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2024 PWHL Offseason

B

BowWowWow

Member
PWHL free agency opened this morning at 8:00 ET, per Hailey Salvian of The Athletic.

Before that, the main changes in the offseason have been the letting go of Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota GM) by the league, as well as the hiring by NY of Greg Fargo as the new NY head coach (replacing Howie Draper, who returned to Univ of Alberta).

Here is one of the trackers of who is signed where, from The Victory Press.

Minimum salaries and league-mandated team average salaries are going up by 3% this year, to account for inflation, and for the first time there is a salary structure based on what round players who were drafted this year were drafted.
 
Do you think there is a fairness issue or conflict of interest with the team Canada coach and gm running Toronto PWHL?

or does every team have the opportunity to differentiate itself in its own way and this happens to be how TO is doing it?
 
Lindsay said:
Do you think there is a fairness issue or conflict of interest with the team Canada coach and gm running Toronto PWHL?

or does every team have the opportunity to differentiate itself in its own way and this happens to be how TO is doing it?
Click to expand...

Definitely. Expansion should help curb that tho. You see it in the college game as well.
 
Lindsay said:
Do you think there is a fairness issue or conflict of interest with the team Canada coach and gm running Toronto PWHL?

or does every team have the opportunity to differentiate itself in its own way and this happens to be how TO is doing it?
Click to expand...

I think that yes, it is a conflict of interest. Players on other teams must be wondering if they're impressing Troy Ryan and Gina Kingsbury. Toronto players, however, have the chance to work with them more closely. I expect this issue applies more to players on the national bubble than those like MPP and Laura Stacey who are definitely on the national team - regardless of not playing for Toronto. On the plus side, Toronto having a lot of Canadians generally is a bit like Minnesota having a lot of Minnesotans, which sounds fair enough.

On a bit of a different topic, Hockey Canada's recent strategies for picking players for the national team are arguably fairer than what USA is doing, in some ways. All the professional players they are picking can be paid for their national-team training and their play. (Maybe players who've finished their NCAA eligibility but are still in college are paid too?). Still not sure what to think about USA picking young collegians who aren't paid.
 
USA Hockey is burning out the college player. USA Hockeye is mentally and physically putting young athletes in danger. Why? I would tell my daughter DO NOT play for USA hockey. Wait and go to the PWHL as USA hockey will only use you.
 
BowWowWow said:
I think that yes, it is a conflict of interest. Players on other teams must be wondering if they're impressing Troy Ryan and Gina Kingsbury. Toronto players, however, have the chance to work with them more closely. I expect this issue applies more to players on the national bubble than those like MPP and Laura Stacey who are definitely on the national team - regardless of not playing for Toronto. On the plus side, Toronto having a lot of Canadians generally is a bit like Minnesota having a lot of Minnesotans, which sounds fair enough.

On a bit of a different topic, Hockey Canada's recent strategies for picking players for the national team are arguably fairer than what USA is doing, in some ways. All the professional players they are picking can be paid for their national-team training and their play. (Maybe players who've finished their NCAA eligibility but are still in college are paid too?). Still not sure what to think about USA picking young collegians who aren't paid.
Click to expand...

Right. I think if you’re the other teams’ management it has to be frustrating. There is also a question of if there will become a preferred USA Hockey pro team. Like should USA Hockey be angling to get Wrobo coaching one of these teams. Expansion and salary transparency can’t come soon enough.

mostly I just don’t want one franchise to be drastically less desirable for free agents than the rest. I know that exists in any league but for a small league it can have an bigger impact.
 
Between firing Darwitz and drafting Curl (especially instead of Boreen) my interest in PWHL (which was already low, pro sports don't really do it for me) has hit zero. But good luck to the players, I guess.
 
StPaulSam said:
Between firing Darwitz and drafting Curl (especially instead of Boreen) my interest in PWHL (which was already low, pro sports don't really do it for me) has hit zero. But good luck to the players, I guess.
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I think you are in the minority of wanting Boreen over Curl.
 
I hadn't really thought about it until the Colgate coach left but I think the h/c from the reining national champions will someday get a look at being the h/c in this league. Talk about a great platform to promote the game and coach the best of the best. She's probably the 2nd most qualified in the college ranks. I think Mark Johnson is more qualified but with his age I doubt he would ever entertain that move.
 
Timothy A said:
I hadn't really thought about it until the Colgate coach left but I think the h/c from the reining national champions will someday get a look at being the h/c in this league. Talk about a great platform to promote the game and coach the best of the best. She's probably the 2nd most qualified in the college ranks. I think Mark Johnson is more qualified but with his age I doubt he would ever entertain that move.
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Why? She's a Goddess in Columbus. She'd be a 1" column on page 4 in the PWHL local paper.
 
joecct said:
Why? She's a Goddess in Columbus. She'd be a 1" column on page 4 in the PWHL local paper.
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Because she's playing 4th fiddle to every men's sport along with vb and wbb, and she's getting the run around on a new rink. She'd have a way bigger impact on the sport at the top level.
 
One of the major issues the PWHL needs to resolve sooner than later is how to properly compensate their players. Under their Collective Bargaining Agreement only the top 3 players on each team which were chosen before the year 1 draft make any real money or have multi-year security. Others make a subsistence wage all be it with very good women oriented benefits. The CBA runs until 2031. This is especially punitive for each new draft class of players that come in as the big money was used up on those 18 players in year 1. It would seem to me that authorizing something like a the NCAA NIL program to give the newer players additional income until such time as they can negotiate what they are actually worth with their teams after 2031 might be worth considering before other leagues start poaching them away with higher salaries... Let each player negotiate her separate advertising deal like pro golfers do with their own logos on their uniforms along with the team's own sponsor's logos. Thoughts?
 
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Timothy A said:
I hadn't really thought about it until the Colgate coach left but I think the h/c from the reining national champions will someday get a look at being the h/c in this league. Talk about a great platform to promote the game and coach the best of the best. She's probably the 2nd most qualified in the college ranks. I think Mark Johnson is more qualified but with his age I doubt he would ever entertain that move.
Click to expand...

She would be crazy to consider coaching in the PWHL. There's no transfer portal! LMAO!
 
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It will be interesting to see how much turnover occurs once training camps start. Since there is no minor/development league to bring players up do they all just get new third and fourth line players out of each year's draft? It still is a bit puzzling to me how things can continue with only basically one owner who controls each team's GM. Doesn't feel legit under that arrangement.
 
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