Natalie Darwitz out as GM of PWHL Minnesota: Sources

PWHL Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz is leaving the organization, team sources told The Athletic on Thursday night.

The news comes just eight days after the team won the PWHL’s first-ever Walter Cup championship and four days before Minnesota is set to host the 2024 Draft and first-ever PWHL Awards.

“It’s pretty shocking,” one team source said.

Darwitz, 40, was hired in September 2023 to lead Minnesota — which, like all PWHL teams, is owned by the league — heading into its inaugural season. According to a team source, Darwitz was told earlier this week she would not be back as general manager for the 2024-25 season and was offered alternative options within the league. The league also gave Darwitz the option of putting out a statement saying that she had chosen to move on, the team source said. She is not expected to be at the draft table for Minnesota on Monday night.

The PWHL would not confirm the news of Darwitz’s departure.

Darwitz is synonymous with women’s hockey in Minnesota. She grew up in Eagan, Minn., and won two NCAA championships with the University of Minnesota. She won three Olympic medals with Team USA and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. Darwitz was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in May, during Minnesota’s Finals run.

As general manager, Darwitz built a deep and competitive roster through the draft and free agency led by American stars Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, Lee Stecklein and Nicole Hensley. She opted to draft several players who were local to Minnesota, given many players were making close to the league-minimum $35,000 salary last season. In February, she traded forward Susanna Tapani for a young star defender in Sophie Jaques, who led all defenders in scoring in the postseason.

Minnesota was one of the top teams in the PWHL during the regular season, and though they stumbled into the playoffs on a five-game losing streak, the team got back on track when it mattered most, beating No. 1 Toronto in the semifinals and Boston in five-games in the Finals.

“Besides building it from the bottom and setting everything up and drafting and signing the players that led us to a championship, she spent hours and hours doing everything — waking up at 4 a.m., moving equipment to the rink, hanging dirty equipment, unpacking bags, stuff like that. I mean, stuff GMs don’t do,” one team source said. “(It’s) a real shame.”

Required reading

• PWHL Minnesota wins first-ever Walter Cup championship: ‘We knew we had to have it’
• From heartbreak to heroes: How PWHL champs hope to ‘turn the mojo’ for Minnesota sports
• The PWHL’s first season is over. What worked, and what are the top priorities for Year 2?

(Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Athletics)