(Photo Credit: @dominiquedidia on Instagram)
The newly appointed general manager of PWHL Las Vegas, Dominique DiDia, has never held a management position. She’s never been tasked with building a roster of professional athletes or been involved with a team’s front office.
And yet, she might be the perfect person for the job.
DiDia is a first-time general manager, but she has been involved with the Professional Women’s Hockey League since the beginning. When the league formed in 2023, she was part of CAA Sports, one of the largest sports agencies in the world. That summer, DiDia served as the founding co-head of the Women’s Hockey Department and worked as an agent
DiDia knows this league. Because of her time as an agent, she knows the players. She knows how they want to be treated by their teams, and she knows just how important that is in order to establish Las Vegas as an attractive player destination.
Being an agent the last few years has given me a great insight into the players’ perspective of being a player in this league… Being a part of the expansion, and from the first draft until now, working with great players has really given me the perspective to see the things that we need to do on our team, on our side, to make a great franchise. I think knowing the players’ perspective will give me a unique opportunity to build our roster from the ground up. -DiDia
Earlier this week, the PWHLPA made player salaries public for the first time in order to promote league-wide transparency. During her media availability on Thursday, DiDia admitted to being a staunch supporter of public salaries.
I was a proponent of the players knowing their salaries and each other’s salaries from the beginning. It’s something that, on the NHL side, is visible, and it helps players and agents make comparisons in order to know what they should be paid and make sure they’re on the same playing field as their peers. I think it’s something that is beneficial for both sides. It allows us to have clarity and makes sure that players are being paid what they deserve. -DiDia
In just a few short days, the PWHL will begin a complex six-phase Expansion Roster Distribution Process. It’s certainly more complicated than the 2025 Expansion Draft, but it also provides DiDia the opportunity to have conversations with players and identify which ones will be the right fit for the environment she’s looking to foster.
There’s a great opportunity for us to have discussions with players and make sure that the players we have on our team want to be part of our team from the beginning… There’s an opportunity to bring players to Vegas who want to come, who want to be part of something new and be a part of the culture that we’re building. The way that the expansion draft works, there’s an opportunity for us to discuss with them and make sure we’re all on the same page. -DiDia
If PWHL Las Vegas is to be a contender for the Walter Cup from day one as DiDia promised, it won’t be because of her brains alone. She certainly has them— she knows the game inside and out, and it’s obvious that she has a clear vision for how to go about building a team.
However, I would argue that it isn’t DiDia’s mind that’s her superpower. Rather, it’s her unique perspective that gives her the ability to empathize with the players. She’s a double threat— her humanity will establish Las Vegas as an attractive destination to PWHL players, and her ability to construct a winning team will keep them there.
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