Seattle Torrent general manager Meghan Turner has gone from the hunter to the hunted. As one of two PWHL expansion teams last season, she got to choose players off the rosters of the six existing teams. This time around, the league has added four more expansion teams, and Turner faces the prospect of those clubs plucking players off her roster.
“We have to accept that we will lose players. That’s the hard reality of this,” Turner said at a media availability this week. “I get a little taste of what everyone else felt last year. My karma.”
As the first phase of stocking the new teams in San Jose, Las Vegas, Detroit and Hamilton, Ont., existing franchises were allowed to protect three players. Turner said she’s attempting to outguess her new GM counterparts.
“Part of what I was trying to see, was what teams had the most success this year and who they protected last year, to see if there were any themes. It certainly helped being able to put my expansion GM hat on and think through what are some of the cornerstones of the roster that those expansion GM’s are going to be looking for.”
Turner says her fellow GMs will be seeking more than just talented skaters. “You have to have your leaders in the locker room, and building that culture from day one. That’s going to play into these expansion GMs mindsets. And so that that helps us kind of figure out, who do we anticipate might get some interests from these GMs.
“We have a good sense of who from our team and around the league will be on those lists.”
The Torrent’s Protected Trio
The three players guaranteed to be in Seattle next season are forward Alex Carpenter, defender Anna Wilgren, and goalie Hannah Murphy.
“Alex is one of the best two-way forwards in the world.” To reinforce that belief, Turner signed the 32-year-old assistant captain earlier this month to a new three year contract.
“Murphy and Wilgren, I think we haven’t seen the best of them yet. That plays a big role into the decision here. It’s a balancing act. I don’t think there’s any any one strategy or one variable that drove the decisions. It was a weighting of the supply and demand at each position. What are the odds we can keep certain players.”
Not among the protected trio was Torrent captain Hilary Knight, who also captained Team USA to an Olympics Gold Medal last February. Knight, who turns 37 next month, has expressed a desire to continue her career in Seattle; but that decision is no longer solely in her and the team’s hands.
“Hilary is a professional and that’s how we approached it,” Turner said. “That was a very professional conversation, and I have a ton of respect for her as a player and a person and a leader.”
Hard Calls, In More Ways Than One
Knight was just one of many players Turner had to inform that they could be playing somewhere else this winter.
“It’s been really hard,” Turner admitted. “It’s not easy to make those phone calls to people who weren’t protected. Our record aside, it was a really good culture and a good group. I will cherish and remember that inaugural season.
“In a lot of ways, we wish we could duplicate the roster and do it over again. So that makes it emotional, right? When you have a lot of connection to your group. Picking three players out of that is really difficult.
“We have a lot to be proud of from last year, and we’re going to try to keep that that passion going into next year, whatever that might look like for us.”
In our next Torrent story, GM Turner explains the identity she expects that Year 2 Torrent team to have.
Earlier Torrent:
–Torrent Leave Captain Hilary Knight Unprotected
Earlier Kraken:
— Do Kraken Youngsters Need More Tough Love?
