ST. PAUL, Minn. — New York selected Canadian forward Sarah Fillier with the No. 1 pick in the PWHL Draft on Monday night.
Fillier, 24, is widely considered to be the best player in the class of 2024 and was the No. 1 prospect on both editions ofThe Athletic’sPWHL draft ranking. She has already helped Canada win three world championships — and was named MVP of the tournament in 2023 — and an Olympic gold medal.
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Fillier broke out in her freshman year at Princeton in 2018-19 when she led the NCAA with just under two points per game (1.97) as a teenager. At the 2021 World Championships in Calgary, she announced herself as the future of women’s hockey in Canada with her combination of speed, skill and poise with the puck.
Glad your birthday wish came true, Sarah Fillier! 🎂
Welcome to @PWHL_NewYork! pic.twitter.com/qLVJ6pAYZG
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) June 10, 2024
“She’s a once-in-a-decade type player,” said Princeton coach Cara Morey after Fillier made her international debut. “She is a special talent.”
At Princeton, Fillier scored 93 goals and 194 points in 120 games, the third-highest point-per-game rate among players who played in the NCAA over the last six years. She won the 2019 national rookie of the year and was a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award given to the best player in women’s college hockey.
Fillier is an elite skater, which will make New York’s attack more dangerous in transition and in the offensive zone with speed. She’s developed her shot, scoring a career-high 30 goals at Princeton last year, and reads plays at an advanced level to get open or make plays for her teammates.
She is a natural center but also spent parts of last season on the wing in an attempt to be more versatile. At the world championships, Fillier played on the wing with captain Marie-Philip Poulin up the middle. In New York, Fillier could realistically drive her line in the top six — giving the team a 1-2 punch with Alex Carpenter up the middle — or could pair well with Carpenter on a loaded-up top line. The thought of Carpenter and Fillier setting up each other in the slot should be exciting for the New York front office, and a real threat to opponents next season.
Carpenter, 30, contributed to 43 percent of New York’s goals last season and outscored her next-closest forward by nine points. Fillier will inject more offense into the top of New York’s lineup than it had last year when the team scored the second-fewest goals (53) in the league.
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No. 2 pick: Danielle Serdachny to Ottawa
In Serdachny, Ottawa is getting a player with pro size (she’s 5-foot-9) who can play a physical game but also has a lot of finesse around the net and an excellent scoring touch. She has a big shot to score on her own and can make plays for her linemates. Serdachny is hard to push off pucks, which makes her effective when driving the net and effective on the cycle. That toolkit is expected to make her someone who could make an impact immediately in the (very physical) PWHL.
Serdachny scored more than 50 points in three-straight seasons at Colgate — including an NCAA-leading 71-point season in 2022-23 — and broke the program records in points (239), goals (82), and assists (157). She’s a two-time ECAC player of the year and was a runner up for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in women’s college hockey, in 2023.
Ottawa’s top line of Brianne Jenner, Daryl Watts and Kateřina Mrázová was one of the best in the league in the last several weeks of the season. And if the team can re-sign Watts and Mrázová, Serdachny could give Ottawa a real 1-2 punch as a second-line center with the excellent two-way Emily Clark, Gabbie Hughes and Hayley Scamurra line rounding out the top-nine. Serdachny would also be excellent on the top line, should the top of the lineup shuffle a bit in the offseason.
No. 3 pick: Claire Thompson to Minnesota
Minnesota made a bit of a surprise pick, selecting Claire Thompson third overall. Thompson was the top-rated defender in The Athletic’s prospect ranking and the No. 4 player on the list so it shouldn’t be that surprising she went No. 3.
At her best, Thompson is an offensive threat with good size and can play a physical game, making her difficult to handle on both sides of the puck. She would provide speed and a dynamic ability to any team’s blue line. Thompson’s instincts on the ice are what set her apart — she can make plays on the offensive blue line that others might not even attempt. But she also has the speed and defensive ability to get back if the play goes the other way.
“Claire thinks of the game like no one else,” said Fillier, her former Princeton teammate. “She just plays four steps ahead of everyone and you might think plays look risky or what she’s doing is reckless, but it’s actually super calculated. And she rarely makes mistakes.”
GO DEEPERWhy PWHL prospect Claire Thompson is putting medical school on hold to return to hockeyNo. 4 pick: Hannah Bilka to Boston
Boston scored the fewest goals in the PWHL this season and adds some legit speed and dynamic ability to the forward group in Hannah Bilka. She is highly creative and slippery with the puck and has game-breaking speed. Bilka played four years at Boston College before transferring to Ohio State for her final year of eligibility and winning a national championship with the Buckeyes. She projects to be a top-line winger in the PWHL.
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No. 5 pick: Cayla Barnes to Montreal
Montreal’s biggest need heading into the draft was someone to help Erin Ambrose out on the blue line in a meaningful way. With Thompson — Ambrose’s defense partner on Team Canada — off the board, Cayla Barnes was the best player available and the No. 2 defender on The Athletic’s board.
Barnes is a small but talented defender who led the NCAA in goal differential at plus-71 this season. Barnes has been a staple of the U.S. national team since making the 2018 Olympic team as a teenager. And after transferring from Boston College, where she was the Eagles’ captain, to OSU, she helped lead the Buckeyes to a national title.
She is an excellent transitional defender who has great vision of the ice and the ability to make quick, easy passes out of the defensive zone. She can also get out in transition and make plays off the rush herself. While Barnes lacks size — she’s 5-foot-1 — she’s strong on her feet and should be up to the increased physical challenge of the PWHL, just as she has been at the international level.
No. 6: Julia Gosling to Toronto
It should be no surprise that Toronto — led by Canada GM Gina Kingsbury and coach Troy Ryan — went for a Canadian national team player with Julia Gosling. She declared for the PWHL Draft after just four seasons at St. Lawrence. She finished her career with 60 goals and 128 points in 111 games, hitting the 20-goal mark in back-to-back campaigns. She’s a natural center who played the wing for Canada in a depth role at world championships.
Gosling has desirable size and can play with a real power to her game. She can protect pucks from the reach of opposing players when she’s driving to the inside and has a good shot that can beat goalies from mid-distance.
With Natalie Spooner out long-term after offseason surgery, there’s real need at forward, and while nobody can replace Spooner — the likely MVP of the inaugural season — having a young power forward in Gosling should help to fill a hole at the top of the lineup in Toronto.
(Photo: Dennis Pajot / Getty Images)
Hailey Salvian is a staff writer for The Athletic covering women’s hockey and the NHL. Previously, she covered the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators and served as a general assignment reporter. Hailey has also worked for CBC News in Toronto and Saskatchewan. Follow Hailey on Twitter @hailey_salvian
