Two weeks ago after the deadline for players to declare their presence in the Draft, the league finally released the complete list of emerging players. 167 players representing 19 countries will be available to sign for the six teams in the League. Unlike the first frame, the second will have only seven rounds and will not be a snake frame.
By accumulating the most points after being eliminated from playoff contention, New York will have first choice, thanks to the gold medal. Ottawa will be the second non-playoff team and the four playoff winners will be selected in reverse order of the regular season standings. In other words, Minnesota gets the third pick, Boston fourth, Montreal fifth and Toronto sixth. I’d like to consider the playoff’s wealth, but this is yet another department where the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) differs from the NHL.
Who would Montreal pick in the first round?
With Montreal picking fifth, we can expect the most sought-after names to run out. Sarah Fillier should be elected by New York sooner than anyone can sing a Sinatra classic that graces the city. Then Team USA’s Hannah Bilka made the day for the Ottawa team. After that, it becomes more difficult, several words may be present in the third choice; Cayla Barnes of Team USA, Danielle Serdachny of Team Canada, or Noora Tulus of overseas Finland could all participate.
It won’t be an easy task for Montreal general manager (GM) Daniele Sauvageau to choose his first round pick. The first season of the PWHL Montreal made it clear that there are areas of concern that the organization must address immediately. When Marie-Philip Poulin was injured, the team worked hard to get points, and often, they couldn’t. In 24 games, Montreal was shut out three times against Minnesota for last place in that department. At the same time, Montreal had a lot of difficulties in its defense and Erin Ambrose is only one woman, she can’t stay on the ice. In terms of goalscoring, if Elaine Chuli isn’t signed to another contract, Savageau may want to see what’s available. But I doubt he will use his first choice there if his first goalkeeper is Ann-Renee Desbiens.
Related: Montreal’s Dramatic PWHL Win Highlights Continuing Problems
With two of the most demanding positions on the team, it will come down to the best player available when the 5th comes. It’s hard to know how things will go down, especially if Ottawa needs to find a strong netminder to say goodbye to the fact that Emerance Maschmeyer is on maternity leave (we know her partner Genevieve Lacasse is due in early fall, but we don’t know that Maschmeyer intends to take maternity leave).
If available during Montreal, I think Sauvageau will choose Serdachny. The striker linked up very well with Poulin in the last world championship. If not, a defender like Daniela Pejsova would make sense, especially since she’s only 21 and ready to take the honey quickly. The Czech international will certainly help solve Montreal’s blue line.
What About Over Time?
Another player who might catch Sauvageau’s eye on defense is Claire Thompson. The former Team Canada player took a year off from hockey to complete his doctorate. Now he is ready to return to action and has formed a pairing to compete with Montreal’s Ambrose on Team Canada.
Up front, Sauvageau may choose 25-year-old Emmy Fecteau. The center played against Concordia University last season under coach Julie Chu and I’m sure both Chu and Caroline Ouellette (Chu’s assistant at Concordia) will be chewing Sauvageau’s ear about her. In his last three years at Concordia, he was a point-per-game player. He is from the same province of Quebec (Beauce) as Poulin and it will be interesting to see if GM can be lured by local talent. We all know how things go down every year at the NHL Draft, Quebecers complain that the Montreal Canadiens don’t pick enough Canadians. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll see similar complaints in the PWHL. So far, fans have been optimistic about almost everything about this league. The exception is the “ugly jerseys with team names only” though, the stadiums are full of fans wearing them.
Finally, Team Symbols and Nicknames Are Coming
In other news, Jayna Hefford, the league’s vice president of hockey, told reporters on a conference call that soon, PWHL teams will have both names and logos. He didn’t give a date, however, only saying “Sometime in the summer, you can count the days!” (from ‘Enfin des noms d’équipes et des logos cet été’, La Presse, May 25, 2024) So far, the only names the wing has registered trademarks are those leaked before the start of the season. For those who missed the memo, were Boston Wicked, Montreal Echo, Ottawa Alert, Toronto Torch, New York Sound and Minnesota Superior.
Tonight, Minnesota will face Boston for a chance to become the first Walter Cup champions. The faceoff is set for 6:00 PM EDT and in less than 12 hours, we could see Kendall Coyne Schofield hoist the trophy! We will definitely see Hilary Knight do her best to prevent that from happening and cause a Game 5 in Boston on Wednesday night.
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