PWHL expansion helps Vancouver, Seattle, hurts original six

Imagine sitting at a card table with three friends, deck dealt and ready to lay down the first hand, when two more people show up wanting to be added in.

The cards are collected, reshuffled, redealt, and the hand that used to be full of trump looks a little less promising.

The PWHL expansion process welcomed two new teams to the table and then took a crack at dealing them in fairly. Problem is, this isn’t the start of a whole new game, it’s a league that’s already been battling for two years.

PWHL Vancouver and Seattle had three opportunities to build their rosters.  

First, there was the exclusive signing period where each team attracted and added five top players from across the league. Each of the original six teams protected three players before the expansion courting began, but with only 18 players safe from relocation, that left plenty of excellent talent available.

Next up was the snake-style expansion draft, where each new team grabbed seven additional players. The original teams were again given the opportunity to protect another player, but only after they had lost two.

By June 9, Seattle and Vancouver had fashioned a roster of 12 while the other squads had lost four player.

But the reshuffling wasn’t over, free agency was about to begin.

Already unhappy original six fans didn’t take the news of Vancouver signing both the top free agents — Hannah Miller and Tereza Vanisova — very well. Social media exploded with frustration fed by the lack of transparency around contract amounts and cap space.

As of Friday, the West Coast teams have signed nine of last season’s top 25 scorers.

Seattle landed last year’s point leader Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, and Jesse Eldridge, while Vancouver acquired Vanisova, Miller, Michela Cava, Brooke McQuiggie, Sophie Jaques, and Sarah Nurse.

At the end of April, Jayna Hefford, the PWHL's executive vice president of hockey operations, told reporters "the parity and competitiveness across this league is one of the greatest assets we have."

Now, less than two months later, fans are left questioning if the league has lost its greatest asset.

Tough blows to the original six

Ottawa is no stranger to brutal off-season changes; this is now the second year in a row where they’ve lost their top scorer during the summer. Vanisova contributed 15 goals for the Charge in 2024-25, tied for second-best in the league, but was lured to the West on the first day of free agency.

The Charge also lost their No. 2 overall pick from the 2024 draft, Danielle Serdachny, during the exclusive signing period, and regular season starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer. Although Serdachny underperformed in her first season, her size and raw talent leave her full of potential. Maschmeyer, although left unprotected in favour of Ottawa’s new rookie superstar Gwyneth Philips, has been Team Canada’s long-time cornerstone between the pipes and marks a huge loss in the crease.

Despite everything, Charge general manager Mike Hirshfeld doesn’t want fans to overreact.

“Just because you have all the superstars doesn’t mean you win," Hirshfeld said. "I understand why fans are upset (at the loss of free agents), I do, but my message would be that we’re working hard at this. Please let everything play out. Let’s not react to two days. We’re in a good spot, and we’ll be fine. It’s going to be a competitive league like it is every year.

“We’ve got the best goalie in the world, I think also people need to remember that. We’re going to be in every game, just because we have the best goalie in the world.”

The Charge, of course, aren’t the only team to experience big losses. However, the finals runners-up are alone in their struggle to attract and secure free agents.

Through the first two days of free agency, they didn’t sign a single new player and by day three, had only inked one.

The Boston Fleet, on the other hand, have taken the most damage to their leadership. During the exclusive signing period, Knight, their captain, left for her hometown Seattle in a move that made sense for the veteran player who’ll be headed towards retirement soon.

However, the Fleet ship took another blow to their bridge on the second day of free agency when AP sources reported their head coach Courtney Kessel would be stepping down to take on the women’s hockey program at Princeton.

If the Victoire did one thing right, it was protecting the world’s best player, Marie-Philip Poulin, and keeping fans happy.

Montreal secured their top forward pair and best goalie but took most of their losses on their blueline with both Anna Wilgren and Cayla Barnes leaving for Seattle. In two critical moves, the Victoire re-signed Kati Tabin and Maggie Flaherty, two of the top defenders available.

With Nurse going to Vancouver, the Sceptres lost the face of their franchise. Nurse had led much of the team’s community engagement in Toronto and if not for injury issues last season, would have led their scoring list as well. With Miller also gone, the team will be forced to discover more scoring threats, and fans might need to find new favourite players.

Some staples, notably Natalie Spooner, have re-signed, and perhaps a bit of a shakeup is exactly what is needed for a team that dominates the regular season but can’t advance past the first round of playoffs.

The Frost, brimming with two-time champions, were another roster primed for poaching. The first two players signed in the exclusive signing period came from the Minnesota blueline before losing a pair of forwards in the expansion draft. During free agency, however, the reigning champions did a decent job retaining most of their champion talent.

After finishing at the very bottom of the league two years in a row, the New York Sirens already find themselves in a weak spot. Sarah Fillier, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft and the player with the greatest potential to takeover is the Sirens brightest spot in an otherwise tough situation.

After reporting the lowest attendance rates in the league, the loss of fan favourite and inaugural season league assist leader Alex Carpenter to Seattle was devastating news in New York. The Sirens have rebuilding work to do as they are again graced with the first pick in the draft and the mission of making playoffs for the first time.

All hope is in the draft

As much as the last few weeks have been marked by loss for the original six teams, everyone will have the opportunity to add on Tuesday. Each team will select six new players to help redefine their depleted lineups and get to the 23-player roster size.

The PWHL has already seen the team altering impact rookies can have. Think of Fillier leading the Sirens in scoring in her first season and tying the league lead for points with 29. Or rookie goalie Philips who carried the Charge to the Walter Cup final after Maschmeyer got injured in the final weeks of the season and went on to win playoff MVP.

With the original six teams getting the first six selections, they are each guaranteed to walk away with talent to build around.

The Sirens could look to Kristyna Kaltounkova at No. 1 to help replace the scoring depth they’ve lost. The Fleet will have their pick of strong defender options at No. 2. The Victoire are poised to bolster their depleted blueline and with the fourth overall pick could snag Nicole Gosling. And even with all the top D talent available, there are still some solid options for the offensively depleted Sceptres and Frost at No. 3 and No. 6.