With the first-ever eight-team PWHL season fast approaching next month, the pro women’s hockey league unveiled the inaugural jerseys for incoming 2025/26 expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver on Tuesday.
The new teams will wear jerseys displaying their city names across the front, following suit after the six founding PWHL franchises debuted without original names or branding during their inaugural 2023/24 campaign.
Per this week's press release, Seattle's colors are "deep slate green and cream with a river blue accent," while Vancouver will sport "pacific blue and cream with an earthy bronze accent."
In addition to "allowing fans to immediately identify with their hometown's newest professional team," PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer explained in a Tuesday statement that "These designs also connect our expansion teams to the league's foundation while they continue building their own traditions and ties to the community."
While the PWHL will reveal the full team identities — complete with names and logos — before the puck drops on the 2025/26 season on November 21st, Seattle and Vancouver will play in their generic branding until next season.
How to purchase PWHL Seattle and Vancouver jerseys
The dark-colored replica home jerseys for both Seattle and Vancouver are currently available for purchase alongside all PWHL merch at the league's online shop.
The 2025/26 PWHL season schedule arrived on Wednesday, with the pro hockey league preparing to hit the ice coast-to-coast for the first time ever when its third season begins on Friday, November 21st.
In celebration of the PWHL's two new West Coast teams, the season-opening doubleheader will feature the first-ever game between incoming expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver, who will face off after the back-to-back reigning champion Minnesota Frost takes on the Toronto Sceptres.
"We can't wait for puck drop to see the impact our new and returning players will make, and to deliver a competitive season with even more games for fans to enjoy," said PWHL EVP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford in a league statement.
While each team will again play 30 games on this season's schedule, the increase of the PWHL lineup from six to eight teams means that the 2025/26 campaign will span 120 total games — a 30-game increase over the league's second season.
The 2025/26 PWHL regular season will run through April 25th, though the league will pause play from January 29th to February 25th to allow for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with more than 50 PWHL players expected to compete for international glory in Italy.
How to buy tickets for the 2025/26 PWHL season
While season passes for each of the league's eight teams are available now, single-game tickets to all 120 PWHL clashes will go on sale on October 14th.
All tickets for the 2025/26 season will be available online.
The PWHL is gearing up for a blockbuster third season, with the pro hockey league reporting surging season ticket sales across all markets — and 2025/26 expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver are leading the charge.
PWHL executive board member Stan Kasten told Sports Business Journal last week that each of the new teams amassed more than 5,000 season ticket deposits for the 2025/26 campaign as of May, fueling growth throughout the emerging league.
"In every city this year — every city — we have sold more season tickets than we had last year," Kasten said. "The two expansion teams we added this year are just the two leaders of what is going to become a movement. We are going to be adding more teams much sooner than other people thought because the demand is there, the players are there."
The league is also banking on the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics to boost interest, with more than 50 current PWHL players expected to take the global stage in Italy this February.
"I expect it to be a really important milestone for us," Kasten said of the Winter Games earlier this summer. "It should be a really special time for our league, and I hope a launchpad for the next phase of our development."
The PWHL hit a new single-season salary record, with the Associated Press reporting that the contract extension inked by Ottawa Charge forward Emily Clark last week pushes her 2025/26 season payday north of the $100,000 mark.
The two-year extension will keep Clark in Ottawa through the PWHL's fifth season in 2027/28.
While the specific amount is not public, the restructuring of Clark's third-season pay — the last on her initial PWHL contract — will reportedly net her the highest single-season salary in league history.
"We know what she brings. She's really the heart and soul of our organization," Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld told the AP.
A two-time Olympian who earned 2018 silver and 2022 gold with Team Canada, Clark is the only player to have taken the ice in every Charge game to date. The 29-year-old was second on Ottawa's 2024/25 scoresheet with nine goals and 10 assists in last season's 30 games.
"I am proud to have been part of this organization from the inaugural season, and I am really grateful to get to extend my contract," Clark said in a statement. "Playing for such a passionate fan base made it easy for me to want more time here.... After coming up just short of the Walter Cup last season, I am as motivated as ever to work to bring a championship in Ottawa."
While the PWHL requires a minimum salary of $35,000, the league does not set any individual maximum pay.
The only other figures that PWHL front offices must abide by are the $1.3 million-per-team 2025/26 salary cap, and a CBA mandate that at least six players on each squad must earn a minimum of $80,000.
Next season, Clark will be one of nine PWHL players making a six-figure salary, as the league expands from six to eight teams.
Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin has won the 2024/25 PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award, the league announced at its end-of-season ceremony on Wednesday.
