Sophie Jacques' recent trade to PWHL Minnesota marked a historical moment in the league. Jacques, who was enjoying a routine Super Bowl Sunday, preparing to watch the game with teammates, found herself in the middle of a life-changing event. The call she received, informing her of her trade from Boston to Minnesota, was the first in PWHL history.

The trade saw Jacques, the 2022-23 Patty Kazmaier-winning defender, exchanged for forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook. For Jacques, the realization of her move didn't fully hit until she stepped onto the ice in Minnesota.

“I think I was mostly in shock that it happened and how fast it happened,” she said, per Hailey Salvian of The Athletic. “I don’t think it sunk in until I stepped on the ice.”

General managers wanted to make sure trade had “an impact”

Behind the scenes, the trade was the culmination of strategic discussions between Boston's Danielle Marmer and Minnesota's Natalie Darwitz, two general managers who saw an opportunity to address team needs. Boston wanted a second-line center, while Minnesota aimed to bolster its defense and potentially introduce a player with offensive skills to its roster of strong defensive players.

“If I’m going to make a trade, it’s going to be a trade that’s going to have an impact,” Darwitz said. “We’re asking players to move across the country, in our case with Minnesota, so all the boxes need to be checked for this to happen.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the NHL where we’re paying these players a ton of money and we can ask them to pick up and move,” Marmer said. “It just made more sense to move bigger players with bigger salaries in order to actually fill the need that will impact our team.”

For Jacques, the transition has been a whirlwind of emotions and adjustments, from saying goodbye to teammates to adapting to new strategies and building chemistry with new teammates, all within a matter of days. She attended her first practice with PWHL Minnesota on Tuesday, Feb. 13, where she had a meeting with head coach Ken Klee to introduce herself before stepping onto the ice.

“So my first practice was crazy,” she said.

Jaques is living with Liz Schepers, her former teammate from Ohio State, who inked a one-year deal with Minnesota in November, and played her first game for Minnesota on Feb. 14. Jacques earned her inaugural PWHL point with an assist on Abby Boreen's power-play goal.

“It was a lot of fun,” Jaques said. “I think I can fit in well here.”