Today the Markham Thunder announced that they have pre-signed Victoria Bach from the 2018 CWHL Draft prospect list.

Bach is coming off a phenomenal senior season with Boston University where she put up 67 points in 33 regular season games and became a top-three Patty Kazmaier finalist. She also has a gold medal from the 2014 Women’s Under-18 World Championships and has played with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team. We’ll very likely see her on the senior team soon.

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We’ve mentioned Bach a few times throughout the season. Here’ s Annie take from earlier in the year:

I would love to see Bach make the jump from college hockey to the CWHL. She’s been a longtime favorite of mine—she’s fast and skilled, and watching her evolve over her four years at BU has been a pleasure. The Furies especially could use someone who can score, a lot, and if there’s one thing Bach has done over her college career it’s score a whole hell of a lot. She was the Hockey East scoring champion last year, has hit the 20-goal mark every year she’s played for BU, and was well over a point per game her sophomore and junior seasons. She also led Team Canada in scoring at the 2017 Nations Cup, so Hockey Canada’s got their eye on her too.

The new pre-signing period, in which teams are allowed to sign their first and second round picks prior to August 17th, allowed Markham GM Chelsea Purcell to pull off quite a coup. Arguably the most highly -touted non-Olympian currently on the draft list, under the old rules there would have been no guarantee that Bach would have been available when the Thunder’s turn came. This year they pick third, immediately after the Toronto Furies.

With this move, Purcell is clearly gearing up for a try at back to back Clarkson Cups. Welcome to the CWHL, Victoria Bach! Markham’s lucky to have you.

The 2018 CWHL draft takes place in Toronto on Sunday August 26.

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)