PWHL Mailbag: Injuries, YouTube, Early Award Picks and More

Welcome to our first PWHL Mailbag. Each week we'll scrape comments to our posts on X, Bluesky, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and direct messages, and put them together in a mailbag to get you answers, ideas, and analysis you're interested in.

Here's our first edition looking at five questions submitted this week:

Can you give us your extremely early predictions for the end of season awards? Rookie, MVP, forward, defender and goalie of the year?

This is a fun question. It feels like Sarah Fillier is the obvious Rookie of the Year, so let's get that one out of the way. The defender category seems like a two-horse race at the moment with Claire Thompson and Renata Fast. Fast is probably the best all-around defender in the world, but Thompson is finding ways to ignite Minnesota's attack, and has adapted to this league so quickly. Early leader? Thompson. In net, Emerance Maschmeyer looks like the early Goalie of the Year favorite. Her personal evolution from last season has been incredible. She's kept Ottawa in games playing the most minutes and facing the most shots of any goalie in the league. Need a runner up at the moment? Aerin Frankel (but don't count out New York's Corinne Schroeder). Moving up front, it's hard to ignore Alex Carpenter's play at Forward of the Year. She's all-world and can change a game by herself. Another to watch is Taylor Heise. She seems to be getting better by the game and is quietly creeping up on the league scoring leaders. As for MVP, it's an interesting question. There are a number of defenders who log very heavy minutes in the PWHL, but that's not how this debate usually pans out. Right now, Carpenter is the front runner.

Why did the PWHL move away from YouTube?

Anyone who thinks the league wants fewer people watching is wrong. The league is trying to become financially viable, and broadcasting rights play a huge role in this. In 2023 the NWSL announced a multi-year deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and Scripps Sports. It's a deal that was said to be worth $60 million a season for four years. At the time the NWSL was a 12 team league each playing 26 games. Even if the PWHL came in at a figure that's half of that deal, a $30 million per season contract, one year of that deal would pay league salaries in their entirety for close to four years. Ticket sales are crucial, but even if every team in the league averaged 7,000 fans per game at $30 USD a seat, it would bring in $18,900,000, a far stretch from a $30 million broadcasting deal. It's going to take expansion to get a national deal in the USA, but the fact the league already has national deals with CBC and TSN in Canada, and Amazon Prime Video for a weekly game, along with regional deals with NESN, MSG, and FanDuel Sports Network, it's very positive. Broadcasting rights for a single entity ownership league where costs are centralized are what will provide long term stability to the league. There nothing more important, and as frustrating as it is, the league is looking to ensure the league has financial footing.

What do you think of the Sirens so far, and where do you think they end up this season? More specifically, what factors lead you to your answer and what would complicate said factors?

This is a much improved team, but we are still seeing vast inconsistency in their play. Last year the team was plagued by a lack of structure, and players running the show. It resulted in shoddy defending and inevitably resulted in a last place finish. The exciting thing about the PWHL is that this league remains balanced. Any team can beat any team. Early returns in New York show how the infusion of a handful of players up front, notably Sarah Fillier and Noora Tulus, can change the fate of a team. On the back end, Ally Simpson and Maja Nylen Persson are playing big minutes. Given their continued inconsistency, I don't think this team challenges for top spot, but given how dynamic and explosive this team can be, and the fact that they still have Corinne Schroeder in net, they look like a team who will sneak into the playoffs, and one you don't want to face when they do. Greg Fargo is a big factor in this. He's got the team listening, and that's already a huge change. But he does have a group of sporadic players who it will take time to get consistency from. This team needs much bigger contributions from players like Abby Roque and Jessie Eldridge up front, and Jaime Bourbonnais and Micah Zandee-Hart. In particular they need 200 foot contributions. The only other factor that could hurt the upward trajectory here is injuries. Ella Shelton is a huge loss for this team, and the sooner she's back the better. If Schroeder were to go down, everything would be complicated. At this point Kayle Osborne looks like she'll slide into the backup role, but could she carry the team?

When will Ella Shelton return?

Sticking with the Sirens, fans want to know when Ella Shelton will return. At this level, the first response is the team and player will listen to her body and there's no rushing anyone this early in the season. More specifically, we're looking at plus or minus two weeks. Right now trending toward less, but again, any injury has unpredictable timelines. Watch for the January 12 game against Toronto.

When will Toronto's injured players - Natalie Spooner and Megan Carter - return?

The league remains hush-hush about injuries. I asked the Toronto Sceptres for an update on both players. Their response was that the team had provided an update on these players prior to training camp. Given the fact that was more than six weeks ago, it was a perplexing response. Carter missed a half dozen games last season with a lower body injury. What we do know about Natalie Spooner is she's back on the ice. She was skating regularly prior to the season, as was Carter. During the December international break, Spooner was on the ice with her teammates in a non-contact jersey. There is some believe one or both could be ready in time for the Vancouver Takeover Tour stop, but that's an optimistic goal. Toronto and Spooner herself aren't going to risk her longterm health for a premature return.

Any timeline for merch (especially jerseys) becoming available in Europe? Merch at Takeover Tour stops?

I didn't get an answer to this in time, but wanted to mention that the league is looking into this, and the PWHL did reply to my requests on this and I'll include their response in next week's column. The league certainly is getting their footing with fan bases in Europe and on other continents. You can see fan accounts popping up from France to Brazil, and with the influx of European players continuing, and the league's assertion they plan to play games in Europe in the near future, merch will be coming before that happens. As for the question of merch sales at PWHL Takeover Tour stops, the answer there is easy: 100% there will be PWHL merchandise on sale at Takeover Tour stops.