After spending their No. 1 overall pick in the PWHL draft on Colgate forward Kristyna Kaltounkova, the New York Sirens traded up to acquire the No. 3 pick and selected Wisconsin center Casey O’Brien on Tuesday.
With the Sirens’ roster depleted by the expansion draft, general manager Pascal Daoust worked out a deal with the Toronto Sceptres to bolster the offense with standout scorers. In the swap, Daoust sent top defenseman Ella Shelton to Toronto for its first- and fourth-round picks (No. 27).
The Sirens lost two of their top three scorers, Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge, along with starting goaltender Corinne Schroeder to Seattle in the expansion draft and signing process earlier in June. New York scored a league-low 71 goals, with Carpenter and Eldridge combining for 20.
The Sirens held the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft as well, taking forward Sarah Fillier, who tied for the PWHL points lead last season with 29.
A native of the Czech Republic, Kaltounkova is the first European-born player to go No. 1 in the PWHL draft. She’s quite familiar with Sirens coach Greg Fargo, who was her coach at Colgate, where she was the school’s all-time leading goal scorer (111) and second all-time in points (223).
“Watching who’s on the roster, I’m just really excited to get started,” Kaltounkova said. “I’m happy to jump in and help out as much as I can and make an impact immediately.”
O’Brien led the country with 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists), won the Patty Kazmaier Award and helped lead the Badgers to a national championship.
With the No. 2 pick, the Boston Fleet chose Haley Winn, who saw fellow Clarkson defenseman Nicole Gosling go to the Montreal Victoire with the No. 4 selection.
The Nos. 5 and 6 selections were also defensemen, as the Ottawa Charge tabbed Cornell’s Rory Guilday and the Minnesota Frost drafted Kendall Cooper from Quinnipiac.
Rounding out the first round of the six-round draft, Vancouver took forward Michelle Karvinen from Frolunda HC in Sweden at No. 7, followed by Seattle’s selection of Ohio State forward Jenna Buglioni at No. 8.
–Field Level Media
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