The PWHL offices are coming off a summer vacation, so any backlogged announcements they could come in the next few days. 

The league office has an incredible number of tasks to get to this offseason. Scheduling has only ever been announced in the Fall. But there will be added pressure to get dates ironed out sooner with four new markets. 

Those markets will need names and logos, they also all need staff and a significant number of signings, whether it’s free agents or draft picks need to be completed. Speaking of signings…some of those are complete and will be announced in the coming days. The big names are off the market, but draft picks are working on contracts, and most teams continue to work on filling out their depth.

There will be other considerations with signings, including the PWHL's 19-player offseason roster limit, restricting each team to 19-players signed before the opening of training camp. 19 players could actually turn out to be an even smaller percentage than usual of a PWHL roster given the other proposed changes being considered.

The PWHL is considering potentially going from 23-player rosters with three reserves, to a 24-player roster with two reserves. 

With no farm system available, teams are frequently activating players from reserve as it is.

It also gets one additional player a full time contract. 

Any change, however, will have salary cap implications. It’s likely that a player signed to a contract as a team’s 24th player, would be on a contract near league minimum. By adding a lower tier contract, it also allows teams to spend more at the top of their roster since the team cap is based on player average salary. 

But wait…

There apparently is a third potential option, which would be a 25 player roster, with no reserves. 

In many ways, it’s an option that has gained a lot of support. Reserves, who have made only $15,000, can’t afford to live on that, particularly as it comes without benefits or housing. 

With three options on the table, including staying with the current system of 23 + 3, moving to a 24 + 2 system, or removing reserves altogether in a 25 + 0 plan, there's a lot to consider both in how it impacts current salary cap averages, and how it supports the league's player pool. 

Both alterations would also involve a fundamental change to the PWHL's collective bargaining agreement, unless the rule states that teams must start the season with 25 contracts but are only mandated to have the currently negotiated 23 players signed. This is a more likely scenario while the league test runs any plan.

With a 19-player offseason signing limit, and the PWHL's achilles heel of waiting until the final possible minute before making split decisions, it's unlikely the PWHL will formalize any change until the Fall.

Summer leagues are underway in Montreal, British Columbia, and Minnesota featuring some of the PWHL's best in action. Living Sisu Hockey League in Montreal features many of the Walter Cup winning Victoire including Laura Stacey, Abby Roque, Jessie Eldridge and Emma Maltais, among others. The league also features PWHL players from New York, Las Vegas, Detroit and Seattle.

British Columbia's Fraser Valley league also features PWHL picks and players from Vancouver, Seattle, Ottawa, and Minnesota. 

Finally, Da Beauty League in Minnesota is entering its final season of action. Rosters have yet to be announced, but last summer featured soon-to-be Olympians including Rory Guilday, Grace Zumwinkle, Britta Curl-Salemme, and more than a dozen others who played in the PWHL last season. The summer league's schedule promo this season, with the league beginning play July 15, featured an image of Taylor Heise.

While the length of the PWHL offseason is excruciating, European teams and leagues are already honing in on getting back to competition. The first stop of the Womens's Euro Hockey Tour is just over a month away scheduled for August 19-22 in Switzerland. With the growing number of PWHL players coming from the top four European nations, it's possible there could be more than 30 PWHL players in lineups when this tournament opens.

The SDHL is hosting their kick-off media event only days after on August 25 with the start to their 2026-27 season beginning, likely, the following week. Switzerland's PostFinance Women's League will drop the puck September 12, the same day Finland's Auroraliiga will drop the puck as well.

While nothing has been announced, it's expected at least one, if not both Rivalry Series dates will take place in September and October this year as well for Canada and USA as it will be the only chance the teams have to prepare for the newly scheduled World Championships in Denmark from November 6-16.