Boston Fleet captain is one of many top stars who has been left unprotected for the PWHL’s first … More
PWHL expansion will give the league’s two newest teams the opportunity to stock their rosters with some of the game’s biggest stars.
Phase I of the league’s expansion process rolled out on Tuesday, with the release of the protected lists for the inaugural six squads. With each team allowed to protect only three players to start, plenty of big names are available to PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle.
The unprotected list includes 2025 MVP finalist Hilary Knight and other top names in the sport including forwards Sarah Nurse and Alex Carpenter, defender of the year finalists Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, and goaltenders Emerance Maschmeyer and Corinne Schroeder.
Maschmeyer’s availability is an indication of how quickly things can change in the women’s hockey world. Originally signed as one of the Ottawa Charge’s first three players, the goaltender suffered an injury in mid-March that allowed rookie Gwyneth Philips to step into the starting role. The 24-year-old proved to be more than up to the task, backstopping the Charge into their first playoff berth and then a series win over the Montreal Victoire. Though the Charge fell in four games to the Minnesota Frost in the Walter Cup finals, all four games went to overtime and Philips was named playoff MVP.
Phase II of the expansion process runs from Wednesday, June 4 through Sunday, June 8. Over those five days, Vancouver and Seattle will each have the opportunity to sign up to five unprotected players.
The main goal of this phase is to give unprotected players some control over a possible move. If they’d like to go to one of the expansion teams, this is their chance to choose their destination.
For example, Vancouver natives Hannah Miller and Jennifer Gardiner might be inclined to sign on with their hometown team. Miller is a free agent while Gardiner was left unprotected by the Montreal Victoire. Knight, whose home base is in Idaho, could be interested in Seattle. So could Californians like Cayla Barnes and Dominique Petrie.
Maschmeyer and Schroeder also both hail from Western Canada and may be interested in a chance to play closer to home. On the flip side, Nurse has strong roots in southern Ontario that could make her more likely to want to stay where she is.
Players with expired contracts can sign with an expansion team during the window, but will not be eligible for selection in the expansion draft. That’s Phase III, and will take place on Monday, June 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The expansion draft will last at least seven rounds — and go longer if necessary, if either team goes into the draft with fewer than five players already signed. By the end of the expansion draft, each inaugural six team will have lost exactly four players, and each expansion team will have 12 players on its roster.
Once any inaugural six team loses two players, either through the signing window or the expansion draft, it will be allowed to add one more name to its protected list. While some big names will be on the move, this step is intended to help balance out the magnitude of the player losses across the inaugural six teams. And once a team has lost four players, its roster will effectively be locked from further selections.
Finally, Phase IV is the third PWHL entry draft. It will take place on Wednesday, June 24 at 7 p.m. ET in Ottawa. In 2024, a total of 42 players were selected by six teams over seven rounds. The 2025 draft will see 48 selections, with the eight teams each selecting six players.
That will lay the foundation for the league’s third season, which is expected to begin in early November of 2025.
Both expansion teams now have their general managers in place. PWHL Seattle GM Meghan Hunter is the former assistant GM of the Boston Fleet — another direct connection to Knight. PWHL Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey is a native of Hensall, Ont. who played at Brown University — and briefly with PWHL executive VP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford in the first NWHL with the Brampton Thunder more than 20 years ago. Most recently, she has coached the women’s team at Princeton University, overseeing the college careers of current PWHL players like Thompson, who is unprotected, and 2024 first-overall draft pick Sarah Fillier, who was protected by the New York Sirens.
And while the star power that’s available in expansion is undeniable, Hunter and Gardner Morey will need to be strategic in building out their rosters. While individual salary information is not public, the league does operate under a salary cap as laid out in its collective bargaining agreement. The new teams will need to be compliant within 24 hours of the first day of the 2025-26 season.
This will likely be just the first PWHL expansion process.
“We’re going to be a league like every other real major league, and that’s our goal,” PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten told the Associated Press in late May. “Our footprint will be across this continent and hopefully others as well.”
Depending on how smooth the entry process is for Vancouver and Seattle, more teams could be added as early as 2026-27. The league also has an eye on establishing a footprint in Europe. And while Mark and Kimbra Walter will continue to bankroll the single-owner for the foreseeable future, Kasten is optimistic that profitability could be within reach by 2031.
“I see us on a very distinct upward track able to look towards seasons where we can start to turn the corner and be in the black,” he said.
“We’re far away from that now and that’s OK. We projected that,” he added. “But when that happens, we can also think about expanding the schedule. And with an expanded schedule in an environment where you’re finally making money, well, now there’s more money for more people.
“And so I hope by then we’re at that point. That would thrill me.”
Other potential PWHL expansion cities that have shown well during neutral-site games include Detroit and Denver.
