PWHL Mailbag: Expansion, Player Movement, And The Draft Top Of Mind For Fans

With the amount of PWHL news being churned out each day, it's hard to keep up. There will be five new coaches across the league, and four new general managers, along with the already announced four new teams expanding to Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and Seattle.

The expansion process, which is highly complex, opens June 2, although the league has not formally announced the rules less than a week ahead. And then there's the PWHL Draft where no one, including general managers who must base their plans on the information the league provides, knows how many rounds, or even the order of selection for the June 17 Draft in Detroit.

The PWHL is a last minute league, or at least they like to communicate last minute. It adds to fan speculation, and even speculation from players and staff who feel equally in the dark. 

Which is why it was a good time for a PWHL mailbag. Here's some of the questions on the minds of fans this week.

Flipping this one on you. If the Ottawa Charge don't protect Rebecca Leslie, will she really have a choice? The PWHL and PWHLPA have communicated this is a player-centered expansion process maximizing player choice, but in some ways, there might actually be less choice for players in this round of expansion than last year. Each team can still lose up to four signed players. Some of those won't be at the behest of the players; instead, it will be them being "drafted" by expansion teams. The PWHL and PWHLPA seem against using the term "draft," as drafts are decidedly anti-labor, but in Phase 2, it seems unfathomable that expansion teams leave projected unprotected players like Nicole Gosling, Alina Muller, Kendall Cooper, Maddie Rooney, Jesse Compher, Kati Tabin, and yes, Rebecca Leslie unselected. Leslie may not want to leave Ottawa, but not all players will get to choose their destination or fate in expansion.

Daryl Watts is going to get paid. She hasn't in the past, including somehow, Watts signing contracts that have completely undervalued herself. That's about to change, however, as there's no world where Daryl Watts isn't making at least $100,000 next season either in Toronto, or via an Expansion Franchise Offer. Her earning could be limited by the expansion process, as Toronto won't need to offer Watts much north of $100,000, although if they don't, it could spite her and cause her to allow herself to be selected by an expansion team using an EFO. The other question is, how tight was her connection to Troy Ryan? He was the coach that put her on Team Canada. But then again, Gina Kingsbury was the GM who put her on Team Canada. Or then again, Watts could also stay in the region and get her pay day from Hamilton to be the superstar there. She's one of the most skilled players in the league and deserves to be treated that way financially. So far she's yet to recoup the money she lost when the PHF folded from the $150,000 contract she'd signed with the Toronto Six. For her last contract, whether anyone will speak it aloud or not, the carrot of Team Canada was dangled and Watts took less money to get on the national team by coming to Toronto. With Ryan gone, and her Team Canada spot cemented for the next half decade, now it's about Watts getting the money she deserves, whether that's in Toronto, San Jose, Hamilton, Detroit, or somewhere else.

The PWHL wanted big American markets in this expansion, and whenever they get around to growing to 16 teams, they'll want more. Chicago failed so miserably in the process that they avoided getting a team. Denver flopped, Dallas flopped. But when those markets see the continued growth of the league, they'll be back, and perhaps this time with better offers for the league.

Los Angeles itself is a challenge, although the Kia Forum, former home to the Kings and Lakers could factor in. That venue however, hasn't housed a full time team of any kind in 25 years. The cost to bring it back to hockey could be prohibitive. A team could play in Anaheim or Long Beach, and the market is almost certainly on the league's radar. But given the fact the league looked closely at San Diego, and ultimately landed in San Jose, it's clear there was a notable issue in Los Angeles. Otherwise, Mark Walter who owns the PWHL, alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Sparks would have certainly moved to make it happen. 

As for Florida, it makes 100% sense that the league will look south in the east. But they'll also look to dive deeper to the mountain or central time zones, and continue eyeing western markets when they choose to go to 16 teams. That will include another conversation with Canada's western markets.

Either Miami or Tampa Bay could factor in for a potential Florida team, but the list will be even longer next time as the league now has multiple seasons to hunt, rather than six months to sprint. In the east, the Florida markets, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Raleigh, Columbus, Indianapolis, Washington, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee among other markets, make sense to explore. And certainly as you go West, the league will want something in Texas, whether it's Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston. Houston is an intriguing market, but venue is going to be the biggest question, especially if the market gains an NHL team. When the league jumped at Las Vegas, San Jose, and Detroit in the United States and put a team in Hamilton, it told us something important — the league was hyper focused on US broadcasting. They picked three big American markets, and a Canadian market that will draw the Buffalo market into play. This league is going to continue testing markets through the Takeover Tour, and talking to others to prepare for future expansion.

