The city of Vancouver is one step closer to watching their Professional Women’s Hockey League team take to the ice at the Pacific Coliseum. Within the first two days of the Exclusive Signing Window for the two new PWHL expansion teams, Vancouver used up all five of their signing slots, inking two forwards, two defenders, and a goaltender to new contracts.
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PWHL Expansion Rules
Each of the six PWHL teams — the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Ottawa Charge, Toronto Sceptres, Montréal Victoire, and New York Sirens — submitted a protection list with three players on it. These three players are exempt from being selected by PWHL Vancouver or Seattle during the signing window as well as the draft itself. All other unprotected players are eligible to sign contracts with the expansion teams, with this period lasting from June 4 to June 8 at 2:00 pm PT. Each team can only sign five players total during this time frame. Once one of the original six PWHL teams have lost two players via expansion signing or draft, they can protect one more of their roster players.
The expansion draft itself will take place next Monday. Both teams will select at least seven total players from the six original teams, though they are able to pick more if they don’t sign the maximum of five players during the signing window. Each team must end the draft with 12 players on their roster. Players involved in the expansion draft must be under contract during the 2025–26 season.
With twelve spots to fill by the end of June 9, here are some of the names PWHL Vancouver has already added to their roster via signing.
Claire Thompson
Thompson was Vancouver’s first official signing, with her deal being announced on the opening day of the Exclusive Signing Window. She played in her first PWHL season in 2024–25 as a member of the Frost, helping the team along to their second-straight Walter Cup. She tallied four goals and 14 assists in 30 regular season games, as well as six assists in eight playoff games. Not only does she have a Walter Cup in her trophy case, Thompson also has a 2021 IIHF World Championship gold medal, a 2022 Olympic gold medal, and a 2023 World Championship silver medal. She also set a new Olympic record in scoring by a defender with two goals and 11 assists in seven games played.
Thompson being Vancouver’s first ever player makes sense, as she played with Princeton University from 2016 to 2020. All four of these seasons were spent with current Vancouver General Manager Cara Gardner Morey, who was an assistant coach from 2011 to 2017 and the head coach from 2017 to 2025.
Sophie Jaques
Vancouver’s second signing, conducted on opening day as well, was fellow former Frost defender Jaques. Another prolific offensive defender, Jaques put up seven goals and 15 assists with Minnesota in the 2024–25 season. She started the 2023–24 season with PWHL Boston, but was dealt to Minnesota in what was the league’s first blockbuster trade. Jaques is a two-time Walter Cup champion who was also awarded a silver medal at the 2025 World Championship. Her collegiate career was equally, if not more impressive, as she was named to the Academic All-Big Ten and WHCA All-Academic Team three times, OSU Scholar Athlete four times, WCHA Scholar Athlete twice, as well as the 2022 WCHA Defender of the Year and Outstanding Student Athlete. In 2023, she won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for the top female college hockey player in the US.
Sarah Nurse
For some PWHL Vancouver fans, the news of Thompson and Jaques coming to their team could not have been bigger. However, fans were left floored on Wednesday night when they learned that Nurse would be joining their team for the 2025–26 season. Nurse was one of Vancouver’s two newly-acquired forwards who played in front of a sold-out Rogers Arena crowd back on January 8 as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour. She has spent both of her two seasons in the PWHL with Toronto. In the 2023–24 season, she had 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games, as well as six goals and eight assists in 21 games in 2024–25. Nurse has five gold medals to her name — one with Canada’s U18 World Junior Championship team in 2013, one with Canada at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and three at the World Championships in 2021, 2022, and 2024. She also has an Olympic silver medal (2018), as well as one silver (2023) and one bronze (2019) at the World Championships.
Emerance Maschmeyer
Vancouver officially locked up their first goaltender on the second day of the Exclusive Signing Window, though reports of her signing broke as early as the day before. Maschemeyer, the former Charge goaltender, signed a two-year contract on June 5 that will keep her in the signature Vancouver blue and cream until the end of the 2026–27 season. She has spent both of the past two seasons with Ottawa, registering a .915 SV% in 2023–24 and a .915 SV% in 2024–25. Like her fellow Vancouver teammates, Maschmeyer joins the team with a sea of gold medals to her name. She played in two games during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, posting a 0.50 GAA and .957 SV% to help her team to a gold medal. Maschmeyer has also played in the World Championships seven different times, earning three gold, three silver, and one bronze medal.
Jennifer Gardiner
Vancouver’s fifth and final signing of the Exclusive Signing Window was none other than hometown hero Gardiner. Born in Surrey, BC, Gardiner joined the Victoire in their Takeover Tour stop in Vancouver earlier this year. The 2024–25 season was her first with the PWHL, which she capped off with five goals and 13 assists in 30 games played. She also had three assists in four playoff games with Montréal. In Canada’s silver-medal effort at the World Championship this year, Gardiner had six goals and four assists in seven games played. Prior to making her PWHL debut, Gardiner spent five seasons with Ohio State University, putting up 71 goals and 100 assists in 176 games played, including a 21-goal season in 2022–23. Gardiner and Ohio State also won two NCAA Championships during her time as a Buckeye in the 2022 and 2024 seasons.
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