Around the W: Murphy signs in Seattle, and the HNIC report firms up
Seattle, Ottawa and San Jose sign June draft picks, and a named reporter now says the PWHL is headed to Hockey Night in Canada.
Wednesday was contract day in the PWHL. Three teams signed June draft picks, and the Hockey Night in Canada story picked up something it didn't have this morning: a reporter's name.
Seattle locks in Abbey Murphy for two years
The Torrent signed Abbey Murphy, the second overall pick in June's draft, to a two-year deal through 2027-28, per the league. She leaves Minnesota as the program's all-time goals leader with 143.
Her last college season was absurd. She scored 40 goals and 66 points in 31 games and led the country in goals and points per game. She also brings Olympic gold from Milano Cortina in February.
The W read: Expansion teams rarely get a finished scorer on day one. Seattle got one, and two years keeps both sides honest.
Ottawa gets Jungels on a one-year deal
The Charge signed Vivian Jungels, the 11th overall pick, to a one-year contract. The Wisconsin defender won three national titles in Madison. She finished with a plus-218, the best mark in program history, per the Charge.
She also blocked 118 shots over her last two seasons. GM Mike Hirshfeld said her hockey IQ is "off the charts" in the team's release.
The W read: Plus-218 doesn't happen by accident. She isn't a points defender, and Ottawa didn't draft her to be one.
San Jose adds two college captains
PWHL San Jose signed forwards Lily Shannon (40th overall) and Mckenna Van Gelder (52nd) to two-year deals through 2027-28. Both wore the C in college last season.
Shannon set career highs with 19 goals and 43 points at Northeastern, six of them game-winners. Van Gelder won 479 faceoffs for Cornell. That comes a day after San Jose locked up Tia Chan and Sloane Matthews.
The W read: A fourth-rounder and a fifth-rounder on two-year deals is a vote of confidence. San Jose is treating them like roster players, not camp bodies.
Hockey Night in Canada: upgraded to Reported
In The W this morning, I graded the HNIC story as Smoke. Nobody with a byline had attached their name to it. That changed Wednesday.
PWHL reporter Justin Levine reported that the league will announce a deal giving it a weekly primetime window under the Hockey Night in Canada banner on CBC, per Daily Hive's Offside. Offside said a second source confirmed it.
The league's "major announcement" is Thursday at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Jayna Hefford, Amy Scheer and PWHLPA president Laura Stacey are set to attend, per The Hockey News' Ian Kennedy.
Grade: Reported, not On the record. Two sources and a named reporter is a real story. It isn't a done deal until Hefford is at the podium.
Why it matters: the league now has five Canadian teams, with Hamilton debuting this season alongside Las Vegas, per the PWHL's May expansion announcement. A weekly national window would put all five in front of the whole country.
The W read: If it lands as described, the most famous brand in Canadian sports TV becomes a women's hockey show every week. That's not a growth story. That's a hockey story, on the biggest stage the country has. We'll have it Thursday.
