Former PHF MVP Kennedy Marchment was one of five former Connecticut Whale players to be selected in the recent PWHL draft.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) held their first draft earlier this month in Toronto with 90 players getting selected by the six PWHL franchises in 15 rounds.
Five players that played with the Connecticut Whale, including four last winter in Simsbury, were selected by PWHL teams.
Forward Kennedy Marchment, the Premier Hockey Federation’s MVP in 2022 with the Whale, was selected by the Montreal franchise in the sixth round and the 31st overall selection with Katerina Mrazova was selected in the eighth round and 44th pick by Ottawa.
Defenseman Allie Munroe went to Toronto in the ninth round and the 50th pick while forward Taylor Girard went to Boston in the ninth round and the 51st selection.
Shiann Darkangelo, who played in Connecticut for one season (2015-16), went to Boston in the 12th round and the 70th pick.
Taylor Girard was drafted by the Boston franchise in the PWHL draft.
Taylor Heise was selected first overall in the draft by Minnesota with legendary sports icon Billie Jean King announcing the historic pick. The 23-year-old from the University of Minnesota was one of two forwards and recent NCAA graduates chosen in the first round, joined by Alina Müller (Northeastern University) who went third overall to Boston.
The first round featured four defenders, with Jocelyne Larocque chosen second by Toronto, Ella Shelton went fourth to New York, Savannah Harmon was picked fifth by Ottawa, and Erin Ambrose was called sixth by Montreal.
Teams can now sign free agents. Each team will need to sign an additional 10 free agents for training camp that opens the week of Nov. 13. Each team currently has 18 players on their respective rosters after the draft and early free agent signings before the draft. The final roster will be 23 players.
Marchment, 25, played two seasons in Connecticut and set franchise records for most goals (31), assists (40) and points (71). She had 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points last winter and had 13 goals and 20 assists (33 points) in her MVP campaign in 2021-22.
She tied a team record with three goals in a win over Buffalo in Simsbury on January 18.
Girard, 24, also played two seasons for the Whale. She had 11 goals and 13 assists (24 points) in 2021-22 and 10 goals and 18 assists (16 points) in 2022-23. Girard, from Macomb, Michigan, played her collegiate hockey at Quinnipiac University.
Mrazova, 30, played two seasons in Connecticut. The forward from the Czech Republic had eight goals and nine assists (17 points) last season along with a team-leading 12 points (six goals, 6 assists) in 2018-19. She is a member of the Czech Republic’s national team that won bronze medals at the last two world championship tournaments.
Munroe, 25, played two seasons with the Whale. This past season, she had a goal and 15 assists from her defenseman spot. She was second on the squad in assists. In 2021-22, she had three goals and 10 assists for 13 points. Munroe, who is from Nova Scotia, played her collegiate hockey at Syracuse.
Defender Allie Munroe had 25 assists in her two years with the Whale.
Darkangelo played with the Whale in the team’s first season in the National Women’s Hockey League back in 2015-16 and had a team-leading 10 goals along with three assists for 13 points. After leaving Connecticut, she played a year in Buffalo and two years in the defunct CWHL. She spent her last two seasons with the Toronto Six in the PHF.
There were 48 Canadiens selected in the draft followed by 29 Americans and 13 European-born players. Thirty-three players who competed in the PHF last winter were selected along with 27 who played in the PWHPA.
The PWHL will play 24 games this season, which will begin in January.
Full results from the inaugural PWHL draft can be viewed at the league’s website.
