The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) kicked off its first-ever draft as Minnesota selected Taylor Heise with the No. 1 overall pick in Toronto on Monday.
Heise joins Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek in Minnesota after the team signed the final three players during the league’s free agency period in early September. Minnesota won the first pick in the draft lottery on September 1st.
The PWHL Draft consists of 15 rounds and 90 selections (in one Snake design format) from a pool of 268 players who signed up for it. No draft picks will be traded until at least the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.
First round pick
- #1 – Minnesota – Taylor Heise (C)
- #2 – Toronto – Jocelyne Larocque (LD)
- No. 3 – Boston – Alina Müller (C)
- #4 – New York – Ella Shelton (LD)
- #5 – Ottawa – Savannah Harmon (LD)
- No. 6 – Montreal – Erin Ambrose (D)
Round 2 picks
- No. 7 – Montreal – Kristin O’Neill (F)
- #8 – Ottawa – Ashton Bell (D)
- #9 – New York – Jaime Bourbonnais (RD)
- #10 – Boston – Sophie Jaques (RD)
- No. 11 – Toronto – Emma Maltais (F)
- #12 – Minnesota – Nicole Hensley (G)
The full list of picks, including rounds 3-15, can be found here.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What Minnesota gets in Heise
On the day Natalie Darwitz was announced as Minnesota’s general manager, she said the goal initially was to sign a franchise player. Nobody fits this profile better than Heise.
The 22-year-old center from Lake City, Minnesota, is a dominant offensive player with a nose for the net, a powerful shot and an incredible possession player. You get a lot for your money here because Heise always operates in and around the offense. And perhaps no GM knows that better than Darwitz, who sat on the bench at Minnesota the last two seasons to watch Heise win a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the best player in women’s college hockey and captain of the Gophers. I just think it’s a no-brainer. – Salvian
Larocque is the No. 2 prospect for Toronto
Toronto faces Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight, the best players in the world. Why don’t you want a shutdown pair?
Nobody plays more minutes in more important moments. Larocque was voted by her peers as the game’s most underrated player AND hardest defender in the player poll conducted for The Athletic in April, narrowly beating out Stecklein.
Larocque is very physical and difficult to play against. She is a No. 1 minute-consuming defender who has been with the national team since 2011. She stays under the radar and has added a little more offensive power to her game under Troy Ryan.
Jenni Hiirikoski has played the most games at World Championships. The next best D? It’s Joce at 57. If you add 17 games in three Olympics, that’s 74 games at the highest level in the sport. – Salvian
Boston gets a comprehensive threat in Müller
Müller is one of the best two-way forwards in the world who can distribute the puck and can be relied on in key moments of a game. Mueller – one of Northeastern’s top players – has a dangerous shot and makes the players around her better.
Müller is a first-class center and is considered a generational talent. She is the youngest ice hockey player to win an Olympic medal at age 15, scoring the bronze goal for Switzerland at the 2014 Olympics. She was named best striker at the 2018 Olympics, is a three-time winner of the Cammi Granato Award (Hockey East Player of the Year) and was the Swiss Ice Hockey Woman of the Year in 2019 and 2022. She is 10th all-time in Olympic scoring at age 25.
Elite vision and hockey IQ. She is a natural playmaker. Plays with speed. Can play, score points. She just does everything.
Her Northeastern coach Dave Flint called her the most well-rounded player he has ever coached, and there have been some big names to come through the program, like Kendall Coyne Schofield. – Salvian
Scouting report on Shelton
Shelton is a big, physical defender who can play many different roles. She can be the solid shutdown defender that allows you to take on another team’s top line, or she can be the defender that jumps into the rush and helps create offensive opportunities. Her shot is absolutely bombastic, making her dangerous from the point when she’s on the power play.
Shelton was a little more reserved on Team Canada when it came to getting into the offense (at least compared to players like Ambrose or Harmon), but we’ve seen enough glimpses of her decision-making and big shot to know that it’s in gives the offensive some advantages here. Especially if she is selected as top pair D with PP responsibility and starts Ozone.
She is also a very cheating skater. She has long but very powerful strides, making her one of those players who doesn’t look like she’s running fast until she’s suddenly right on top of you. – Salvian
What Harmon brings to Ottawa’s defense
Harmon is a very skilled defenseman who is extremely good with the puck and is adept with the stick and escaping in tight spaces. There are times when it looks like the forwards are trapping her in the corner, and then she comes out of the scrum with the puck and goes on the attack.
She was like a one-woman breakout because she could break through the forechecks by beating the opposing teams’ F1 through her skating, stickhandling, fakes, etc.
She’s not the tallest player, but her hockey IQ makes up for it. She is very adept at reading plays and adopting proper posture, making her an underrated defensive player. She won’t overwhelm you with her physicality, but she’s such a good defensive stick that she’s always disrupting plays and causing turnovers. – Salvian
Montreal is getting a smart defender in Ambrose
Ambrose is a really smart defender. She’s not the fastest, but she has the ability to always be in the right places or provide the right impulses in the offensive zone. She finds the passing lanes well and makes a great first pass from the zone to the forwards.
