PWHL star Sarah Fillier expected to play for Canada at world championship

Canadian forward Sarah Fillier is expected to play at the world championship that begins on Friday in Denmark. The New York Sirens star is listed as day to day with an upper body injury she sustained early in a 4-0 pre-tournament loss to the United States last Friday.

Forward was injured early in a 4-0 pre-tournament loss to the U.S. on Friday

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Nov 03, 2026 11:47 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

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Canadian star Sarah Fillier is expected to play at the world championship as Canada looks to reclaim gold from the United States.

Fillier left Friday's pre-tournament game against the U.S. after going into the boards awkwardly. The Canadians went on to lose that game, 4-0.

The New York Sirens forward looked to be clutching her right shoulder or arm as she exited the game. The team has described the ailment as an upper-body injury.

Canadian GM Danièle Sauvageau said Fillier is considered day to day, so it's not yet clear when she may suit up for Canada. The team's first game is against Sweden on Friday at 9 a.m. ET in Denmark.

"Things are looking good, so it's a question of day by day," Sauvageau told CBC Sports on Tuesday. "It's on a good track, a positive track."

Fillier scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in Canada's 5-3 pre-tournament win over the U.S. last Wednesday, which ended an eight-game American winning streak that dated back to February 2025.

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That she hasn't been ruled out for the tournament is a big win for the Canadians, who rely on Fillier to drive offence on the top line and first-unit power play. Sauvageau described her as a "young veteran" on an increasingly younger Team Canada.

At the Olympics, Fillier finished second in team points (six in seven games), behind Daryl Watts.

Rebuilding for 2030

Canada also has 20-year-old Colgate University forward Alexia Aubin practising with the team in Denmark, but that is unrelated to Fillier's injury. The decision to bring Aubin as an alternate was made before Fillier was hurt.

WATCH | Canada falls to U.S. in pre-tournament game:

Canadian women's hockey team loses exhibition to U.S. ahead of world championships

October 30|

Duration

2:12

Sarah Fillier left the pre-world championships exhibition game early with injury, and the Americans scored a pair of power-play goals defeating Canada 4-0.

An alternate can replace an injured player at any point during the tournament, assuming the injured player can't return for the rest of the tournament.

But Aubin was also brought to get experience with the team, as the Canadians rebuild ahead of the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps.

"We want to expose as many players as possible in order to be the most prepared," Sauvageau said.

The Canadians looked disconnected in Friday's game, struggling to break the puck out cleanly and generate high-danger chances. The Americans outshot them, 32-13, and Canada's penalty kill yielded two goals on five opportunities.

But the Canadians are keeping the bigger picture in mind, with so many new, young players getting their first crack at international play on the senior team.

"It is an exhibition game," Sauvageau said about Friday's loss. "It is a game that, again, we need to expose, we need to try different things. Of course, Team USA played very, very well and this is what we expected. But at the end of the day, we need to play games in order to get better and to create cohesion, and give the players the experience that we're going to continue to build on."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karissa Donkin is a reporter with CBC Sports who covers the PWHL, women's hockey and lots more. You can reach her at karissa.donkin@cbc.ca.