PWHL trade makes history, brings Minnesota a star in Sophie Jaques and reveals a reality

Second in the standings, PWHL Minnesota became part of the first trade in Professional Women’s Hockey League history when it swung a three-player deal with PWHL Boston on Sunday.

“If we were first in June, that would be nice, too,” General Manager Natalie Darwitz said.

Minnesota sent Finnish forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook to Boston for 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner and 23-year-old offensive-minded defender Sophie Jaques.

Boston’s GM called Jaques on Sunday afternoon with the news. By 11 a.m. Monday, she was on a plane bound for Minnesota and a spare bed in new Minnesota and former Ohio State teammate Liz Schepers’ Eden Prairie home. Jaques is expected to play Wednesday against Ottawa at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

“Everything happened really fast, so it still doesn’t feel real,” Jaques said after she practiced with her new team Tuesday for the first time. “It was a real quick turnaround. I definitely don’t have all my stuff in order. I’m still working on everything. But I’ve been staying with Liz, so it’s good. … It was fun to get on the ice with the girls, and I’m really excited about tomorrow.”

Welcome to pro sports, women’s hockey.

Darwitz didn’t enter last week searching to make a deal and certainly didn’t have a player against whom she coached in Big Ten play in mind. Until then, she said, she and her peers around the six-team league were “all putting our bobbers in the water, so to speak.”

But a conversation with Boston GM Danielle Marmer about other matters eventually turned into one about each other’s roster and each team’s needs. By Sunday afternoon, there was the first trade in the league’s short history. It reunites Jaques with college teammates Schepers and Clair DeGeorge.

Boston took Jaques in the second round, 10th overall, in last fall’s PWHL draft and signed her to a three-year contract.

“It is definitely new territory for everyone, the first time in [women’s] hockey you can be traded,” Darwitz said. “Some players are used to transfers at the collegiate level, but that’s usually in the offseason. I think it’s new to everyone to navigate, for sure.”

PWHL coach Ken Klee was traded twice in his NHL career, both times with young boys at home.

“They didn’t understand why,” Klee said. “They asked, `Why don’t they want you?’” Klee said. “I just said, ‘Hey, somebody else wants me more.’ Somebody said they feel like they lost a friend. I said they didn’t lose a friend. She’ll still be your friend. You gained a teammate.”

A former U.S. women’s national team coach, Klee was hired a week before the season opener to coach PWHL Minnesota after former Bethel coach Charlie Burggraf resigned.

“They saw it when I came in here out of nowhere, and now they’re getting to see it again where it affects their lives and their teammates, their buddies,” Klee said. “This is pro sports. Things happen.”

It was simply business back then in December, as it is now in February.

“It’s hard to see Tap and Cookie go the other way,” Schepers said. “They did so much for our group. I really wish them the best of luck. It really is an eye-opening moment when you realize this is a business. We saw an opportunity to bring in a player like Sophie and they pulled the trigger. It tugs at you a little bit and you hate to see friends go, but this is what we wanted.”

Jaques can move the puck and quarterback the power play for a Minnesota back line solidified by such players as Lee Stecklein, Maggie Flaherty, Mellissa Channell and Natalie Buchbinder.

“Sophie gives us a little bit of a defensive flair, just something that changes the dynamic for us,” Darwitz said.

Darwitz saw Jaques play when she was a Gophers assistant coach and Jaques starred for Ohio State.

“I spent the last two years on the Gophers bench watching her dominate,” Darwitz said.

Schepers called her teammate present and past an unflappable and steadying presence, even when her life is upended. After Sunday’s trade, Jaques had at least a place to crash until she gets her new life figured out.

“She sure does,” Schepers said. “She called me Sunday in a little bit of a panic and I said, ‘Sophie, you got a bed tonight, and I’ll pick you up at the airport.’”