PWHL announced player declaration process for 2024 draft; free agency date

Credit: Professional Women's Hockey League

Players who want a chance to play in the Professional Women’s Hockey League know when they need to announce their intentions to do so.

On Tuesday, the league announced the timeline for players to declare for the 2024 PWHL Draft will begin on March 1, as online registration will be available through May 8, 2024.

Players that are interested in participating in the 2024-25 season must declare in order to be eligible for the draft, or free agency.

“The draft is the primary gateway to the PWHL and number one source of new talent,” Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, said in a release. “The majority of the league’s founding players were selected in the inaugural PWHL Draft, and we anticipate the level of play will continue to be raised across the league as teams make their picks in June.”

There is no official date for the draft. All that is public knowledge is that the draft will take place in June, and will consist of seven rounds and 42 picks.

Unlike last year, where the draft process was a snake draft (where the team that picks last in one drafts first in the next), the 2024 event will be a traditional draft. I.e. once one round is completed, the next round will be in the same order as the previous.

An intriguing change to this year’s draft is that teams will be allowed to trade draft picks. However, they will not be able to do so until after the playoffs are finished.

Players that are drafted can got unsigned for two years before being eligible to re-enter the draft.

Also, there is a date that free agency opens, as PWHL teams can start signing players on June 21.

90 players were taken across 15 rounds in the inaugural PWHL Draft last September. University of Minnesota star Taylor Heise was selected first overall by Minnesota.