediately following The Hockey News Women's reporting the signing of Räty, the PWHPA removed Noora Räty's name from their Board Members list.

PWHPA sources most recently spoke to The Athletic in March 2022, with the outlet reporting players were told at the 2023 Secret Dream Gap Tour finale that a league would be ready for the 2023-2024 season. The news was reportedly relayed through Stan Kasten, CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who works alongside Dodgers' owner Mark Walter, who partnered with the PWHPA to explore a formal league.

Since the dissolution of the CWHL in 2019, the PHF has attempted to mend the broken relationships that existed between the CWHL and the NWHL prior to the formation of the PWHPA and restructuring of the PHF. In 2021, the soon to be rebranded NWHL, which would become the PHF, sent a six-page letter to Jayna Hefford, lead consultant of the PWHPA stating the PHF Board of Directors' main objective was "to unify the world of professional women’s hockey." Much of the document discussed improvements the PHF had made to that point, which since that date have also included player health benefits and an increase in the salary cap to $1.5 million per team.

The document admits the shortcomings of past iterations of the league saying "We admit that the NWHL fell short of its commitments and expectations in the past, particularly in regard to the way it treated its players." The lettter then outlines the improvements the league had made, and intended to make. The final two pages of the document targeted future partnership, mending relationships, and a goal to collaboratively build a single sustainable professional women's hockey league.

As the final lines of the letter read, the PHF asserts they are "serious about working with the PWHPA to chart a course forward. We respect what you are trying to do, and we are convinced that together, we can move farther, faster."

As reported in April 2022, a final meeting between the groups did not result in a partnership. Rather, the PWHPA informed the PHF they would be moving forward separately.

As The Athletic reported at the time, ​​”The PWHPA’s board has voted unanimously to end any further discussions about collaborating with the PHF."

Noora Räty was on that board. Now, she is part of the PHF.

In the last twelve months, the PHF has made many changes, including hiring Reagan Carey as the league's commissioner. Carey worked with many members of the PWHPA directly as USA Hockey’s director of women’s ice hockey and general manager of the U.S. National Women’s Team. Next, the league completed expansion to Montreal, added health benefits, and increased the team salary cap to $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the PWHPA completed another season of the Secret Dream Gap Tour, this time abandoning the regional hubs, instead creating four amalgamated teams named for corporate sponsors. Team Harvey's was the eventual winner of the Association's championship. The PWHPA announced last year they would be launching a six team league with two franchises in Canada and three in the United States beginning in January 2023. That announcement, according to a Zoom call with prospective players and current PWHPA members from April 2022, was likely to occur during the 2023 NHL playoffs. Both dates, however, passed.

After voting to not merge with the PHF as a member of the PWHPA board, a year later, Noora Räty is now set to play with the PHF's Metropolitan Riveters. 

Last year, several PWHPA members made the move to the PHF including Ann-Sophie Bettez, Amanda Pelkey, Kali Flanagan, Hayley Lunny, Loren Gabel, Brittany Howard, and Sarah Lefort, among others.

While a similar offseason exodus has yet to occur this season, the signing of Noora Räty could open that door. A portion of that delay could be attributed to contracts PWHPA members signed with PWHL Holdings LLC for a "Promotional Period" for the proposed league. Those contracts end August 31, 2023, meaning a departure from the contract would result in forfeiture of the remaining bi-weekly payments toward each players' $24,000 contract. The specific stipulation in the contract reads that members cannot play for, or commit to playing for, "any other league, governing body, tour or exhibitor during the Inaugural Season, other than your national team."

Another item cited by PWHPA members and prospective PWHPA members as hesitancy in leaving the Association, is a fear they will not be considered for the Canadian or American national teams. This year, Becca Gilmore of the PHF played for Team USA, whose gold medal winning roster included a majority of players competing in the NCAA, followed by PWHPA members, and Gilmore. While Hockey Canada's entry did not feature a PHF member, several were part of the Canada-USA Rivalry Series, and Hockey Canada has unequivocally denied any exclusion from their national program based on the league a player chooses to play in.

“Any allegation that players who participate in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) are not considered to play for Canada’s National Women’s Team is false and inaccurate," a Hockey Canada spokesperson said in a statement to The Hockey News. USA Hockey did not return multiple requests for comment, however, USA's roster already includes the presence of Gilmore and a dozen NCAA players.

In marketing materials circulated to NCAA and USports players in 2022, the PWHPA stated their mission is to "establish the first truly professional and viable women's ice hockey league in North America showcasing the world's greatest players," a statement contesting the talent and viability of the PHF and the 161 players who competed in the league in 2022-2023.

Some of the NCAA and USports players participating in the 2022 Zoom call and receiving the PWHPA's marketing materials have signed this offseason in the PHF. Several notable college signings for the league include Alina Müller, Chloé Aurard, Theresa Schafzahl, Audrey-Anne Veillete, and Rosalie Begin-Cyr, Claire Butorac, and Brooke Bryant, as well as the reported signings of Sandra Abstreiter, Gabrielle David, Lexie Adzija, and Tatum Amy while others remain in negotiations.

On Friday, May 12, 2023 the PWHPA's 'union' held a meeting. It is believed the organization is close to completing their side of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). CBA's generally outline salary and working conditions for employees. The NHL's CBA defines terms and conditions surrounding a number of issues including discipline, player contracts, entry draft, player eligibility, strikes and lockouts, free agency, waivers and loans, arbitration, scheduling, pensions, international play and more. While the NHL's collective agreement is formed between the NHLPA, 32 team owners and the league's commissioner, it's currently unclear if the PWHPA's proposed league has club owners and financial stakeholders in place, or a commissioner, to collectively negotiate on behalf of a future league. Current stakeholders involved include Billie Jean King Enterprises and The Mark Walter Group, as well as the PWHPA.

With a possible announcement coming in the near future for the PWHPA regarding their plans for next season, the signing of Noora Räty to the PHF marks another shift in the landscape of professional women's hockey.