The Professional Women's Hockey League is embarking on its third season with a significant new look, welcoming two expansion teams that promise to reshape the competitive landscape. The original six franchises in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Minnesota, Boston, and New York are now joined by the Vancouver and Seattle clubs, marking the league's first major westward expansion.
New Teams, Immediate Impact
League officials designed an expansion draft with a clear goal: to ensure the new teams could compete at a high level from day one. The result is that both the Vancouver and Seattle rosters appear, on paper, to be on par with—and potentially even stronger than—the established clubs. This strategic move has set the stage for an intensely competitive season where the window for the original teams to win might be narrowing with more expansion planned for the next off-season.
Only the Minnesota Frost has experienced the ultimate success, having won the Walter Cup in both previous seasons. Powerhouses like Toronto and Montreal, despite their elite talent, have yet to win a playoff series, while the New York Sirens have not even qualified for the postseason.
Analyzing the Expansion Rosters
Vancouver enters the league with a formidable foundation, particularly in goal. The duo of Emerence Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell gives them a significant advantage between the pipes. Their defensive corps, led by Sophie Jaques, Claire Thompson, and Ashton Bell, is also considered among the deepest in the PWHL.
Seattle, however, may hold the edge up front. Their offense is powered by legendary figures Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, supplemented by rising stars like Hannah Bilka, Danielle Serdachny, and Jessie Eldridge. This combination of experience and youthful talent makes their forward group exceptionally dangerous.
Challenges and League-Wide Changes
Despite their impressive rosters, the West Coast teams face unique obstacles. The travel burden for Vancouver and Seattle is substantially heavier than for the Eastern clubs. Their shortest trip to an existing market is the 2,665-kilometer journey from Seattle to Minnesota, while the longest will be the 5,084-kilometer trek from Vancouver to Boston. How these teams manage the cumulative fatigue from this travel could be a major factor in their success.
Furthermore, the established teams were not spared from significant roster upheaval. The defending champion Minnesota Frost lost key defenders Jaques and Thompson, as well as forward Michele Cava. Montreal saw defenders Cayla Barnes and Anna Wilgren depart, while Toronto lost its entire previous draft class plus veterans Sarah Nurse and Hannah Miller.
Ottawa and Boston were perhaps the hardest hit. Ottawa lost core players like Ashton Bell, Aneta Tejralova, and leading scorer Tereza Vanisova, all while facing uncertainty about their home arena. Boston is undergoing a near-total rebuild after the departure of captain Hilary Knight and top pick Hannah Bilka. New York, already in a rebuilding phase, lost Carpenter, Eldridge, and goalie Corinne Schroder to Seattle.
New Rules and Future Growth
The league has implemented several key changes for the 2025-26 season. The overall schedule has grown by 30 games with the addition of the two new teams, though each club will still play a 30-game slate. Teams are now required to carry three goaltenders on their active roster. The coach's challenge has been eliminated, with all video reviews now handled by the league's Central Situation Room in Toronto.
The playoff format remains unchanged, with the top four teams qualifying. The bottom four will compete in the Gold Plan, where teams eliminated from playoff contention earn Draft Order Points to determine the top selection in what is anticipated to be a highly valuable draft.
Looking ahead, the league is not done growing. An additional two to four teams are slated to join for the 2026-27 season. To help identify future markets, the PWHL's Takeover Tour will visit 11 cities this season, seven of which are new to the experience, giving them a chance to host a game and showcase their potential as a future PWHL city.
