Where might Canadian PWHL stars sign in free agency?
Looking at potential landing spots for some of Canada's best players.
More details about the Professional Women’s Hockey League were revealed on Tuesday, ahead of the inaugural season beginning in January 2024.
The six-team league, with three teams in Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa), and three in the United States (Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and the New York City area) can start signing players as of tomorrow, September 1, with the opening of the league’s free agency period. The free agency period will last until September 10, and in this time each team is permitted to sign up to three players. Players who aren’t signed in this period may enter the league’s 15-round draft, which will take place on September 18, with the undrafted players allowed to be signed by any team immediately following the draft.
It is expected that many of the game’s biggest stars will be signed during the initial ten-day window, but with a maximum of 18 of them able to sign before the draft, there will be a lot of attention for that event too as teams fill out their inaugural rosters.
It makes sense for teams to target local talent, but there is also, of course, a chance that Canadians will sign with the American teams before the draft, or vice-versa, as clubs look to build the best-possible inaugural rosters. Players from overseas will also be in the mix, so how teams approach this initial window will be fascinating to watch.
With all of that in mind, here are some potential landing spots for some Canadian superstars.
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Signings that make the most sense 🏒
Marie-Philip Poulin to Montreal
The first name that comes to mind when many people think of the Canadian women’s national hockey team, especially the current group of players, is Marie-Philip Poulin.
Poulin — who won the Northern Star Award last December as Canada’s best athlete of 2022 after leading Canada to Olympic and World Championship gold — has scored in four Olympic finals, winning three golds and one silver, and is widely considered among the best players of all time, if not the very best.
The 32-year-old will be one of the faces of the league, and it would be surprising to see her sign anywhere but the team in Montreal, which is only a few hours away from her hometown of Beauceville, Quebec. She previously played for Les Canadiennes de Montréal in the now-defunct Canadian Women's Hockey League, as well as the Montreal team in the PWHPA.
Poulin is engaged to Laura Stacey, another veteran Canadian national team player, who also played for Montreal in the PWHPA. An electric forward in her own right, Montreal could look to sign Stacey as well, as opposed to risk missing out on her via the draft.
Sarah Nurse to Toronto
Another one of the most sought-after players in free agency will be Sarah Nurse.
The 28-year-old forward from Hamilton, Ontario had an incredible Olympics in Beijing last year, setting the Olympic records for most points (18) and most assists (13) in a single women's tournament, and was named in the competition’s all-star team. She scored the opening in the gold medal game against the United States, and assisted Marie-Philip Poulin’s game-winner as Canada were crowned champions.
Nurse was later on the cover of NHL 23 alongside Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, becoming the first woman on the cover in the history of the video game franchise.
She played for the Toronto chapter of the PWHPA, and if she wishes to stay close to home, an offer from the Toronto PWHL team seems incredibly likely.
Jamie Lee Rattray to Ottawa
From the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario, forward Jamie Lee Rattray is another long-time national team player, and seems like a likely target for her hometown PWHL team.
Rattray was a key part of Canada’s gold medal in Beijing, providing five goals and four assists across Canada’s seven games. She was a standout in the CWHL, and a winner of the Jayna Hefford Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player in the regular season, as voted by the players, and later played in the PWHPA as well. She won the award in 2017–18, and was the only player other than Marie-Philip Poulin (who won it three times) to receive the honour.
Rattray is certainly at least open to the idea of returning to the nation’s capital, telling CBC after the announcement of the league starting that it would “be awesome to go back home and play professional after playing my junior career and minor hockey there.”
Time will tell if she puts pen to paper in the next ten days.
Other potential major free agent targets ✍️
In every market across the PWHL, it is likely that many players will be keen to head to their hometowns and be close to family, while also representing where they’re from. For the teams themselves it also makes sense to try and attract local stars to be the faces of their franchises, and attach their names to the players that fans will already be familiar with.
The biggest challenge for teams around the league in free agency will be deciding who to lock up now and who to risk losing in the draft on September 18. One thing to watch in particular will be if any goaltenders are signed before the draft, as an assurance of having one of the world’s best netminders could be vital.
Considering all of those factors, here are a few other potential free agent targets for each of the Canadian teams.
Montreal
If any goaltenders are signed in the initial free agent window, Ann-Renee Desbiens returning to Quebec seems like a real possibility. Desbiens stopped 141 of the 150 shots she faced at the Olympics in Beijing, playing five of Canada’s seven games. Considered by many as the best in the world, she played for Montreal in the PWHPA and will be sought-after by both her local team, and others around the PWHL.
Valleyfield, Quebec’s Mélodie Daoust is another name to look out for, while she could also be a target for nearby Ottawa.
Ottawa
Ottawa is one of the most interesting markets entering free agency, as they could potentially target some of the Toronto and Montreal-based talent that don’t get picked up, sitting just a few hours away from each of those markets.
Rebecca Leslie is one of the names to keep an eye on, with the Ottawa native telling TSN this week that it’s “an exciting time” for women’s professional hockey, and that she would like to represent her hometown team. She was a standout with the Ottawa Lady Senators previously, and played professionally in the CWHL, winning the Clarkson Cup as a member of the Calgary Inferno.
Ottawa could be one of the teams looking at international players, and those from other provinces across the country.
Toronto
The Greater Toronto Area, and Ontario more broadly, is undoubtedly one of the strongest hotbeds of hockey talent anywhere in the world, and that will make it one of the top choices for several players in PWHL free agency.
Brianne Jenner and Natalie Spooner are both from the GTA and two long-time national team forwards that will be sought after, whether in these ten days or in the draft. Spooner may be eligible for the league’s “compassionate circumstance” rule — where she can skip the draft if she isn’t signed in free agency in order to play in a specific market — as she is a new mom, giving birth to her son in December.
Hamilton, Ontario’s Renata Fast — one of the best defenders in the world — is another intriguing option that teams like Toronto could look to build around.
Other names to keep an eye on 👀
It is not yet known whether or not NCAA or U SPORTS players who enter the draft will have to forgo their university eligibility, but if that is the case it is expected that some will opt to stay in university and miss out on the inaugural PWHL season.
That could impact some top young players like Sarah Fillier, for example, who has one year to go at Princeton still, but would have a very high chance of being the first overall pick should she opt to enter the draft instead.
The sense is that teams will try to target local stars in free agency, as seen in the sections above, but that leaves several of Canada’s best players on the outside looking in. Some out-of-market stars that PWHL teams could look at include Stellarton, Nova Scotia’s Blayre Turnbull, a Canadian national team assistant captain at the most recent World Championship, and Ste. Anne, Manitoba’s Jocelyne Larocque — a long-time top defender on the international stage.
Claire Thompson is another interesting one to keep an eye on. The 25-year-old is one of the top young players in the world, but enrolled in the New York University School of Medicine as a medical student last year, and whether or not she wants to juggle both will be something to watch. The Toronto native played in the PWHPA last year and was a focal point of Canada’s gold medal win in Beijing, so if she wants to play in the PWHL right away, she will be scooped up quickly.
There are many Canadians that were standouts in the PHF last season as well that should also be on the radars of teams, but whether or not they get signed outright or picked up in the draft will be decided in the coming days. The PHF champions in 2022-23 were the Toronto Six, so some of their top players like Brittany Howard, Emma Woods, Saroya Tinker, Elaine Chuli and others will be in consideration, but will more likely be looked at ahead of the draft.
Kennedy Marchment (Connecticut Whale) and Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Buffalo Beauts) are other Canadians who lit up the PHF and could even be picked up by a team in free agency.
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