No Time to Rest for PWHL Teams as the League Adds Four New Franchises

By Scott Lowe – MYHockeyRankings.com

Pretty much everything the Professional Women’s Hockey League has done during its first three years of existence has proven to be a resounding success.

Is that about to change?

While there may be some skeptics as the league prepares for an ambitious second round of expansion, the PWHL continues to confidently raise the bar without hesitating or looking back.

Coming off a successful third campaign that saw the league expand from six to eight teams, draw a million fans during a single season for the first time, surpass the 2-million mark in total attendance since beginning play in 2024 and continue to set single-game women’s hockey attendance records, the PWHL has decided to take its biggest risk since the formation of the league in 2023.

The PWHL recently announced it would be expanding by four teams for the 2026-27 season, adding Detroit, San Jose, Hamilton and Las Vegas as new markets 

Given the number of untapped, highly talented players around the globe and the PWHL’s overwhelming success to date, another round of expansion seemed both inevitable and logical. Adding four teams – with two in non-traditional markets that haven’t necessarily proven they are ready to fully support women’s professional hockey – on the surface seems like it might be a bit ambitious.

While it’s hard to argue that Detroit and Hamilton, which have supported the PWHL by hosting league games in front of large and enthusiastic crowds, San Jose and Las Vegas have not hosted any PWHL contests or been involved in the highly successful PWHL Takeover Tour games that have been held around North America during the past two seasons.

But it’s hard to question any decision the league makes given its track record. Las Vegas has become known as a hockey town thanks to its overwhelming support of National Hockey League’s Golden Knights, and San Jose has hosted numerous games between the Canadian and United States national teams dating back more than 30 years. 

"We've been pretty public about the fact we wanted to get to 12 {teams} as quickly as we could under controlled environments," PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford told reporters upon announcing San Jose as the fourth expansion market for 2026-27.

"It just helps geographically. We've now crossed North America. We have Pacific time zones. We have Mountain time zones. We have Eastern time zones. It just feels like a legitimate number for a league. A six-team league felt small, eight teams was good and now it just feels more significant."

One of the PWHL’s top selling points has been a level of play that has exceeded expectations. With many of the world’s best players competing, the quality of the product has been good enough to satisfy diehard professional and women’s hockey fans while also attracting new fans who were unfamiliar with the speed and skill the women’s game can showcase.

League expansion always invites questions regarding the supply of quality players to fill the additional roster spots and the potential for watering down the product. PWHL officials expressed confidence in the league’s ability to maintain the level of play fans expect despite the addition of four teams.

The PWHL is adding 92 additional full-time players and a dozen reserves as the four new franchises join Vancouver and Seattle, last year’s additions, and the original six teams in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, New York and Minnesota. More than 60 of the league’s players participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics, with nearly 25 more poised to enter the league for Season 4.

"I feel confident after seeing what we did last season with two new teams and the play on the ice,” Hefford said. “The competition – I really haven't heard otherwise – it's only risen. Looking at this upcoming draft declaration, we have 235 players who have declared. We have a really strong European draft group. We have potentially a generational college group coming into the league that is going to have an immediate impact.”

Oh right, the the PWHL Draft.

The decision to expand again with the league’s annual entry draft scheduled for June 17 in Detroit, just 28 days after the Montreal Victoire were crowned as the third PWHL Walter Cup champions, created a flurry of activity that has heads spinning inside and outside of league and team offices around North America.

First, there were general managers, coaches and other team administrative staff members who needed to be hired by the four new franchises. Then the league had to establish exactly how the player-distribution process would work with the new teams in the mix. After that, organizations were under the gun to develop their strategies for re-signing their top players, wooing and signing new players and protecting veteran players.

All of that was taking place as they prepared for the entry draft, which features five Team USA gold medalists among the 23 Olympians who are eligible to be selected. A total of 236 players are available, including 128 forwards, 68 defenders and 40 goalies. More than half of the draft-eligible players come from NCAA programs.

Finally, with the expansion rules and strategies in place, it was time for the teams to execute their plans and begin assembling rosters. As always seems to be the case when professional leagues expand, PWHL general managers were left with many difficult personnel decisions, which often force them to take calculated risks as top players are exposed to the new teams.

