Some teams were hit significantly harder than others from the PWHL's first major step of player distribution for expansion. Phase 2 cut open some rosters, while leaving others intact. Here's a look at the damage
The Seattle Torrent had a difficult inaugural season. They fell from playoff contention fast and hard. Once they were eliminated, they watched the Vancouver Goldeneyes string together wins to steal the first overall pick despite Seattle finishing last. Then Seattle became the first team this offseason to fire their head coach, parting ways with Steven O'Rourke.
Now, during Phase 2 of PWHL expansion, Seattle was the first team to lose three signed players, and four overall, watching many across the league face less.
We're running down the damage each team suffered in Phase Two calling it Mild, Medium, Heavy, or Severe.
Boston Fleet: Medium
When you only lose one player, Boston should consider themselves lucky, but when that one player is Alina Muller, it hurts, badly. Especially for a team without much offensive punch. If they can sign Jessie Eldridge and Susanna Tapani, this story changes slightly, but there's no guarantee either stay.
Minnesota Frost: Medium
Somehow Minnesota managed to not only protect Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, and Maddie Rooney, but they managed to not lose Lee Stecklein, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Grace Zumwinkle, at least not yet. Now it's up to those players if they stay or go, and if they are staying and sign later, Minnesota is going to return strong. This metre will shift to Heavy if Minnesota can't re-sign their big three free agents.
Montreal Victore: Heavy
For the longest time it looked like the Montreal Victoire were going to escape heavy damage in expansion. Then in the final hours the team lost Erin Ambrose and Hayley Scamurra on top of Nicole Gosling. There's simply no way Montreal, picking 12th in the draft, will be able to recoup that trio through the draft alone. They can get one defender back in that range, but not one who can immediately replace their lost stars. They'll need to protect Kati Tabin to avoid complete decimation of their blueline, but they took a heavy blow.
New York Sirens: Medium
Losing Kayle Osborne hurt significantly. And the fact New York lost four players, all with intentions of staying, was a worst case scenario. The thing that kept this from jumping to Heavy was the fact New York got away without losing their blueline. They'll now walk into free agency with 2-3 top end defenders and 3-4 top forwards. It's not a bad place to be.
Ottawa Charge: Heavy
Top pairing defender and Olympic gold medalist Rory Guilday is gone, captain and leading scorer Brianne Jenner is gone, and heart and soul Canadian national team member Emily Clark is gone. It was as much about the foundation of this team being erased for fans as it was the players they lost.
Seattle Torrent: Heavy
Seattle lost Hannah Bilka, Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Corinne Schroeder. That's your captain, starting goalie, and three Olympic gold medalists. The good news for Seattle is they'll get one star back at the draft, but there's no guarantee they aren't in for more hits.
Toronto Sceptres: Heavy
It wasn't how many players Toronto lost, it was who. For a team that was already the most offensively starved team in the PWHL, by a wide margin this season, losing their top scorer, and third leading scorer in Daryl Watts and Jesse Compher respectively. They can recoup some at the draft, and need to swing at the free agency market. All is not lost yet.
Vancouver Goldeneyes: N/A
The Vancouver Goldeneyes didn't lost a single player in Phase Two. They were the only team in the league not to lose a player, although two members of their roster, Jennifer Gardiner and Izzy Daniel, received Foundational Player Offers, which they turned down.