PWHL Vancouver adds trio of top free agents during signing window

PWHL Vancouver has made a splash successful escaped agency, signing 3 of the apical forwards disposable connected the market.

North Vancouver native Hannah Miller (three years), two-time Walter Cup champion Michela Cava (two years) and the Ottawa Charge's Tereza Vanišová (two years) each signed deals with the enlargement squad successful the archetypal 24 hours of escaped agency.

After an enlargement process that saw Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey absorption connected gathering the squad from the nett out, the 3 signings springiness Vancouver discourtesy and much two-way quality up top. Vancouver looks similar 1 of the champion teams successful the league adjacent season, astatine slightest connected paper.

Miller volition beryllium reunited with erstwhile Toronto Sceptres teammate Sarah Nurse in Vancouver. She racked up 24 points successful 29 games with Toronto before a late-season wounded seemed to dilatory her scoring gait a bit.

Miller is simply a defensively-responsible guardant who tin play anyplace successful the lineup, from the powerfulness play to the punishment kill. Only Toronto teammate Renata Fast had much powerfulness play assists past play than Miller.

"Hannah is an elite guardant who tin enactment up points and deterioration down opponents," Gardner Morey said.

The declaration brings Miller backmost location to British Columbia aft stops successful China, Europe and Toronto.

"It means truthful overmuch to maine to correspond the metropolis wherever I archetypal fell successful emotion with the game," Miller said. "It's a existent full-circle moment, and I can't hold to conscionable each the fans and get started."

A proven winner

Cava spent the past 2 seasons connected the Minnesota Frost's apical enactment alongside Kendall Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise.

Remarkably, Cava has won 5 consecutive titles successful 4 antithetic leagues. In summation to back-to-back Walter Cups with Minnesota, she won championships with the Premier Hockey Federation's Toronto Six successful 2023, the KRS Vanke Rays successful Russia's ZhHL successful 2022 and Luleå successful the Swedish Women's Hockey League successful 2021.

Now, the 31-year-old from Thunder Bay volition effort to triumph with a caller squad connected the westbound coast, without Heise connected her line.

"Michela has tremendous vision, and her elite playmaking volition assistance our offense," Gardner Morey said.

Vanišová tied Boston's Hilary Knight with 15 goals successful 30 regular-season games, trailing lone Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin. 

Beyond her accomplishment with the puck, Vanišová is hard to play against. That helped substance Ottawa to a playoff spot, adjacent if she was undisciplined astatine times. Vanišová led the league successful regular-season punishment minutes. 

In Vancouver, Vanišová could slot successful connected the apical enactment beside Sarah Nurse oregon play connected a gritty 2nd line.

In the enlargement draft, Gardner Morey, alongside caput scout Kathy Pippy and wage headdress adept Alex Gimenez, selected young, two-way forwards with an violative touch.

They targeted 2024 draught picks who outperformed expectations past season, including Toronto's Izzy Daniel and Minnesota's Brooke McQuigge, and who were apt connected smaller contracts.

That near wage headdress abstraction to people top-six forwards successful escaped agency. Going into the signing window, Gardner Morey wanted to adhd 2 much top-six forwards. So far, she's done that and more.

Toronto re-signs Spooner, Compher for 2 years

Elsewhere successful the league, the Toronto Sceptres re-signed 2024 MVP Natalie Spooner and guardant Jesse Compher to two-year deals.

Spooner missed a chunk of past play arsenic she recovered from genu surgery, and inactive seemed to beryllium getting up to velocity done the 2nd fractional of the season.

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When she's healthy, Spooner is 1 of the champion powerfulness forwards successful the league and a unit to beryllium reckoned with successful beforehand of the net. In 2024, Spooner topped the PWHL with 27 points successful 24 games, including 20 goals. In summation to MVP, she was voted Forward of the Year.

"Natalie has been an important portion to our puzzle successful Toronto," Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury said. 

"She is simply a cardinal subordinate of our enactment some connected and disconnected the ice. She is simply a world-class jock that has shown conscionable however impactful she tin beryllium successful this league. With her determination and enactment ethic, we cognize Natalie volition travel backmost successful play three ready to assistance our squad beryllium successful."

Compher recovered her stride successful her 2nd nonrecreational season. The 25-year-old earned a spot connected Toronto's red-hot powerfulness play, wherever she produced 3 of her goals past season. She finished with 18 points successful 30 games.

Toronto besides signed one-year deals with guardant Claire Dalton and goaltender Elaine Chuli, who some played for the Montreal Victoire past season.

Adding Chuli suggests Toronto mightiness privation to spell guardant with a tandem of Chuli and Raygan Kirk. But that volition necessitate uncovering a trading spouse for Kristen Campbell, who has 1 play near with the Sceptres, and who struggled passim past season.

"Elaine brings consistency to our team," Kingsbury said. "A proven goalie successful the league, she brings a batch of traits we worth some connected and disconnected the ice. We are besides excited to person signed Claire Dalton, who brings size, a large changeable and a precocious ceiling."

Meanwhile, the Montreal Victoire re-signed its apical defender connected the market. Kati Tabin spent astir of past play beside Erin Ambrose, and bringing her backmost was important aft Montreal mislaid 2 apical defenders to expansion.

"Kati is an invaluable portion of our team, some connected the crystal and successful the locker room," Victoire GM Danièle Sauvageau said.

"Over the past 2 seasons, we've seen tremendous maturation successful her game, and she continues to elevate her play each year. Her quality to lend astatine some ends of the rink makes her a cardinal portion of our lineup, and we're thrilled to person her back."

More volition beryllium coming for Montreal connected the bluish line. Only 3 defenders are officially signed for adjacent season: Tabin, Ambrose and Amanda Boulier.

The Victoire besides signed guardant Shiann Darkangelo from the Ottawa Charge, which volition springiness the squad immoderate of the centre extent it was missing past season. Darkangelo had a breakout twelvemonth offensively, scoring 17 points successful 29 games. She has signed with Montreal for 2 seasons.

The Boston Fleet besides announced a one-year declaration hold for its third-leading scorer past season, Susanna Tapani, connected Tuesday. Bringing Tapani backmost to Boston was a precedence for the Fleet, especially after the squad mislaid some Hannah Bilka and Hilary Knight to Seattle successful expansion.

"Susanna is simply a highly productive, two-way centre who consistently impacts each clip she touches the ice," Boston GM Danielle Marmer said. "Her speed, quality to posses, and decorativeness acceptable her isolated arsenic being 1 of the champion players successful this league."

The PWHL's escaped cause signing model is unfastened until June 27 astatine 2 p.m. ET. It volition reopen again connected July 8 astatine 9 a.m. ET.

The league's introduction draught is acceptable for June 24 successful Ottawa.