Sarah Fillier has done a lot of things that only Marie-Philip Poulin has also done. Whether it’s playing the most games for Canada at the World Championships and Olympics under the age of 23 (Fillier: 28, Poulin: 30), or thriving in those games (Fillier: 39 points, Poulin: 40).
In June, Fillier has the chance to do something Poulin hasn’t done: go first overall in a professional women’s hockey league draft. The 23-year-old native of Georgetown, Ontario has her sights on winning another World Championship, and she has a personal goal in mind as well.
“A world championship, it’s your time to prove yourself to everyone and we’re on the biggest stage,” said Fillier. “I want to be able to showcase my skills and go as high in the draft as I can.”
This year’s PWHL Draft is as close to a true entry draft as we have seen in women’s hockey. Last year’s PWHL Draft was more of a ‘dispersal draft’ even though two of the six first-round picks (first overall pick Taylor Heise and third pick Alina Müller) were also making their North American professional debuts. Previous leagues had drafts a year before they entered the league or were based on where a player wanted to play as opposed to solely based on merit. That’s why Poulin was only drafted third overall by Montreal in the 2015 CWHL Draft.
Players with professional aspirations played all year with the knowledge of the draft coming up. Fillier is not the only player at the World Championships expected to be in the running for the top spot in the draft. Britta Curl, Cayla Barnes, and Danielle Serdachny are among other NCAA players representing their countries, not to mention an influx of European players, expected to declare for the PWHL Draft.
“The idea of a real draft happening this year is still surreal for me,” Fillier said. “I talk about it with my friends and it still doesn’t seem like it’s actually going to happen in June. I’ve watched so many really great NHL stars get drafted and see that moment for them so it’ll be really cool to experience that myself.”
With the major wild card of the injury to Poulin entering the tournament, Fillier has been preparing for it by playing more wing at Princeton, where she played her NCAA hockey, this season. During Canada’s 8-2 pre-tournament win against Finland, Fillier was on the left wing of Jamie Lee Rattray and Brianne Jenner. It isn’t hard to imagine Poulin replacing Rattray and seeing Canada’s top line have a different look.
There was an adjustment from moving to centre to wing for Fillier, but it’s something she is looking forward to.
“I’ve played centre my entire life and I think playing centre I trusted a lot of my instincts and anticipated a lot of the plays,” Fillier said. “When you’re in the middle, you have the freedom to do that and float around. Playing wing it’s definitely a lot more structure. But I think I can open up my offensive game a bit and I have a little bit less responsibility in the D zone so that’s fun.”
Despite not turning 24 until June, Fillier is already 17th in all-time scoring for Canada at the World Championships. She is coming off of a great final season at Princeton with 30 goals and 13 assists in 29 games. She hasn’t played since her team was eliminated in the ECAC quarterfinals, but she’s looking forward to getting back on the ice and representing her country.
“College is super fun and I love my teammates at Princeton but being here, it’s just special,” Fillier said. “Playing at the highest level possible with these girls who are the best in the world is a unique experience and I’m lucky to be here.”
“It’s a really exciting next couple of months for me with graduating and finishing college and then looking towards a pro career and starting it off with Worlds is cool.”
Fillier has a lot of experience playing with and against players that she will face at the professional level before even setting foot in the league because of her time on the national team.
“I think it’s a unique experience to be able to play at that level before getting into the real pro league. I feel pretty confident playing at this level in for the last couple of years. But I think there’s different elements to that league that we don’t get in international hockey. It’s very physical. And they play a lot of games over a couple of months of the season. I’ll definitely have some adjustments to make for sure. But I’m excited about it.”