Just this week, Boston General Manager Danielle Marmer decided that the Fleet would not protect longtime Swiss star Alina Muller, one of the team’s and league’s most visible and productive players to date.

“There’s nothing that she could have done differently for this decision to have been made differently,” an emotional Marmer told assembled media. “I told her how much she means to this organization and this city. I told her I love her, and that starting now, it’s the path to get her back here in Boston.”

A path to get her back to Boston? Wait, what’s going on here? What could possibly make a professional team decide to leave one of the world’s best players unprotected at any time? And if the Fleet didn’t protect her, how would they get Muller back?

(UPDATE: Muller later signed a three-year deal with Hamilton)

Let’s hit the pause button and rewind a bit.

The PWHL issued a 14-page guide to explain how the player-distribution process would work with the addition of four teams for the 2026-27 season. The process is broken down into six phases:

 

PWHL Player Distribution Process

Phase 1

Below are the key dates for Phase 1 of the PWHL expansion process:

• May 28 at 3 p.m. EDT – Existing teams submitted negotiation list
• June 1 at 12 p.m. EDT – Preliminary negotiation window opened for all teams
• June 2 at 12 p.m. EDT – Phase 1 signing period opened for existing teams
• June 3 at 3 p.m. EDT – Phase 1 signing period closed
• June 3 at 5 p.m. EDT – Phase 1 protection list submission deadline for existing teams

Existing teams were allowed to protect three players currently under contract or who have their rights held by the team for the 2026-27 season. Players whose rights were held were required to receive a qualifying offer from the team to be protected in Phase 1.

Players on expiring contracts who were on the Phase 1 Master Negotiation List were eligible to sign with any existing team during Phase 1. Any players signed in this manner counted as one of the signing team’s three protected players.

Existing teams submitted a list of 10 players on expiring contracts who they were interested in signing as one of their three Phase 1 protections. This list included any players on expiring contracts from their own rosters in addition to any similar players on other rosters with whom they were interested in speaking. The list was due May 28.

Only players on the Master Negotiation List could be contacted or signed during Phase 1. Existing teams were permitted to contact any players from their 2025-26 roster during Phase 1 but could only sign players on the Master Negotiation List during that phase. All 12 teams were allowed to negotiate with players on the Phase 1 Master Negotiation List, but only existing teams could sign players during the initial phase.

Existing teams could lose a maximum of one player on an expiring contract during Phase 1. Negotiations with players on the list could begin June 1. Contract offers were permitted during this period, but none could be processed until the beginning of the signing period on June 2 at 12 p.m. EDT. Contracts could be submitted to the league for processing until June 3 at 3 p.m. EDT.

Existing teams were required to submit their final Phase 1 protected list by 5 p.m. EDT June 3.

 

PWHL Protected Players

Boston Fleet: Aerin Frankel (G), Megan Keller (D), Haley Winn (D)

Minnesota Frost: Taylor Heise (F), Kelley Pannek (F), Maddie Rooney (G)

Montreal Victoire: Ann-Renee Desbiens (G), Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Laura Stacey (F)

New York Sirens: Sara Fillier (F), Kristyna Kaltounkova (F), Casey O’Brien (F)

Ottawa Charge: Rebecca Leslie (F), Gwyneth Philips (G), Ronja Savolainen (D)

Seattle Torrent: Alex Carpenter (F), Hannah Murphy (G), Anna Wilgren (D)

Toronto Sceptres: Renata Fast (D), Raygan Kirk (G), Ella Shelton (D)

Vancouver Goldeneyes: Sophia Jaques (D), Emerance Maschmeyer (G), Sarah Nurse (F)

CLICK HERE to track of all of the PWHL player signings

 

Phase 2: Expansion Team Foundational Signing Period

Phase 2 of the PWHL expansion player-distribution process got underway at 12 p.m. EDT June 5 and concludes June 8 at 1 p.m. EDT. It allows each expansion team to begin building the foundation of its roster by acquiring five players through signings, and if necessary, a player-selection process.

