Unlike other ice hockey players, Daryl Watts from Ontario has to give up a record contract with the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. A situation with which she has made peace.
• Also read: Women’s hockey: These athletes’ lives are about to change
• Also read: LPHF: Montreal selects Erin Ambrose in the first round
• Also read: The head coach of the Montreal women’s hockey team will learn French
Watts had signed a contract that would pay him $150,000, or just over $200,000 CAD, this season in Toronto in the Premier Hockey Federation. However, it was bought out and merged with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association to form the LPHF. Watts’ deal was therefore canceled.
“When I talked to my family about it, I was initially disappointed to lose so much money,” the 24-year-old center admitted during a video conference on Wednesday. But it was selfish of me. The new track is a good thing for women’s hockey. It will take the sport to a new level. In 10 years this league will have more money than the PHF. »
With McDavid and Bedard
Watts was selected in the sixth round of Ottawa’s historic LPHF draft on Monday.
This circle, run by co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team Mark Walter and the company of tennis legend Billie Jean King, offers an average annual salary of $55,000 (DAS $74,000). A maximum of nine players per team will receive the minimum income of US$35,000 (C$47,000), while six athletes must collect at least US$80,000 (C$107,000).
“If I think I’m going to be competing in a league with the best players in the world, that’s priceless,” said Watts, who has never represented Canada at the Olympics.
“Certainly I think of the former PHF players who had purchased houses in different cities, but ultimately what we are experiencing today is in the best interest of women’s hockey,” said the person who trained with Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard in Summer.
▶ The Professional Women’s Hockey League does not disclose the salaries of its players.