With no other way to order the six new PWHL teams, it was obvious they needed a lottery to take care of that. September 1 at 10 am is when the balls dropped. (I don't know if there were literal balls.) Toronto picks second overall after Minnesota.
PWHL
The draft is on September 18 and runs for 15 rounds, so the order will become less important as it goes on. Before the draft, teams will have filled out the very start of their rosters with three players named in early free agency. And we'll know who the eligible players are as they are required to declare for the draft beginning September 3.
The first few rounds are crucial to the opening season strength of teams as they will be filling out the essential core players of the team. As in any arrangement of elite athletes, there is a large group of good players with a pyramid of the excellent above them that narrows to Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight at the top. Every team is going to want a share of the pyramid.
When the draft is over, each team will have 18 players, and they will need to add 10 more in free agency before training camp in November opens with rosters of 28. The official in-season Active Roster will be 23.
The draft order alternates in reverse each round:
2023 PWHL DRAFT ORDER OF SELECTION
Round 1:
1. Minnesota, 2. Toronto, 3. Boston, 4. New York, 5. Ottawa, 6. Montreal.
Round 2:
7. Montreal, 8. Ottawa, 9. New York, 10. Boston, 11. Toronto, 12. Minnesota.
Round 3:
13. Minnesota, 14. Toronto, 15. Boston, 16. New York, 17. Ottawa, 18. Montreal.
Round 4:
19. Montreal, 20. Ottawa, 21. New York, 22. Boston, 23. Toronto, 24. Minnesota.
Round 5:
25. Minnesota, 26. Toronto, 27. Boston, 28. New York, 29. Ottawa, 30. Montreal.
Round 6:
31. Montreal, 32. Ottawa, 33. New York, 34. Boston, 35. Toronto, 36. Minnesota.
Round 7:
37. Minnesota, 38. Toronto, 39. Boston, 40. New York, 41. Ottawa, 42. Montreal.
Round 8:
43. Montreal, 44. Ottawa, 45. New York, 46. Boston, 47. Toronto, 48. Minnesota.
Round 9:
49. Minnesota, 50. Toronto, 51. Boston, 52. New York, 53. Ottawa, 54. Montreal.
Round 10:
55. Montreal, 56. Ottawa, 57. New York, 58. Boston, 59. Toronto, 60. Minnesota.
Round 11:
61. Minnesota, 62. Toronto, 63. Boston, 64. New York, 65. Ottawa, 66. Montreal.
Round 12:
67. Montreal, 68. Ottawa, 69. New York, 70. Boston, 71. Toronto, 72. Minnesota.
Round 13:
73. Minnesota, 74. Toronto, 75. Boston, 76. New York, 77. Ottawa, 78. Montreal.
Round 14:
79. Montreal, 80. Ottawa, 81. New York, 82. Boston, 83. Toronto, 84. Minnesota.
Round 15:
85. Minnesota, 86. Toronto, 87. Boston, 88. New York, 89. Ottawa, 90. Montreal.
