2024 PWHL Draft: Best picks and biggest surprises from Sarah Fillier to Amanda Kessel (2024)

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The 2024 PWHL Draft had it all: surprise picks, a trade, the home team getting booed, and three-time Olympian Amanda Kessel being drafted by Montreal in the final round.

Sarah Fillier, as expected, went No. 1 to New York. Boston made a surprise trade to move up in the second round — up to seventh from 10th — to draft Czechia defender Daniela Pejšová. And Minnesota swung relatively high for versatile forward/defender Klára Hymlárová, squandering the ability to draft Abby Boreen — who played 14 games for the team — in the process.

Minnesota was booed at times when making their picks. It was only three days ago that the PWHL officially announced it was parting ways with GM Natalie Darwitz and that head coach Ken Klee and his staff would be tasked with making the draft picks.

Some players fell, like 2024 Patty Kazmaier Award winner Izzy Daniel to Round 3, or Yale forward Elle Hartje to Round 5. None dropped more than Kessel, a highly decorated player, who was a pleasant surprise on the league’s draft declaration list.

In all, 42 players were drafted over seven rounds on Monday night. Each team should have meaningful competition at training camp for roster spots and be deeper up and down the lineup for next season.

Plenty of players were left off the board, too — like goalie Klára Peslarová, Canadian university defender Rylind MacKinnon and German forward Laura Kluge — but free agency will open on June 21 with players able to sign or try out for teams when training camps open.

For now, though, there’s lots to unpack from the draft. Let’s get into it.

New York

New York put together my favorite draft of the day and it wasn’t all that close. We knew New York’s class of players this year would be good by virtue of them having the No. 1 pick and a shot at drafting Fillier. Then GM Pascal Daoust made a savvy trade, sending picks No. 7 and 37 to Boston in exchange for picks 10, 16 and 28. With those selections, Daoust added two defenders in Maja Nylén Persson — the SDHL’s defender of the year for three straight seasons — Allyson Simpson and goalie Kayle Osborne, who played for new coach Greg Fargo at Colgate. Add in forwards Noora Tulus, Gabby Rosenthal and Hartje, and New York made seven meaningful additions to the roster in the first five rounds.

Concordia’s Emmy Fecteau — a 2024 U Sports champion and one of the best Canadian university hockey players the last three years — was a nice final pick and continues the strong French Canadian-New York ties Daoust began in Year 1.

Best pick: Elle Hartje (Round 5)

I was tempted to play it straight and go Fillier here, but I’ve written a lot about how great she is over the last few weeks and I did really like the Hartje pick. Heading into the draft, Hartje seemed like a player who could fall a bit due to her size (5-foot-5) and the preference organizations seem to place on WCHA teams. Even within the ECAC, Yale isn’t always top of mind. But Hartje was one of the top-scoring forwards in the NCAA over the last three seasons (143 points in 101 games) and is a highly intelligent player. She rarely makes the wrong play, has great hands and, despite her size, has shown a willingness to get to the net front or battle for pucks. Daoust did well to take advantage of Hartje’s drop and that she was still available in the fifth round was a pleasant surprise for the GM.

Biggest surprise: The second-round trade

That a trade happened so early and resulted in three top-20 picks changing hands was quite unexpected, even though we knew trades were a possibility at this year’s draft. Boston GM Danielle Marmer said the framework of a deal was created earlier on Monday but was contingent on whether a specific player was available to Daoust at No. 7. When that player was not available — we do not know who it was — Daoust gave Marmer the thumbs up.

Ottawa

Ottawa went into the draft with a couple priorities: Getting a bit tougher and grittier, GM Mike Hirshfeld said, and adding some size to the lineup. They checked those boxes early with Danielle Serdachny (5-foot-9) and Ronja Savolainen (5-foot-10) up front and on the blue line. Ottawa only drafted one player — Anna Meixner — listed under 5-foot-7. Meixner is certainly on the smaller side at 5-foot-3, but considering where she was taken (Round 6), I thought it was a solid low-risk pick. She’s a really crafty, skilled player and could be worth the gamble if her size and style of play translate to the PWHL.

