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PWHL Boston and Minnesota strike a deal for league’s first trade
In a blockbuster trade, PWHL Boston sent Sophie Jaques to Minnesota in exchange for Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook.
The PWHL announced its first ever trade Sunday night, between Boston and Minnesota.
The blockbuster trade, which took place during the chaos of Super Bowl LVIII, marks a historic moment for the league. The deal sends defender Sophie Jaques to Minnesota in exchange for forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook.
Boston drafted Jaques, 23, 10th overall in September, signing the Ohio State University grad to a three-year deal. Her 2021-22 NCAA season was one of the most productive for a defender with 59 points, however Jaques has struggled with scoring at a professional level. She played seven games for Boston and had no points through the beginning of the season.
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“There’s an adjustment period coming out of college,” PWHL Boston GM Danielle Marmer said about Jaques’s start to her first professional season. “The expectation wasn’t for Sophie to have it figured out right away. We expected there to be a runway for development.”
Marmer noted that without having a development league, it’s challenging to take young players with “a lot of upside,” and put her in a position to be successful.
“It was never a ‘we still expect her to get there,’ it was never that we don’t believe in [her] anymore. It was just what we needed now, to win a championship this year,” Marmer said.
With the additions of Tapani and Cook to the Boston squad, Marmer believes the team’s production will increase – something she knows they need if they want a shot at a title.
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“Tapani is a productive center, so to get someone at her caliber of a player is huge,” she said. Tapani, 30, was selected fifth in the PWHL Draft. The Finnish-native represented her country in eight Women’s World Championships, as well as three Olympics.
Tapani ranked fifth in scoring for Minnesota (two goals and five points), the area where Boston has the most critical need for improvement. While they’ve played two fewer games than four of their PWHL competitors, Boston ranks last in goals scored.
Luckily, Tapani joins a talented group of forwards in Alina Muller, Loren Gabel, Hilary Knight and Jamie Lee Rattray.
“I think she’s gonna jump right in. She has a high IQ. Her decision-making is so good and she’s a natural goal-scorer.”
Acquiring Cook, 25, adds to Boston’s defensive depth. While the back line is strong, Cook is a versatile defender, able to activate off the blue line in key moments.
“For Abby, we had some redundancy in the back-end. And she brings a style and identity that we don’t really have. She’s a size-defender, she’s got a good stick, good reach.”
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While the league is not allowing draft picks to be included in trade packages until at least the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, other teams could follow suit with roster changes. Each team is required to have a 23-player roster, according to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Now that teams have settled into the inaugural season, more organizations could be in a ‘win-now’ mindset.
“It shows that I’m gonna make decisions that are best for the team and that I’m gonna make decisions that are gonna help us win a championship and I think this trade took us one step closer to that,” Marmer said about Boston’s trade.
According to the CBA, a traded player must report to their new team within 48 hours of a trade. Fans could expect Cook and Tapani to take the ice as early as Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
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