Mike Hirshfeld Named as Ottawa's PWHL GM

The PWHL news is starting to flow today, with the league announcing the six GMs, as well as the draft order this morning.

First up is the GM for Ottawa, Mike Hirshfeld. Hirshfeld has spent the last seven years as the Executive Director of the NHL Coaches Association, and was a corporate lawyer prior to that.

The team's Twitter account posted this quick message from "Hirshy":

He can also be found on Twitter himself, as @gmottawa.

You can read all of the GM announcements on the PWHL website.

Draft Lottery

Shortly after naming the GMs, the league held the inaugural draft lottery. Ottawa didn't have the best luck and will be picking fifth of six in the first round, ahead of only Montreal.

But in a format familiar to most people who have participated in fantasy sports leagues, the 15-round draft follows the "snake" pattern where the draft order reverses each round. The team has put a nice graphic out listing out the position of each of their draft picks.

Don't expect any trade action - while a staple of most drafts, the PWHL has said that there will be no draft picks traded until at least the completion of the 2023-24 season.

Free Agency

Up next is free agency, which opens at 1pm. You can get up to speed on that with our free agency primer.

Update: Other tidbits

Hirshfeld met with the media via Zoom, with a few items of interest mentioned.

The first is where the team will play, saying they will share facilities with the 67s. TD Place Arena feels like the most sensible choice, and the 67s are already at work putting in a new dressing room for the PWHL team.

On the vision for the team, he wants to build a team that plays a "gritty, dynamic style of hockey" that is skills based.

When it comes to finding a coach, he mentioned a female & BIPOC coaches program he started with the NHL Coaches Association. He feels that gives him a leg up on the other GMs when it comes to the coaching hunt.