Best pick: Gwyneth Philips (Round 3)

Figuring out where goalies might get drafted was one of the bigger questions heading into the draft, but there was no real debate that Philips was the best of the bunch. She finished her NCAA career at Northeastern with all-time records in career save percentage (.958) and goals-against average (.96).

Ottawa selected her higher than most thought a goalie might go, but Hirshfeld said after the draft that Philips could develop into one of the best goalies in the league. That seems worth the third-rounder.

No goalie played more in the PWHL last season than Emerance Maschmeyer did for Ottawa with 23 games and over 1,332 minutes. Philips will give the team a solid No. 2 option to round out the goalie depth chart. Ottawa’s backup last year, Sandra Abstreiter, has been offered an extension, Hirshfeld said, and is considering.

Biggest surprise: Madeline Wethington (Round 7)

I did not have Wethington as a seventh-round pick in any of my projections. She was a minutes-eating top-pair defender at the University of Minnesota and played around 27 per night — including more than 60 in a thrilling 4OT loss to Clarkson in the NCAA tournament. She has size (5-foot-10) and is a solid two-way defender. That she was available at No. 38 was a little surprising, but a nice pick by Ottawa.

Minnesota

Minnesota didn’t have a great draft night. Claire Thompson at No. 3 was a bit surprising considering how many local — or American — players were featured on the team last season and that they already have two elite defenders in Lee Stecklein and Sophie Jaques.

After that, Minnesota made four straight forward selections, including Wisconsin captain and Team USA forward Britta Curl. Some fans criticized the pick online, citing Curl’s social media activity — specifically posts she has “liked” on X in the past. Klee, when asked about Minnesota’s decision, said the team did its homework and drafted the best player available.

I genuinely like the fit with Brooke McQuigge — a player opponents hate to play against — and Dominique Petrie, who could be a solid power forward in the PWHL. But the timing of some picks, like McQuigge and Hymlárová, felt a bit high to me. Overall, though, Minnesota got better and harder to play against with some of the picks they made.

Best pick: Claire Thompson (Round 1)

I didn’t really love any of Minnesota’s picks, so I’m going with Thompson here. At her best, Thompson is a dynamic, offensive threat with good size who can play a physical game. She makes calculated risks in the offensive zone but has the defensive ability to ensure any mistakes don’t end up in the back of the net. She broke the record for points by a defender at the 2022 Olympics (13) and will give Minnesota another scoring threat from the blue line. The idea of a Thompson-Jaques pairing is scary, and with Stecklein and Natalie Buchbinder getting shutdown minutes, Minnesota’s top four will be tough to handle on both sides of the puck.

Biggest surprise: Klára Hymlárová (Round 3), a.k.a. not drafting Abby Boreen

Boreen needed to enter the draft to play full-time next season after being on Minnesota’s reserve list last year. Instead of grabbing Boreen — who they know worked well on the top line with Taylor Heise — Minnesota reached a bit on Hymlárová. Don’t get me wrong, Hymlárová is versatile and can play the wing, center or defense. She’s got a good shot and plays a well-rounded game. But Boreen — who Klee said was 100 percent in their draft plan, just evidently not in the third round — is the better player and had already proven to be impactful in the PWHL. Minnesota made a gamble on this one and lost the player.

Boston

Boston might have had a sneaky good draft night. Hannah Bilka is one of the most smooth and creative forwards in the game right now and should help improve Boston’s offense, which was last in the PWHL with only 50 goals. Pejšová, 21, fills a need for a young, puck-moving defender to help the team improve in transition. The trade with New York meant we didn’t see Boston on the clock for large portions of the middle rounds, but Marmer said the team felt it only needed a few quality pieces to round out the group at the top of the draft and felt good about the depth of talent already in Boston. Marmer took a few swings late in the draft for high-reward players, if they pan out, which will make this a fun draft class to watch over the course of the season.

Best pick: Hadley Hartmetz (Round 7)

Hartmetz was injured in the NCAA championship game and was expected to fall due to her recovery timeline, but that she was available in the final round was surprising to Marmer. Hartmetz is a really smart puck-moving defender who was arguably the second-best defender on the Buckeyes last year behind Cayla Barnes, who was drafted at No. 5. This could prove to be a great pick when Hartmetz is healthy.