I think she is a top pair D caliber who can be your best PP quarterback. – Salvian
One trend is already clear with Ambrose: defenders have a high priority. Harmon plays both sides, but Ambrose is the starting right-handed blue liner – and those will be hard to find as the draft progresses. So selecting a RHD this early will be helpful for a team that has a very good start at the position with their early picks. – Goldman
What O’Neill adds for Montreal
O’Neill was a valuable 4C for the national team. She can kill penalties and play against top competition, but has also shown in college and in the PWHPA that she can play more minutes higher up the lineup. She finished fifth in the PWHPA standings last season with 21 points in 20 games. O’Neill is small (5 feet 7 inches), but that doesn’t stop her from getting into the corners or onto the hard areas of the ice. Last PWHPA season, only Poulin (30) had more inside slot chances than O’Neill (27). – Salvian
The O’Neill pick feels a bit early for a depth center, but Montreal brings in a very strong shutdown option to solidify their shutdown game. O’Neill’s strength is her versatility and ability to operate in high-impact situations. This will be valuable in a best-on-best competition. It’s a move Montreal may consider possible considering they already have the best center in the world in Poulin. – Goldman
Bell brings strong skating skills to Ottawa
Bell is a right back who graduated from college after captaining Minnesota Duluth the past two seasons. Bell was a member of the Canadian teams that won gold medals at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships and the 2022 Olympics before being left off the roster in 2023. However, in her senior year at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Bell was second in team scoring and first among defensemen. Only Jaques and American phenom Caroline Harvey had more points as defensemen in the NCAA last season.
Skating is Bell’s greatest asset. She can move the puck out of the zone, close gaps and create offense. She is a true three-zone player. – Salvian
Bourbonnais will be selected in the second round by New York
Bourbonnais is a young, puck-moving defenseman who could break out on a pro team after spending the last few years out of college in a key role with Team Canada. At Cornell, Bourbonnais was Patty Kazmaier finalist and back-to-back ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. As a senior, she scored 41 points in 33 games. – Salvian
New York is addressing a position it hasn’t yet filled: the right side of the blue line. This reunites Bourbonnais with a former defense partner in Micah Zandee-Hart, who was one of their first signings. This is the third right-handed defenseman not on the field. – Goldman
Why Jaques could be the cornerstone of the Boston franchise
No matter what role or minutes Jaques was tasked with at OSU, she got it done – including making the top pairing in her second season. The defender thrives in all three zones and in every situation, but her offensive performance was the most impressive. Jaques’ 59 points in the 2021-22 season not only led the nation in scoring, but were also the second-most points scored in a single season by a true defenseman in NCAA history. She won the 2022 NCAA Championship and was the winner of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award – only the second defender to win the award, following Angela Ruggiero in 2004. – Salvian
Boston is looking for top-class superstars. Jaques can be a cornerstone of the franchise for years to come. The score is obviously impressive, but she’s also someone who excels beneath the surface. The 22-year-old is great in transition, crushing it in all three zones. It can be used in all situations and is an explosive force from the blue line. – Goldman
The Malta’s versatility is valuable to Toronto
For Team Canada, Maltais plays a strong role in the bottom six, either on the wing or in the middle, and that versatility makes her valuable to any team. While at Ohio State, she upped her game a bit with 206 points in 169 career games and became a two-time Patty Kazmaier finalist. Maltais may only be 5’10” tall, but her relentless drive makes her difficult to push off the puck – someone opponents are reluctant to play against. – Salvian
Minnesota selects the first goalie in the draft
Hensley is the goalie we projected to be the first pick off the board in the draft. She has the ability to be a real backbone for her team and can be counted on to perform above average no matter the pressure – she has proven this at international level at both the Olympics and World Championships. With this addition, Minnesota gives Team USA-Lite feel. – Goldman
Hensley is one of the most experienced American goalkeepers on the board. Her .946 save percentage in 15 games at the World Cup is the best mark for the tournament, and at 29 years old she is still in top form. – Salvian
Backstory
The 2023-24 PWHL season will begin in January 2024 – said Stan Kasten, one of the league’s governors – and will include 24 regular season games; 12 at home and 12 on the road.
However, Kasten said not every home game will take place at a team’s home venue. Some games will be played at neutral sites outside the league’s original six markets in conjunction with the NHL. The PWHL and its players are also expected to appear at NHL events such as the Winter Classic and All-Star Games.
This is the only season in which teams play 24 games. In subsequent years there will be 32 regular season games and the schedule will run from November to May, followed by playoffs. There will also be international season breaks during the IIHF Women’s World Championships and Olympic Games.
According to Kasten, the full schedule will be published in October.
Required reading
(Photo by Taylor Heise: Dennis Pajot / Getty Images)