A new women’s professional hockey league will begin in January in North America. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has been highly anticipated and aims to have a sustainable presence in professional women’s hockey.
The league recently conducted a 10-day period for free agents, during which the six founding franchises – Boston, Montreal, Minnesota, Ottawa, New York, and Toronto – signed three players each. The inaugural draft, in which 90 players will be selected, took place in Toronto on Monday night. Teams must sign 28 players for training camps in November and eventually trim their rosters down to 23 players by the start of the 2024 season.
This means that out of the 268 available players who registered, 168 spots are up for grabs. CBS Sports spoke with the players leading up to the draft. Here are the stories of these modern-day pioneers in women’s hockey and their journeys to the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
A Dream of Olympians
Sarah Nurse and Kendall Coyne Schofield are among the first 18 players to sign with the PWHL. This is well deserved, as they have both won Olympic gold medals with their respective national teams, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey. Furthermore, they were instrumental in the negotiations for the PWHL collective bargaining agreement.
“I have experienced many eras – as we are currently in Taylor Swift World,” Nurse jokingly told CBS Sports during a video conference. Following her first Olympics with Hockey Canada, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League disbanded. Nurse and her teammates chose not to join the then-National Women’s Hockey League. Instead, they formed the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) with the hope that a viable and sustainable league would eventually be established.
Now, in 2023, Nurse feels confident that they have achieved that goal with the establishment of the PWHL. “I feel like we’ve been everywhere, had our hand in a whole bunch of different pots. But I think it’s been pretty exciting, and I’m so happy that we’re finally at this point,” Nurse expressed.
“This has been a rollercoaster journey, and I believe that this is something that everyone involved in hockey has been wanting to see for a very long time,” Coyne Schofield stated during a press conference for PWHL Minnesota.
Both players signed three-year contracts, Nurse with PWHL Toronto and Schofield with PWHL Minnesota. Although their salaries have not been disclosed, it is likely that Nurse and Coyne Schofield are among the six players (or potentially more) who will earn $80,000 or more for their respective teams, according to the collective bargaining agreement. While there is no salary maximum, the league’s minimum salary for the first season will be $35,000. The average salary is set at $55,000, with up to a 10% variation depending on player movement and new signings, as stated in Article 8 of the CBA.
A History of Women’s Hockey
Similar to women’s basketball and women’s soccer, the PWHL has emerged after several iterations, including the CWHL and the Premier Hockey Federation (formerly known as the National Women’s Hockey League), which PWHL owners acquired earlier this year. Since the disbandment of the CWHL in 2019, numerous Olympic athletes like Nurse and Coyne Schofield have advocated for a single women’s professional league that upholds the highest standard of professionalism.
The PWHL traces its roots back to the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association. Unlike many of the players who joined the PHF, this group decided not to participate and instead waited for what they called a “truly professional” league. The PHF previously had seven teams throughout North America, each with a $1.5 million salary cap. The league had impressive facilities and boasted figures such as Hockey Hall of Famers Angela James and Geraldine Heaney, along with former director of the USA Hockey Women’s Program Reagan Carey, taking on coaching and executive roles.
However, despite rebranding and multiple changes in leadership, the PHF struggled to escape the negative reputation of the NWHL era. In the second season, significant salary cuts led to numerous players from the U.S. national team leaving the league, just as they had left the now-defunct CWHL in 2015, which was the first women’s hockey league to pay its players.
Ultimately, the PHF owners chose to sell certain assets to the Mark Walter Group, which is financing the PWHL. This paved the way for a unified professional league in North America. In the upcoming 2023-24 hockey season, the PWHL will have 138 roster spots available, which is 115 fewer spots than what the PHF and PWHPA offered combined.
Who Will Be Drafted?
The league did not organize a combine before the draft, so general managers will need to rely on an internal talent assessment system and word-of-mouth to evaluate the players.
“The list was finalized at midnight on September 3rd, so we are working to get to know the players directly and understand what they are looking for in this opportunity. What motivates them? Are they excited about joining Ottawa? Those are the things we are focusing on,” explained Michael Hirshfeld, the general manager of PWHL Ottawa, during a video conference on September 5. Hirshfeld has recruited two temporary staff members and head coach Carla Macleod, announced on September 15, to assist with the recruitment process. “We are working on our list to be prepared for the draft,” Hirschfeld stated.
The PWHL provided teams with a list of registered players and ranked the top prospects. While all eligible players were invited to attend the draft, only the top players were offered $200 per diem to cover their travel expenses to Toronto. Although the league has released the complete list of draft-eligible players, they have not disclosed the player rankings or the names of players attending the draft.
The PWHL Draft is comparable to an expansion draft, with 85% of the draft pool having professional experience in the PHF, PWHPA, or other European leagues. However, beyond considering statistics from the Olympics and college hockey, there is no reliable method to evaluate talent, especially if achievements in the CWHL, NWHL, PHF, or international competitions are not deemed significant or “truly professional.”
A committee consisting of nine individuals with connections to women’s hockey have assessed and ranked the talent prior to the draft. This list has been shared with PWHL teams and shared with registered players. Players with previous experience in the PHF, such as Kaleigh Fratkin, are facing a level of uncertainty as they prepare for the draft. Will their contributions to women’s pro hockey be enough to secure a spot in the PWHL’s future?
“You can only hope and trust that they did their due diligence to give everyone a fair opportunity,” Fratkin commented when asked about the metrics and information used to rank her and the other 267 players vying for a roster spot.
