Projected No. 1 Sarah Fillier embracing uncertainty in loaded PWHL Draft

Sarah Fillier says she’s feeling “a little anxiety and a lot of excitement” while she waits to find out where she’ll start her professional hockey career. 

Well, the wait is nearly over for the shifty forward many consider to be the top prospect available in the PWHL Draft, which happens Monday night in St. Paul, Minn. 

This past season, the 23-year-old from Georgetown, Ont. captained Princeton and led NCAA Div. 1 hockey with a 1.03 goals per game average. She helped Canada win world championship gold, and in 2023 was named MVP of that tournament. Fillier also owns three world titles and an Olympic gold medal.

New York has the No. 1 pick in the seven-round draft, followed by Ottawa, Minnesota (the 2024 champions), Boston and Toronto, in a reverse order of their regular-season finish. 

Fillier caught up with Sportsnet to talk about what it’s like to be the player many believe will be No. 1, highlight some of the talent in the draft, and explain how “mood boards” helped her select her draft day look. 

SPORTSNET: Have you read anything interesting lately about yourself and where you might be playing next season? 
FILLIER: [Laughs.] Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen a lot of stuff about being pretty high-ranked in a lot of articles and rankings. It pops up on my social media — I don't really go looking for things, but it's pretty prevalent in my ‘For You’ pages, just because I'm so interconnected with the hockey world.

Is it important to you to go first overall? 
Not really. I mean, I want to go to a program that really wants me there and is going to work with me in kind of a collaborative experience to make me the best hockey player that I can be, and to help make their program the best it can be. But it would obviously be an honour to go first overall. And, you know, I get goosebumps thinking about it, for sure. But no matter when I go or where I go, I think it would be just as much of an honour. It's the same game plan for wherever I do end up. 

For me, just being on those short lists [of available prospects] is a privilege, to be honest. I didn't think that when I committed to Princeton six years ago that I'd be graduating and jumping into a pro league. I can't wait for my name to be called on Monday. It will be a surreal moment no matter where I'm called.

You’ve been called ‘The Next One.’ The No. 1 pick. What’s that like?
I mean, the articles are fun to read. I think it's so great that there's so much media buzz around women's hockey. I think that's one of the reasons why it's really taken off is how much investment there has been in media and in specific players, for sure. 

But to be honest, I think all these rankings and expectations on me are strictly from the media. When I talk to my family or my friends about hockey, it's always just about having fun and there's never pressure about going first or scoring the most. I really don't feel a lot of pressure from my perspective just because I'm surrounded by people who never put that pressure on me. 

You know the talent in this draft class better than most. What’s your scouting report on defender, Claire Thompson? 
Claire is one of my best friends from Princeton and the national team, and [this past year] she was at med school in New York — obviously, she’s very smart. I think she brings that intelligence to the game. I think her biggest asset is she thinks the game like no one else I've ever seen in my entire life. She is always about six steps ahead. She's very calculated. It looks like she's making risky plays and is reckless, but it's actually extremely calculated in her head, and she already knows how things are going to work out. That's an incredibly unique talent that I think Claire brings to the draft. 

For a new player to play with her, I think the best advice you can give them is just being always ready, because you never know when you're going to get the puck from Claire. 

How about Danielle Serdachny, another of your Team Canada teammates?
She's a power forward, to me. Super big, physical. She has really nice finesse around the net. She can kind of score from everywhere, but I think what she brings the best is her distribution. The way she can get defenders to look off and make them bite, and then slip a puck off to someone who's wide open is a huge asset in her game. She's a really skilled passer. 

How about American forward, Hannah Bilka? 
She's probably the smoothest, silkiest player I've ever played against. She skates super well. She's really fun to watch play, and she’s definitely an offensive threat. You can't take a shift lightly when she's on the ice, especially in the defensive zone. I think she has an incredibly high IQ and just finds pockets of space to do some pretty incredible things. 

Who’s the dark horse in this draft, in your opinion?
I mean, honestly, I think maybe Izzy Daniel right now. She had an amazing college season, won the Patty Kaz [the Patty Kazmaier Award, as the top player in the NCAA]. I got to play against her this year and no matter how hard I tried to defend her and play super physical, she was always one play ahead and connected really well with her linemates and always put up a couple points against Princeton. I think she’ll be a huge asset next year wherever she ends up. 

Winning the award as the top college player, and she’s still a dark horse. What does that say about this draft?
This draft is so deep with international players right now and people with national team experience. I don't think [Daniel] is gonna fall super late or anything, but I think the big international names and people with the national team experience are being talked about more. I think hers is a name that’s not coming up as early as maybe it should be. 

