The PWHL needed to expand. And it's very likely the league will go from eight teams to ten next season or the year after at latest. Beyond that, the PWHL wants to be at 12 teams by the end of their current collective bargaining agreement in 2031. And the league has no intention of stopping there either.
Through that process, expansion will be repeated multiple times, and rosters will shift multiple times as new teams are created. While there's no question the PWHL created an ill advised process for roster building during their initial expansion, the league has always adapted and been willing to shift directions.
The PWHL did it with team names, and they've done it with venues and team locations. Don't expect this process to repeat identically, particularly given the fact there will be eight teams to draw from during the next round of expansion, and likely 10 teams in the round after that. At eight teams, four player expansion process would give new teams 16 players. Compared to the 12 in this round. If the league dropped to a maximum of three players per team during the next wave, it would give the next batch of expansion teams an identical 12 players, but reduce the impact to existing teams.
Fans will hope the league has learned that three protections wasn't enough. It likely didn't need to be significantly more, but repeating the three player protection cut too deeply into players fans had invested in. And after all, this league does not exist without the fans, and the league needs to avoid isolating fans as they did this year. A simple solution could involve main one of the most frequently repeated concerns, being the exposure of rookies drafted less than a year ago. From the 2024 PWHL Draft, 39 of 42 selections were initially exposed with only Sarah Fillier, Gwyneth Philips, and Ronja Savolainen being protected. That number grew slightly with Britta Curl-Salemme and Maja Nylen Persson receiving protections from their teams. But the initial signing period also saw last year's 2nd, 5th, and 11th overall picks scooped up by expansion teams in Danielle Serdachny, Cayla Barnes, and Jennifer Gardiner. More will soon follow.
Despite any of the critiques, including those that are valid, the league is acting to grow the sport, add roster spots league wide, and increase opportunities for better pay throughout the league by increasing the number of contracts.
The expansion of the PWHL to the West coast wasn't just advantageous, it was necessary. The league could not remain regional, and the sponsorship and broadcasting doors that just opened have the potential to accelerate the league's growth father and faster.
The highly successful PWHL Takeover Tour has shown markets across North America from Denver to Edmonton, Detroit to Quebec City, that are ready for teams now. And depending on where the Takeover Tour visits next year, we may see the continued expansion west, or perhaps even south.
While this process left many fans upset, expansion was necessary, and the PWHL will adapt. More importantly, the PWHL will grow. Next season, no fewer than 46 new women will see their dream of professional hockey realized. If the league expands again in 2026, it means 92 more spots have been created.
With each expansion, the individual burden and impact on existing teams will be reduced. They'll give up fewer players, and as the overall depth of the league increases and more Europeans are attracted, there will be more capable players who can step up and step in to fill holes created.
While this year will see some growing pains on ice, the 2026 PWHL Draft will be capable of replace all of the talent that was dispersed this year. That class alone will include Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, Kirsten Simms, Tessa Janecke, Lacey Eden, Nelli Laitinen, Emma Peschel, Sydney Morrow and a dozen more players from the NCAA who can make an impact. It's also the first realistic time, with the Olympics out of the way and a plethora of contracts expiring in Europe, where a star studded group including Vivvi Vainikka, Petra Nieminen, Elisa Holopainen, Sanni Rantala, Lara Stalder, Michela Pejzlova, Hanna Thuvik, Nadia Mattivi, and many others could choose the PWHL.
It's a group with depth far exceeding the 2025 Draft.
In other words, help is on the way.
Yes, those prospects will be spread wider with more teams, but women's hockey fans in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City, Edmonton, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and any number of cities also deserve the opportunity to cheer on a PWHL team in person. Protectionism over this league will not grow the sport, nor will it create a league that outlasts previous iterations.
In that way, it's incredible that Hilary Knight is in Seattle and Sarah Nurse is in Vancouver to be ambassadors for the game. Sure, they probably didn't need to be joined by as many stars as they'll have surrounding them, but those markets needed marquee players. They now have them, and you can bet Seattle and Vancouver fans will be making noise themselves when the next round of expansion occurs and they lose players.
But at the end of the day, this league is the dream, and it needs to work. Above all else, it needs to survive.
It can survive with existing teams losing a few stars. It can't survive, or at least it can't thrive, without long term growth.
As much as this round of expansion hurt, it will get better, and future expansion won't cut as deep. The league will listen and learn. They've done it since day one. And more little girls will someday keep their dreams alive and see their names on the back of jerseys in cities across North America and beyond.
This season there was pain, but it will pass. In its place, before we know it, the gain will be what we see and remember.