With three world championships and an Olympic gold medal to her credit already, Sarah Fillier now has another honour.
The Georgetown native was selected first overall by New York in Monday’s Professional Women’s Hockey League draft.
Fillier finished her fifth season at Princeton University earlier this year, capping an outstanding collegiate career by leading the NCAA in goals per game, scoring 30 times in 29 games. She followed that up by winning her third world championship with Canada in April.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Fillier, who turned 24 Sunday, the day before the draft. “Especially to a city like New York. I went to school just down the road so it kind of feels like I’m coming home.”
New York finished last with a 9-12-3 record in the PWHL’s first season.
Asked what she will bring to New York, Fillier said, “Just a ton of skill and creativity. I want to contribute offensively.”
New York was fifth out of six teams in goals scored, averaging just over two goals per game.
Fillier scored 93 goals and had 194 points in 120 games during her NCAA career, graduating as Princeton's all-time leading scorer. She was a three time Eastern College Athletic Conference first-team all-star and the conference rookie of the year in 2019.
With the national team, she won world championships in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Despite settling for a silver medal in the 2023, she was named the tournament’s most valuable player after scoring seven goals and tallying 11 points in seven games. Overall she has 17 goals and 31 points in 28 world championship games.
At the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, Fillier finished second in the tournament with eight goals in seven games as Canada won gold for the first time since 2014.
Now Fillier will get a chance to play professionally for the first time.
“It’s going to be a dream come true to play at that level and officially be a pro hockey player,” she said.