Biggest surprise: Ilona Markova (Round 7)

Markova was a major wild card heading into the draft. She has obvious talent when you watch her play and has upside, given she’s only 22 years old. But Russia hasn’t played in IIHF competition since 2019, so she wasn’t on many people’s radars, especially if they haven’t been tuning into women’s hockey outside of international competition. Markova was on our draft board, but lower than her skill set would suggest given questions around immigration. Marmer said the immigration process has already begun and believes Boston got a real sleeper pick in Markova.

Montreal

Montreal had the most fun — maybe even chaotic — draft night. First, they stole Boreen from Minnesota. Then they grabbed Dara Greig, who many fans in Ottawa were hoping for given her brother, Ridly, plays for the Senators. Then Montreal took Kessel with their final pick. In between all that, GM Danièle Sauvageau added one of the best defenders in the draft (Barnes), legitimate top-nine forward talent (Jennifer Gardiner, Boreen and Greig) and a mix of college graduates and experienced players (30-year-old Swedish captain Anna Kjellbin).

Best pick: Dara Greig (Round 4)

Outside of getting help for Erin Ambrose on the blue line — which they did by drafting Barnes — Montreal’s next task was beefing up their secondary scoring and potentially finding a consistent linemate for Marie-Philip Poulin. Enter Dara Greig. She’s a talented, well-rounded forward who was a point-per-game player for three straight years at Colgate.

Greig’s skill set — good hands, shot and ability to play at the net — makes her either an excellent middle-six scoring option or a complementary winger for a skilled offensive center. Greig mostly played with Serdachny at Colgate last season and tied her career high with 42 points. Add in her mix of sandpaper and this should be a win for Montreal.

Biggest surprise: Amanda Kessel (Round 7)

I think I audibly gasped at the Boreen and Kessel picks, and maybe Boreen is the spicier option, given she just won a championship with Minnesota. But Kessel was shocking because we all assumed at one point in the night that she just wasn’t going to get drafted and that she would maybe sign as a free agent in whatever city she wanted. And then Montreal took her.

It’s the second year in a row the team has taken a flier with its final pick. Last year, Montreal chose Swedish forward Lina Ljungblom with the last pick of the draft. She went on to win MVP of the 2023-24 SDHL season and signed a three-year contract with Montreal on Monday afternoon. Could the Kessel pick work out as well? Who knows at this point, but it certainly was surprising.

Toronto

The No. 1 team in the regular season looks like it got better through the draft with a power forward in Julia Gosling, another physical shutdown defender in Megan Carter and one the best playmaking wingers in the draft. And that’s just Toronto’s first three picks. GM Gina Kingsbury spent the later rounds adding organizational depth with Lauren Bernard on defense and well-rounded, hardworking wingers in Noemi Neubauerová and Anneke Linser. Raygan Kirk, who pitched a shutout in the NCAA championship game for Ohio State, rounded out the draft class nicely and will give Toronto a solid backup behind Kristen Campbell. Some of the picks don’t pop as much as other teams’, but Toronto checked a lot of boxes.

Best pick: Izzy Daniel (Round 3)

Daniel at No. 18 is one of my favorite picks of the whole night. Scott Wheeler and I graded her as a top-10 talent with perhaps the best hands in the draft. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award after an excellent final year at Cornell and led all college grads in points per game (1.74). With Natalie Spooner out after offseason surgery — though Spooner said her goal is to be back in time for the season — Toronto is going to need more offensive contributions from elsewhere and should get it from Daniel in the top nine.

Biggest surprise: Anneke Linser (Round 6)

Linser seemed surprised when she got drafted and also genuinely excited and appreciative of Toronto making the pick. Admittedly she should have been more on our radar — and on our draft board — with how well she played in the SDHL last season. Her 31 points led Djurgården in scoring and was 17th in the league. She has size (5-foot-10), is a right shot and plays the kind of hardworking, gritty game that will fit Toronto’s identity well. GM Gina Kingsbury called Linser an underdog who is just scratching the surface of what she can do.

(Photo of Ilana Kloss, Sarah Fillier and Billie Jean King courtesy of the PWHL)