Expansion teams were required to submit a list of 20 players who were signed for 2026-27 or on expiring contracts they were interested in as potential foundational signings by June 4. These are the only players they are allowed to negotiate with during Phase 2.

Players on expiring contracts only can be signed during Phase 2 or 3. There is a process by which players on expiring contracts who appear on multiple Foundational Signing lists will be awarded to the team that ranks them highest in priority order or be able to negotiate with more than one team if two or more teams have them ranked similarly.

Existing teams can lose a maximum of three players who are under contract for the 2026-27 season during this phase. There is no limit to the number of players on expiring contracts that existing teams can lose.

Any expansion teams that have not signed five players by the conclusion of the Phase 2 signing period will select enough players during a post-signing period selection process to ensure that each of the four new teams has a total of five players. Only players under contract for the 2026-27 season will be eligible for the selection. This selection process will begin at 3 p.m. EDT June 8, with the selection order determined by the PWHL earlier that day.

 

Phase 3: Preliminary Open Signing Period

The Phase 3 Preliminary Open Signing Period begins at 12 p.m. EDT June 10 and concludes June 12 at 5 p.m. EDT. Expansion teams will sign up to three players on expiring contracts during this period. Teams that do not sign three players are eligible to sign additional players during the Phase 4 Expansion Signing Period to ensure that they complete that phase with 10 total rostered players.

Existing teams will be allowed to protect three players who are under contract or have their rights held for the 2026-27 season. Players whose rights are held must receive a 2026-27 qualifying offer to be protected.

Players on expiring contracts can be signed by any team during Phase 3 and will qualify as one of a team’s three Phase 3 protected players if signed. Any players who initially were listed as targeted signings by expansion teams must be signed by a listing team no later than Phase 3.

Each team’s final Phase 3 protected list must be submitted by 5 p.m. EDT June 12.

 

Phase 4: Expansion Team Signing Period

The Phase 4 Expansion Team Signing Period opens June 14 at 12 p.m. EDT and concludes June 15. Expansion teams will sign players until they reach a total of 10 on their rosters by the conclusion of Phase 4.

Any players who concluded the 2025-26 season on a PWHL roster and were not protected or signed during the first three phases will be eligible to be signed. This includes players under contract for 2026-27 and players on expiring contracts. Players who appeared on an expansion team’s initial target list are ineligible to sign with that team during Phase 4.

Expansion teams that have not reached a total of 10 rostered players by the conclusion of Phase 4 will participate in a post-signing-period selection process to ensure they complete the phase with 10 players on their roster. Only players under contract for the 2026-27 season will be eligible for this selection process. The roster-completion selection process will begin at 4 p.m. EDT June 15, with the order of selection determined by the league earlier that day.

 

Phase 5: Existing Team Exclusive Re-signing Period

Phase 5 Signing Period #1 will from 9 a.m. EDT until 6 p.m. EDT June 16. Signing Period #2 will have similar hours June 18. During this phase, existing teams are permitted to negotiate and sign any remaining unsigned players on expiring contracts who were on their 2025-26 rosters and did not receive an offer during Phase 2.

Players whose rights are held for the 2026-27 season must receive a qualifying offer from the rights-holder during Phase 5 to remain on that team’s roster beyond the start of the Phase 6 Open Signing Period. Players who do not receive qualifying offers will be eligible to sign with any team during Phase 6.

 

Phase 6: Open Signing Period

The Phase 6 Open Signing Period begins June 19 at 12 p.m. EDT, after which the following players are eligible to sign with any of the 12 PWHL teams:

• Players on expiring contracts who were not signed or protected in Phases 1-5 and who did not receive an offer in Phase 2.
• Players whose rights are held for the 2026-27 season but did not receive a qualifying offer.
• 2026 draft-eligible players who were not selected during the 2026 Entry Draft.
• Players with prior PWHL playing experience who did not finish the 2025-26 season on a league roster.
• Players who were draft-eligible for a prior PWHL Draft.

Players on expiring teams who appeared on an expansion team’s initial target list are ineligible to sign with any teams that listed them.