Ottawa Charge leading scorer Tereza Vanišová expected to sign with PWHL Vancouver

Article content

Considered by GM Mike Hirshfeld as a “top priority” to re-sign back in May, Ottawa Charge leading goal scorer Tereza Vanišová is expected to join PWHL Vancouver after the first day of the league’s free agency window, according to Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News.

The 29 year old’s talents have been in great demand after tying with the Boston Fleet’s Hilary Knight for second in league scoring this season with 15 markers. Only the Montreal Victoire’s Marie-Philip Poulin scored more (19).

PWHL Vancouver, which already has assembled a top contender through the expansion process, appears to have emerged as the winner of the sweepstakes after GM Cara Gardner Morey said following the expansion draft that the team would still be looking for top-six forwards in free agency.

“We’re going to look for a couple more … top-six forwards in free-agency period and see who we might lure to Vancouver and who wants to be a part of this amazing team because I think we have the building blocks in place,” she said.

Vanišová was a masterclass acquisition by Hirshfeld last season, brought in from Montreal in a deal that saw bottom-pairing defender Amanda Boulier go the other way — an upgrade from blueline depth to a top-line, two-way winger.

In addition to leading the offensive charge, Vanišová brought a physical edge to Ottawa, racking up a league-leading 38 penalty minutes this season. That included the PWHL’s first-ever fight with Boston’s Jill Saulnier in February.

The subtraction would leave a gaping hole in Ottawa’s forward group, as she was the only Charge player to hit double-digits in goals (Emily Clark scored nine). Vanišová also became the first PWHL player to record multiple hat tricks in a season.

In the team’s recent playoff run, she put up four points in eight games, scoring in Game 4 of the final against the Minnesota Frost.

As a pending free agent, Vanišová was exempt from the expansion draft process, making her the top available free agent by most accounts.

“I’m kind of happy that I don’t have to go to the expansion draft, to be honest, because I can decide on my own future,” she told Postmedia in May. “So that’s kind of nice.”

Coincidentally, this would be the second straight off-season in which the Charge has lost its leading goal scorer. Last year, Daryl Watts netted 10 goals before joining the Toronto Sceptres in free agency.

Ottawa has faced many criticisms that it isn’t a destination city for players compared to other Canadian markets including Toronto, Montreal and now Vancouver. Those same concerns have long been echoed by the NHL’s Ottawa Senators — GM Steve Staios and owner Michael Andlauer themselves recently acknowledged the hurdles of luring talent as a small-market team.

Nonetheless, Hirshfeld said following the expansion draft last week — a process in which the team lost Emerance Maschmeyer, Danielle Serdachny, Ashton Bell and Aneta Tejralová — that the positive news was that “players want to play in Ottawa.”

“We had really positive conversations with a lot of players and we laid a lot of groundwork,” he said. “We feel like we have a great plan in place to add some players and really fill out our roster.”

While Hirshfeld maintained a confident outlook on the team’s ability to retain and attract players, Vanišová was pretty blunt about the impending situation back in May.

“I love this team,” she said. “I wish we could all stay. But that’s not going to happen.”

Vanišová would join former Ottawa teammates Emerance Maschmeyer and Ashton Bell in Vancouver. She’d also be united with fellow Czech forward Denisa Křížová, who was picked up by Vancouver in the expansion draft.