What happens to a player when they are traded in the PWHL?

With the PWHL Trade Deadline on March 13 at 2 p.m. ET, teams are looking to improve their lineups, and players anticipate whether they or their teammates will be on the move.

We’ve seen how trade deadlines with the NHL and other professional sports leagues can be an exciting time for fans, filling them with hope for their favorite squad’s playoff run, or optimism for the long-term future.

But what about the players? In a league with only six teams and an extremely short history, there’s very little precedent for what players should expect when they get the news that they’re being dealt. Who makes the phone call? Can I pack my stuff? Can I say goodbye?

Daily Faceoff reached out to several teams in hopes of speaking with players who had gone through the process of being traded and hearing what their experiences were like.

Step 1: The phone call

Hayley Scamurra and her Ottawa Charge teammates were enjoying a meal in Toronto the night before their Dec. 31 game against the Sceptres when she noticed she missed a few calls from General Manager Mike Hirshfeld. Perhaps half-jokingly, one of her teammates said maybe she was traded.

“That’s when my stomach dropped,” Scamurra said.

The American forward called Hirshfeld back, and he confirmed the news, telling Scamurra that her and Savannah Harmon were dealt to the Sceptres for Jocelyne Larocque and Victoria Bach, arguably the largest trade in the PWHL’s short history.

“I had no inclination anything was going to happen, so it was a complete surprise,” she said. “I barely said words.”

Sophie Jaques was the most recent Patty Kazmaier Award winner and just won an NCAA National Championship with the Ohio State Buckeyes, joining the Boston Fleet as a second-round pick and expected to be a franchise cornerstone. But in the midst of an international break, Boston General Manager Danielle Marmer called Jaques to inform her she was part of the first trade in PWHL history, going to the Minnesota Frost in exchange for Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook.

Jaques says she was completely blindsided by the move.

“I had a meeting that week with my coaches about our plan for the upcoming games, so I really had no idea that I was getting traded.”

Shiann Darkangelo was playing for the Fleet when she learned she had been dealt to the Charge at the Trade Deadline in exchange for Lexie Adzija and the rights to forward Caitrin Lonergan. She says she missed a few calls from Marmer, and when she called her back, she got the news.

“To be honest, I was just in shock, because I had no idea,” she said. “You’re just sitting there thinking, ‘What just happened? Is this real?'”

Tereza Vanisova was playing for the Victoire when she received a call from her agent on Trade Deadline Day 2024 that she had been dealt to Ottawa. She says the news came out of nowhere.

“No one had talked with me about the possibility of being traded,” said Vanisova. “I was shocked, I had no idea.”

Vanisova says Montreal General Manager Daniele Sauvageau arrived at Vanisova’s house so she could speak with her face to face, a gesture Vanisova says she appreciates.

Step 2: Saying goodbye…or not

When Vanisova returned to the rink to grab her things, it wasn’t the goodbye she was expecting.

“I wasn’t even allowed to go back to the locker room. They packed up all my stuff and I picked up my bag,” Vanisova said. I didn’t see many people, some came over to say bye, but I wasn’t really allowed to go back to the rink, so I just left to play for a new team the next day.”

Scamurra says she and Harmon were already out with teammates, so they were able to say their goodbyes, providing whatever closure a professional athlete can get when they’re leaving their team for a new one.

Jaques says because of the timing of the trade, she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to any of her teammates.

“I didn’t get the call that I was getting traded until 5 p.m., and the flight I had to take was at 11 the next morning,” Jaques said. “I was living with a group of girls on the team, but all of the girls were playing in the Rivalry Series, so no one was actually home when I got traded.”

For Darkangelo, a few hours after learning the news, Hirshfeld and Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod called her to welcome her to the club, asking her if she wanted to make the trip down to New York and join the club for a game less than 48 hours later.

Darkangelo would spend the next 12 hours grabbing her equipment from the rink, cleaning out her hotel, and packing up her car, then driving to New York to join her new Ottawa teammates.

“My head was spinning, and there were so many different emotions. You just left your team, it was near the end of the season, I didn’t see any of my old teammates, and you’re on your way,” she said.

Step 3: New surroundings

Darkangelo says having Vanisova, her teammate with the Isobel Cup-winning Toronto Six squad in the now-defunct PHF, also being dealt to Ottawa made it easier to navigate through that initial shock of being traded and settling in with a new team.

While Darkangelo has since adjusted, she says those first few weeks were a grind both mentally and physically.

“We went to New York, then I drove back to Ottawa and lived in a hotel for two-and-a-half weeks while we looked for an Airbnb,” she said. “Your car is filled with your stuff, you’re living out of a hotel. Obviously, since we play sports, we’re used to things like this. You’re still supposed to perform at your best, but you can’t help but think, ‘Oh great, if someone breaks into my car, that’s my whole life in there.'”

Jaques knew a few of her new teammates in Minnesota, including Liz Schepers, whom she played with for four years at Ohio State. Schepers had an extra room at her place, inviting Jaques to stay with her the rest of the season.

Jaques says several of her new teammates had reached out before she arrived in Minnesota, welcoming her to the team and asking her if she needed anything upon arrival.

Scamurra says after she played her first game with Toronto, she made the trip back to Ottawa, and with the help of her dad, she helped pack up her apartment and make the trip back to Toronto.

“The whole situation was very sporadic,” she said.

Since then, she says her and Harmon have been welcomed into the group with open arms, with Emma Maltais and Maggie Connors taking the reigns as the “Social Chairs” of the group.

“The whole team is inclusive, and we’re always trying to go out for dinner or seeing a comedy show, always doing something as a team.”

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