“I haven’t been provided with that information. However, from my understanding, there is a committee of nine individuals involved, which includes people from the national team levels with Hockey Canada and the US, as well as some respected college coaches,” Fratkin revealed approximately 24 hours after the PWHL held a conference call for all draft-eligible players.
“So, it is reassuring to know that, even though I don’t know the specific metrics and ranking process, a sizable committee contributed their input,” she added.
With so much talent available for the six teams, the competition promises to be captivating when the puck drops in January. This is what Nurse, Coyne Schofield, and Liz Knox, a former executive of the CWHLPA, visualized.
“It’s astonishing to me that it took until 2023 for this to become a reality,” Knox reflected on the long-awaited dream of a professional women’s hockey league. Although Knox has retired from pro hockey, she remains an interim board member of the PWHLPA. “We were not witnessing the business or player experience side keeping pace with the performance side. So, it’s incredible that it’s happening. I empathize with the players who have spent the last five, 10, 15 years pushing the envelope and making this work, especially those who may not fully reap the benefits. But I believe there is a message of hope that our kids or the kids of our friends will grow up in a world where young boys and girls can watch professional women’s hockey on TV, just like any other sport,” Knox expressed. Former Metropolitan Riveters captain Madison Packer also acknowledged the trailblazers who came before them.
“Many people have worked tirelessly to promote women’s professional hockey in North America, and unfortunately, they won’t be able to do so in the new PWHL,” Packer said during a video interview with CBS Sports. This comment was unprompted and the first thing she mentioned during the interview.
“Their contributions should always be acknowledged. Even though they may no longer play, I have tremendous gratitude and respect for those individuals. I hope they feel a great sense of pride when they see the players step onto the ice in January, knowing that their dedication and sacrifices throughout their careers have played a part in shaping the current state of women’s hockey,” Packer emphasized.
Making the Roster
In reality, Packer’s words could also reflect her own situation. The 2018 Isobel Cup champion confirmed that she was not among the top-ranked prospects by the PWHL committee and would not be traveling to Toronto. When CBS Sports first spoke to Packer on September 7, she was hoping to sign with the PWHL New York team under a compassionate circumstance waiver.
The precise details of the compassionate circumstance waiver are not specified in the 62-page CBA but were announced by Jayna Hefford, the PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, during an August 29 press conference.
“When players declare for the draft, they have the option to submit a compassionate circumstance waiver. This would apply to situations that are beyond the player’s control and prevent them from relocating to another market. We believe this is important. If approved, the player would be allowed to play exclusively within the selected market,” Hefford explained to the media.
In an email to CBS Sports on September 11, the PWHL provided further clarification on the compassionate waiver, stating that it “allows a player to be considered to only play in one specific market. The team in that market would have the exclusive opportunity to negotiate a Standard Player Agreement (SPA) with the player, but they are not obligated to do so. If a waiver application is denied, or if the team does not enter into a contract with the player, the player may still enter the draft to be considered by any market.”
The league has not disclosed the number of players who applied for waivers or the number of waivers that were approved. The PWHL announced that the status of the compassionate waiver applications would be communicated to the players the week before the draft. Moreover, it remains unclear whether compassionate waiver players must be selected through the draft or if there will be a separate announcement for players whose waivers were accepted. Regardless, players who have been approved and have accepted the waiver will count towards the 28-player training camp roster requirement.
In a recent conversation with CBS Sports, Packer confirmed that her application for exclusive negotiations with the PWHL New York team for a Standard Player Contract was accepted. However, Packer is still figuring out if her waiver status means she will be selected in the draft or if there will be a separate process for players whose waivers were approved. Packer and her agent, former NHL player Drew Shore of Wasserman, are maintaining open communication channels.
“My agent is currently working on determining what this means for me as a free agent or a restricted agent, hopefully down to the minute. There are a lot of moving parts and not much time,” Packer revealed during a phone call on Sunday morning.
A follow-up conversation on Sunday evening provided an update stating that the PWHL New York team has offered Packer a camp tryout rather than an official Standard Player Contract. Consequently, Packer has waived her compassionate circumstance status and is eligible to be selected by any PWHL team in the 15-round draft taking place on Monday.
An Ever-Evolving Process
The ongoing developments shed light on the future of the PWHLPA. While Nurse, Coyne Schofield, and Knox believe that the players’ priorities have largely been taken into account in the CBA, they recognize the need for further work and effective communication to fully execute its terms and to address future challenges.
“We have barely had time to digest the initial meal. Now we’re already talking about dessert,” Knox remarked. “This will be a learning-on-the-fly process, particularly for the players, as you don’t know what you don’t know until you’re in the market and experience the CBA in action or lack thereof. That’s when we’ll start to identify the gaps. We’ve already seen glimpses of them,” Knox disclosed. She added that she has been fielding questions regarding the compassionate circumstance waiver and other logistical aspects.
Undoubtedly, questions and logistics will continue to arise, but everyone interviewed by CBS Sports expressed excitement for the future of women’s hockey.
“I am confident that, at the end of it all, the best players, regardless of their past, will have the opportunity to play in the upcoming season. This will be a fantastic league to be a part of,” Packer asserted. However, she also acknowledged that it is a challenging time for players who have to wait until after the draft to negotiate a roster spot, if given the chance at all.
“The draft is unprecedented, and there are many moving pieces. So, let’s approach it with empathy and grace for all parties involved on Monday. I am excited to see what unfolds,” Packer concluded.
