According to recent news, the PWHL will approach their impending expansion using a series of signing windows rather than a traditional expansion draft. It's a major win for the rights of players in the league.
While the details have yet to emerge, the PWHLPA appears to have made a massive step for player rights this week when executive director Malaika Underwood pronounced to the league's players that this round of PWHL expansion would "protect as much player choice as possible..."
According to Underwood, this round of expansion has "moved away from a traditional expansion draft model" and instead will be replaced by "a series of signing windows."
If the league is in fact doing away with the expansion draft, it's a major step forward for the autonomy of players. It places control of individual careers, back where it belongs...with the players.
Drafts have been described as anti-labor in that they remove choice for athletes, and often lock players into rookie level pay scales, and remove the ability to choose the city they'll live in, coach they'll play for, or even their employer. Drafts also typically come with the restriction of movement rights for young players, which in the PWHL ties a player to a market for two seasons. It also gives organizations with the worst track records to still acquire and retain the top players in the world, when in every other industry, the best and brightest go to businesses and organizations who treat workers well, and promote positive growth.
When the National Women's Soccer League successfully renegotiated their collective bargaining agreement in 2024, it came with massive leaps forward to support the rights of players, including abolishing their entry draft altogether.
“The draft is an antiquated model that empowers teams to decide for players instead of players deciding for themselves,” said NWSLPA president Tori Huster in a statement. “Now, Players can choose the team environment that fits their needs and maximizes their opportunities. Teams will need to step up to create environments that appeal to players.”
Expansion drafts can magnify that effect, because in many situations, expansion drafts force players to move cities, change coaches, and management even after signing legal contracts with teams of their choice. For most players, the only option under this model to avoid moving cities, leaving families, or playing for and with people they did not choose, is to retire.
And unlike league's such as the NHL where the average player salary is $3.5 million, some PWHL players are being forced into new markets, sometimes with a higher cost of living and farther from familial support while making less than $40,000 a year.
In many ways, the NWSL's collective agreement gave players complete control over their future, including mandating that players consent to any proposed trade before it can be completed. Restricted free agency was also removed, along with any other caveats that stopped players, whether they were rookies, or seasoned veterans, from moving where they want upon the conclusion of an existing contract. The PWHLPA and PWHL's reported move to prioritize player choice is a step in this direction, and also a step in rectifying some of the flaws in the original systems used that were inequitable among the players.
When inaugural teams were being formed, only 18 players across the league were given the opportunity to have choice in where they would play, while the 90 players chosen in the 2023 PWHL Draft had no choice in where they would play. There were a few exceptions, like Toronto's Natalie Spooner who was granted "compassionate circumstances" and was permitted to stay in Toronto via a league prescribed selection position in the draft. For some stars in the sport, however, like Olympic gold medalists Melodie Daoust and Amanda Kessel, the inability to choose their own fate in the PWHL ultimately ended their careers. Daoust applied for compassionate circumstances to remain with her family in Quebec, but was denied. With choice, athletes like Daoust and Kessel would likely still be impact players in the league.
Last season when the PWHL expanded for the first time, limited protections were provided for players. Teams were permitted to protect three players, albeit without the consent of those players who may have preferred to leave via expansion. That was followed by an exclusive signing window where Seattle and Vancouver each had the opportunity to sign up to five players who were unprotected. While it presented a choice between the two expansion markets for a handful of unprotected players, it was, at the core, a catch-22. It's likely almost all of the players who inked out west during that period would have been selected in the expansion draft anyway. The only benefit to signing during the exclusive window, is it gave some players the opportunity to negotiate a raise.
The league's inaugural collective bargaining agreement was voted on by what now accounts for only 21.2% of players in the PWHL this season. The bulk of the players anticipated to join the league in year one were not permitted to vote on the CBA, while some who never stepped foot in the PWHL did vote on the agreement. Now however, as a true collective, it appears the PWHLPA is stronger, and making real strides that benefit all players in choosing their path.
If Underwood's assertions to PWHLPA members stand true, a shift toward a series of signing windows that would give players choice in their future is a massive win for players, and for a league who hopes to entice more players to choose the PWHL over remaining in Europe.
It also avoids a group of players being passed from market to market to market each year, a process which would almost certainly lead to player attrition in the long run. In particular, in consecutive years of expansion, players who joined Seattle and Vancouver last year in the process, are still destined to move yet again. Giving even some choice in that process is positive.
The plans made by the PWHLPA and PWHL were done on the belief four new teams will be entering this season, which will cause a seismic shift in the league. Allowing players to choose whether they stay in their current market, test the waters in free agency with one of the existing eight franchises, or jump to a new team, is progress. It may not be perfect in this round, but it's progress for the players.
This shift by the PWHLPA and PWHL in how the league approaches expansion is the union's biggest victory to date. It's a major step forward for players in the control over their own careers, particularly in a league that will almost certainly continue to grow in the coming decade.