PWHL Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld went into Monday’s trade deadline looking to add scoring and a veteran presence to a team that’s struggled to close out games.
The next challenge: find another GM willing to trade players that fit those categories when there’s no clear seller across the six-team league.
On top of that, PWHL GMs can’t trade draft picks in this first season, nor do they have prospects to deal.
“That makes it more difficult because if you want to fill a hole or a gap that you see on one side of your roster, you’re taking away from a strength that you currently have,” Hirshfeld said on Tuesday.
A trade deadline is uncharted territory in this new league, one of many firsts GMs are navigating in the PWHL’s inaugural season.
WATCH | Recapping the PWHL trade deadline on Hockey North:
Host Rob Pizzo is joined by Saroya Tinker to break down the inaugural PWHL trade deadline, as well as all the action on the ice from week 11.
Players are dealing with the concept of being traded for the first time in their careers.
Hirshfeld and Sauvageau agreed to a trade on Monday, one of only two that happened on a relatively quiet first deadline day across the PWHL.
Here’s how each team looks after the deadline, with a break for the world championship set to begin next week. PWHL games will resume on April 18.
Toronto
Toronto enters the homestretch with a roster that looks almost identical to the one that took the ice on Jan. 1.
Unlike Montreal or Minnesota, Toronto hasn’t dealt with major injuries. The only change has been the addition of Victoria Bach to Toronto’s top nine in February, moving Jess Jones to the reserve list.
With a 10-game win streak in hand, it’s hard to imagine wanting to change anything about Toronto’s roster.
Perhaps the most impressive stat over the streak: Toronto has gone 31 for 31 on the penalty kill.
You can attribute some of that to goalie Kristen Campbell, who has rebounded from a tough start. Or to a Toronto defence that boasts arguably the top D-pairing in the world in Jocelyne Larocque and Renata Fast.
Up front, Toronto boasts a number of great defensive forwards including Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull.
All of that has Toronto looking playoff ready, with one caveat: a number of star players on the roster are heading to New York to compete for a world championship next month. Getting those players back to Toronto healthy will be key.
Minnesota
Minnesota made its big roster move in February, acquiring rookie defender Sophie Jaques to play beside one of the best defenders in the world, Lee Stecklein.
Minnesota GM Natalie Darwitz believed she could unlock the offensive talent Jaques showed at Ohio State University. So far, Jaques has racked up six points in purple and is quarterbacking the team’s power play.
Over the last few weeks, the team has also gotten key players, including Taylor Heise, Liz Schepers and Sydney Brodt, back from injuries.
A big part of sticking at the top of the standings through those injuries has been the play of rookie forward Grace Zumwinkle, who sits second in PWHL goal-scoring (nine) behind Spooner, and a solid goaltending tandem of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney. No team has allowed fewer goals.
Minnesota can end March undefeated with a win over Montreal on Sunday.
Montreal
Montreal has lost its last three games, including two to league-leading Toronto.
The slide has come as the team has dealt with several injuries. Most notably, captain Marie-Philip Poulin has missed the last two games.
But Montreal enters the last game before the international break, a key match-up against second-place Minnesota, with more depth on the blue line.
Montreal acquired Amanda Boulier from Ottawa on Monday. She’s a right-shooting defender who can replace Dominika Lásková, who’s on long-term injured reserve.
Defenders are at a premium across the league and Montreal had to give up a piece of its top six in Tereza Vanišová to get one. But that’s an area of strength for Montreal, which has more forward depth in its reserve pool, including Mikyla Grant-Mentis (who’s on a 10-day contract) and Mélodie Daoust, than most other teams.
Despite the last three games, Montreal still boasts the best player in the world in Poulin, arguably the best goaltender in Ann-Renée Desbiens, and one of the best power-play quarterbacks on its blue line.
That’s a combination no team wants to face in the playoffs.
Boston
Boston has a lot of great pieces on its roster, but it hasn’t quite come together as predicted.
No team has scored fewer goals than Boston this season. Captain Hilary Knight has had a slow start offensively, though she did find the net both in regulation and the shootout in a win over Ottawa on Saturday. Loren Gabel and Alina Müller both had strong starts, but have one goal combined since the beginning of February.
Lucky for Boston, goaltender Aerin Frankel has been solid.
“She’s kept us in games we don’t necessarily belong [in] at some points in the season,” Knight said on the broadcast after Saturday’s win.
GM Danielle Marmer made two trades this season, as she looks for that offensive jolt: Susanna Tapani, who was acquired from Minnesota in February, and Lexie Adzija, who came over in a trade from Ottawa on Monday.
Marmer might have the inside track on Adzija’s potential. The forward started playing at Quinnipiac University the year after Marmer graduated.
If Boston wants to hang on to the final playoff spot, winning games in regulation will be key. Boston hasn’t won three points since Feb. 25.
You can watch coverage of Boston’s game against New York on Monday at 7 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Ottawa
In Vanišová and Shiann Darkangelo, who was acquired from Boston on Monday, Hirshfeld hopes he’s found players who can help his team close out games.
Vanišová is a player head coach Carla MacLeod, who also coaches the Czech national team, knows well.
“I think her speed and skating will help us in some of the three-on-three situations that we’ve struggled with in overtime,” Hirshfeld said.
Darkangelo had only one point in 17 games in Boston, fewer points than the player going the other way, Adzija, contributed. But Hirshfeld is banking on Darkangelo having more to give, pointing to the numbers she put up as captain of the league-champion Toronto Six in the Premier Hockey Federation last season.
“She’s smart, she’s hard working, she does all the little things really well,” he said.
New York
New York enters the homestretch of the season five points behind Boston for the last playoff spot. They’ve lost their last six games. More troubling is that the team has only won twice in regulation over 17 games.
“I think we’re trying to all come together and find ways to win,” Giguère said after a loss to Boston earlier this month. “For us, we’ve got to get points because we’re fighting for that playoff spot.”
New York has two games remaining before the international break, one against Ottawa and another against Boston. Losing those games would be a huge blow to New York’s playoff hopes.
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