The PWHL is in good standing in Canada with TSN, Sportsnet, CBC, and French broadcasters, alongside streaming on Amazon Prime.

One thing they league doesn't have there is longterm security. The league has stepped up to "prove-it" asks time and again. More consistency however, is necessary.

With the brevity of the PWHL season, many fans watch almost every game, not just the games of their specific teams. It's why slicing up broadcasting deals by market may not work, but fans also aren't happy needing to pay for 3-4 separate platforms to get one game a week in Canada. PWHL fans have stepped up for tickets, they've stepped up for merchandise, and yes, they've stepped up to pay to see games through streaming platforms. It's time the PWHL returns the favor by ensuring the game stays accessible not just in the United States, where all games remain free for fans on YouTube, but also in Canada. In the United States, the next step is a linear network television deal.

As it stands for the PWHL and national broadcasting in the USA, the league is closing in on a deal. Or at least, they're taking steps in that direction. It might not be as robust as deals the WNBA or NWSL have, but it would be shocking to not see the league picked up by ION and Scripps Sports after they expanded their partnership down the stretch, beginning with a Takeover Tour game in Detroit and running through the playoffs. It was a major success for the league who is looking for a partner. Selling the Takeover Tour as its own broadcasting entity could be another pathway for national broadcasting to start, with a spattering of games in other core markets now that the PWHL has seven American markets.

It might help if the PWHL adds, now that expansion is set to slow, other premiere events like an All-Star game and skills competition, and outdoor game, items that will continue to add interest without needing to rewrite the CBA.

Speaking of the CBA, broadcasting might turn into a bit of a chicken or the egg situation with a renegotiated CBA. If the PWHL signs a multi-million dollar broadcasting deal, and the players, who will get nothing from such a deal under the current CBA, see that they're losing out, it could cause a rift that threatens play. Revising the CBA alongside the push for broadcasting will certainly give the league more stability on and off the ice for the next decade, and could allow the league to play out this CBA without a fight. 

I'd expect some form of national deal in place for next season. If they don't, I'd question if the league sticks to their word about multi-season pause in expansion, or if they look for other key markets in the US sooner than expected. Alternatively, the PWHL might find a way to increase the schedule length beyond the 32 game cap in the CBA to add more American Takeover Tour games, spreading their footprint in other ways. This year's expansion was a clear sign that they are targeting the United States bringing the Detroit, Las Vegas, Bay Area, and Buffalo (Hamilton) markets into the fold.

Absolutely not. New York has struggled for attendance compared to other teams in the league, but they continue to steadily grow, albeit slowly. I see nothing wrong in New York, not in the market, and not in the operation of the team. Ideal? Perhaps not, as Newark probably isn't the dream spot. But this is a team that continues to grab a foothold. If they can get more weekend dates, and perhaps make Madison Square Garden an annual event, ideally one played earlier in the season to grab interest, this team will keep growing.

In fact, if it weren't for the PWHL's rapid expansion, the Sirens likely would be a contending team already, as they are actually building a hockey team the way it's meant to be done. The league's consistently inconsistent plans and processes, however, have thrown a wrench into all logical roster building and development processes. New York drafts well, and they've made in-season moves when needed. Now it's about the league allowing them to keep the young and talented core they've started to mold together.

There is no world where New York doesn't have and sustain a PWHL team. They aren't going anywhere.

Unless the PWHL has quietly changed rules again (which is highly plausible), Wallin is a free agent. She was cut by Seattle after camp making her an unrestricted free agent, and her rights don't transfer to Ottawa.

Draft picks need to be signed to have the two-year rights retained by a team. Because she wasn't Ottawa's pick, she's a free agent. For draft picks who were signed, this offseason they must be qualified if they aren't already on a multi-year contract. We've seen picks go either way in recent years like Noemi Neubauerova, who wasn't qualified in Toronto, went to Europe for a season in Switzerland, and signed down the stretch for Boston's playoff run.

I don't think Wallin will be back in Ottawa.

