The next one has arrived

How Georgetown'’s Fillier became the league’s most prized draft prospect

- MARK COLLEY

Sarah Fillier has always been a top hockey prospect. She had the attention of universities at age 14, was heavily recruited out of her Oakville program in high school and joined Princeton’s Division I team in 2018.

There, she stalled. Not in the eyes of coach Cara Morey “she was doing well for a rookie” but in her own view. The Georgetown, Ont., native was producing far less than she expected, according to Morey, and struggled as an 18-year-old forward against bigger, stronger opponents.

Then she spent four games with the Canadian national team. When she returned and scored two goals and three assists in back-to back wins against Quinnipiac Morey saw a different player.

“ You could see something switch,” the coach said. “You couldn’t stop her then. It was a lot of, just, the confidence to know that she can do that kind of thing at our level.”

It’s that confidence that propelled Fillier to a prominent place in Princeton hockey history and most valuable player honours at the 2023 women’s world championship.

And now she is on the brink of PWHL stardom: the potential No. 1 pick in Monday night’s draft in Saint Paul, Minn.