What will you be wearing on draft day?
I'm going for a suit vest with a cargo pant, a matching set kind of vibe. I’m really excited about it. It’s dark navy. The dress pants have a cargo pocket on the front of them, so it’s kind of like a modern twist of a normal dress pant. I spent a lot of time with my agent, we were making mood boards and stuff, because fashion hasn't really been my thing necessarily during my time at Princeton. It's been cool to have some time and sit down and deep-dive some brands and see what would fit — and be something I'm comfortable in, too. 

How about your shoes?
I'm going with a little strappy heel. I’m short, so I like to add that height. 

Maybe convince some teams you’re taller than 5-foot-5? 
[Laughs.] Exactly. 

What do you expect from your first PWHL season, and have you gotten any good advice from your national team teammates?
In watching the games myself, I think the game's going to be super physical, which is something I'm going to have to adjust to, for sure. So, that's definitely something. But yeah, in talking to people who are playing right now, I think it's about finding ways to feel like you're constantly contributing to your team's success, even if it's not scoring. I think anyone watching, you can see it's a pretty low-scoring league, so players who normally score a lot aren't doing that. Sometimes that can affect how you feel about your performance. So, I think it's just about finding ways to remain confident in what you're doing and finding little things to be little victories along the way. 

At what age did you realize you’re the type of player that scores a lot? 
[Laughs.] Honestly, probably my first year of college. I kind of identified as a pass-first player. All growing up, all through high school, I was always like, “Oh, I'm a pass-first, playmaker type player.” And then I think I was just really lucky to play with some really talented passers at Princeton and I found myself with the puck in a really great spot a lot of the time and I realized it was something I could add to my game, and I kind of just ran with it. But I think it's a part of my game that I've been trying to develop over the last six years. Luckily in my senior year, I think I had the best scoring season in my entire career. [She did: 30 goals in 29 games.] But it's definitely still a work in progress. And I think if you're still to ask me, I’d probably say I’m still the pass-first player.

What excites you about potentially playing in New York next season?
If I were to end up in New York, it would be amazing. I think the history of New York and the city is amazing, especially the sports history. And then it's also so close to where I spent the last six years of my life at Princeton, so it would kind of feel like a little bit of a homecoming. It's a really special place to me, so it would be cool to put on that jersey every game, and with the players that they have — Ella Shelton and Jaime Bourbonnais and Micah Zandee-Hart, they're huge names in the Canadian national team program, but they're also really great people. And they have proven that they've been successful at every level. And it would just be really exciting to be able to work with them and try and build New York into a really successful program and be in contention for that Walter Cup next year.

Could you see yourself on a line with Alex Carpenter? [Carpenter led New York with 23 points last season, tied for second overall in the PWHL.]
Yeah, Alex Carpenter is one of the toughest players to play against on the U.S. team. She's super gritty and strong and can outmuscle a lot of people, but also has a lot of poise and finesse around the net. So, she's kind of got the total package, and it'd be cool to be able to play with her instead of against her. 

Ottawa picks No. 2. What do you think about playing in the nation’s capital? 
I mean, playing in a Canadian market would be special as a Canadian, for sure. I have a lot of family out in Ottawa, so that would be special for them, special for me. My parents have a cottage about three hours away from there, so I’m really familiar with the area. And then thinking about the players, the first player that I think about in Ottawa is [captain] Brianne Jenner. I was lucky enough to play with her at the last worlds, and she's very methodical in the way she plays, and she's super skilled and finessed. When I played with her, she almost just found ways to get the puck to me in cases where I thought it would be impossible. She’s a super great playmaker, super experienced. It's always nice to be able to kind of follow in the footsteps of someone like that and someone you consider an idol. 

Given how physical this league is, will you prepare this off-season any differently than you have in past years? 
I think you have to. Coming from college, it's definitely not at that level. But internationally, it's probably closer to that. I think it's just ramping up the physicality over our summer training, and I'm sure I'm going to be training with people who are playing in that pro league now, who will probably bring that physicality into training. So, hopefully we just incorporate that early and often. It's going to be, I think, the biggest challenge in adjusting my game. So, I think it's just going to be bringing that into training and then finding ways to make plays off of that. 

Do you need to learn to give and absorb contact? 
Yeah, and I think it's a skill in itself. It's obviously one a lot of us don't have experience with because we didn't grow up with body checking. So, I think obviously getting stronger is a huge focal point of every off-season. But I think the skill of taking hits and making plays off of them, or even hitting itself, is a skill that you have to learn, and we're going to have to learn that on the ice. 

What was it like to watch Minnesota win it all this season?
That's an incredible accomplishment in the first year of a league, and I’m super happy for them. It's something that I want to do next year, for sure, and hopefully bring that back to the market that I’m in. 

You’ll find out what market that is on Monday. Is the waiting the hardest part?
Yeah, there’s so much uncertainty. I really have no idea where I'm going to end up, but it's exciting. I feel like the last six years of my life have been super planned out, and I always knew where I’d be, playing in college. For things to get really shaken up now, it’s a new experience — and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it’ll be really cool.