How many rounds? I believe it should be five, equalling 60 players, but that's unlikely. Anything bigger than five rounds will result in a lot of players having greatly reduced hopes of making the team that picks them. Players who are going to be fighting for a roster spot deserve free agency and choice. The PWHL is hugging the NHL model here, but it makes zero sense since the only reason the NHL model works is because drafted players get developed for multiple seasons in the NCAA, CHL, or Europe, with guidance from their NHL clubs, followed by the AHL and ECHL before the big league for most. The PWHL has none of that infrastructure, so being drafted late is actually a detriment to the career of a young player who has their options cut off. Most GMs believe it will stay at a six round draft, although the number seven, which seems obscenely large with so much uncertainty at that point in the player pool, has been circling as well.

As for draft order? Who knows. I firmly believe the PWHL has yet to decide. Last year they didn't know until 11 days before the draft, and it came after weeks of fans screaming for Seattle and Vancouver to pick 7th and 8th after we saw the talent they picked up via expansion. At this point, I would not be surprised to see the PWHL wait until the conclusion of Phase 2 on June 8 to announce their plans once they've seen the strength of players the four expansion teams were able to acquire as their foundation. I do believe the league will leave non-playoff teams picking 1-4. It's what happens next that's in question. It wouldn't be surprising to see the expansion teams picking 5-8, and playoff teams 9-12. But it's all wait and see.

Much like GMs, the PWHL has been on all levels of staffing for PWHL expansion teams for a while. They had a huge pool of coaching candidates who have coninued to apply, or informally throw their names into the conversations the last two years. Their are assistant coaches in the PWHL that had interviews to fill coaching jobs in the PWHL as well. Certainly the GMs are the biggest component of this, and they'll now get to make their final choice, albeit with league approval, for who to hire as a new head coach.. 

In the Toronto area names like Alison Domenico, Vicky Sunohara, Rachel Flanagan, and Britni Smith should be considered frontrunners for both Toronto and Hamilton. Duggan may draw on past connections however like Brianna Decker, Paul Mara, Molly Engstrom, Shelley Looney, Tara Watchorn, or Julie Chu. Decker, who was an assistant in Minnesota this year feels like an obvious choice, and Engstrom could probably be lured away from Maine. Mara is an intriguing option coming from the New York Rangers, although the PWHL itself has shown a consistently staunch blackballing of former PHF staff, and Mara was the coach of the Boston Pride for years.

It's hard to know what was behind Steven O'Rourke's departure as head coach as he had another season remaining on his contract. What's obvious however, is that he wasn't able to get the highly talented Torrent roster on the same page. In year one, Alex Carpenter and members of the New York Sirens petitioned the league to fire Howie Draper mid-season. He and New York also "parted ways" when the season was done. It's possible something similar happened in Seattle, but there was a majority belief among other coaches and GMs I've talked to that Seattle was built with skill, but that it would take a masterful staff to manage the number of Torrent picks and signees who carried reputations as "me-first" players from their previous teams.

Tying this up to the question about Olivia Wallin, Seattle also had a disastrous draft, not only in who they picked, but in how they dealt with those picks. Wallin, Jada Habisch, Lily Delianedis, Jenna Buglioni, Lyndie Lobdell — none were picked where they should have been in the draft, and once they joined Seattle, none were given any hope of development. It was a complete mess and Seattle will stay a bottom feeder if they can't do better. Perhaps O'Rourke's inability to develop Seattle's rookies in season was another reason he lasted only a single season.

The fan base was incredible this season in Seattle, but they're also a smart enough fan base to not accept what they got this year. With Meghan Turner coming from Boston, I don't believe she'll be afraid to expose a few stars. Despite the fact Hilary Knight and Carpenter both expressed a desire to stay in Seattle during year end media availability, It will be hard for Turner to look at her roster and believe those are the two players to protect, when signing them immediately means Seattle is destined to lose their best young players. I think Turner's going to make the smarter choice like Danielle Marmer did in protecting the three players she thinks she can build best around moving forward, even if it means, as it did last season, leaving future Hall of Famer Hilary Knight exposed to be picked by yet another expansion team where she can go and continue to build the league. And perhaps we're about to see a coach with professional experience step behind the bench in Seattle. It worked in re-shaping Boston's fate with the hiring of Kris Sparre. But Seattle needs a stronger voice, one who can pull the Torrent's stars together. If they find that, Seattle could be a very dangerous team next season.