Poulin beat out Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and former Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight for the honor, becoming the PWHL's first-ever two-time MVP finalist in the process.
The prolific forward never saw three straight games without a point this season, leading the league in scoring with 19 goals on the season — a tally that comprised an impressive 25.7% of Montréal's 2024/25 goals.
The awards cap a banner year for the Canadian national, who also picked up 2025 IIHF Player of the Year as well as MVP honors at April's IIHF Women's World Championship.
Wednesday's win also keeps the PWHL MVP award in Canada, with Poulin joining inaugural winner and Toronto Sceptres forward Natalie Spooner as the league's first two top individual honorees.
Along with her MVP trophy, the 34-year-old also snagged this season's Forward of the Year honor, while Fast scored the PWHL Defender of the Year title.
Montréal ultimately claimed the most hardware of the night, with manager Kori Cheverie taking home the season's Coach of the Year title while Poulin's Victoire teammate Ann-Renée Desbiens earned the Goaltender of the Year award.
As for the 2024/25 season's best debutant, last year's No. 1 draftee Sarah Fillier snagged the Rookie of the Year title following a stellar first pro season with the New York Sirens.
The 2025 PWHL Draft spotlighted the wealth of women's hockey talent currently rising through the ranks, as the league ushered in its third rookie class on Tuesday night.
With the first overall pick, the New York Sirens selected Colgate University alum Kristýna Kaltounková, after the 23-year-old Czech forward finished her college career as the team's all-time leading scorer.
"Coming from such a small town in the Czech Republic, it's a great honor," Kaltounková said after the announcement.
The PWHL's eight teams selected a total of 48 players across the Draft's six rounds, with 43 draftees coming out of the NCAA system.
Ohio State produced the most 2025 prospects with six selected players, after the Buckeyes won two of the last four national titles.
Of the five non-NCAA recruits, four made the leap from international pro leagues in Sweden and Russia, while one player joins the PWHL from the University of British Columbia.
With two of the eight first-round picks, New York played the Draft's most aggressive hand, trading defender Ella Shelton to Toronto in order to receive the Sceptres' third and 27th overall picks.
Due to that deal, the Sirens also snagged 2024/25 NCAA MVP Casey O'Brien, a three-time national champion and the Wisconsin Badgers' all-time leading scorer.
New York also traded top forward Abby Roque to Montréal before the 2025 PWHL Draft, receiving forward Kristin O'Neill and Tuesday's 28th overall pick in return.
With league expansion widening this year's PWHL talent pool, college programs have stepped up to fill the gaps as the professional game grows.
The 2025 PWHL Draft has arrived, as the newly expanded eight-team league kicks off its third entry draft on Tuesday while continuing to stock rosters with new signings and front office reshuffling.
Incoming expansion teams Vancouver and Seattle named their head coaches in recent weeks, with the Canadian squad bringing on former St. Cloud State University coach Brian Idalski while Seattle tapped Steve O'Rourke, ex-leader of Ontario men's junior league side Oshawa Generals.
Players are also on the move, with the June 16th opening of the league-wide trade and signing window sending postseason standouts like Ottawa's Danielle Serdachny and Montréal's Mikyla Grant-Mentis to join US hockey legend Hilary Knight in Seattle.
Meanwhile, Toronto star Sarah Nurse and Montréal's Jennifer Gardiner will head to Vancouver.
Other notable signings include Boston snagging back-to-back PWHL title-winning goalscorer Liz Schepers from Minnesota, and deals sending Ottawa forward Shiann Darkangelo to Montréal and Boston defender Sidney Morin to Minnesota.
Teams have also been busy locking in veterans, with the likes of Montréal's Catherine Dubois and Toronto's Natalie Spooner — the league's 2024 Billie Jean King MVP winner — inking contract extensions with their squads.
The next step in finalizing 2025/26 PWHL rosters is Tuesday's Draft, in which 48 incoming players will earn selection by one of the eight teams across six rounds of picks.
For the second straight year, the New York Sirens hold the first pick, with reigning champion Minnesota and the expansion teams bringing up the rear of the selection order.
With a bevy of young talent available, Tuesday's No. 1 pick will likely be one of three NCAA standouts, as Wisconsin's all-time leading scorer and three-time national champion Casey O'Brien, Colgate's scoring leader Kristýna Kaltounková, and Team USA and Clarkson defender Haley Winn are all top candidates to earn the first 2025 call-up.
How to watch the 2025 PWHL Draft tonight
The 2025 PWHL Entry Draft begins at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with live coverage streaming on YouTube.
Incoming PWHL teams Seattle and Vancouver are one step closer to their 2025/26 season debuts, as Monday's first-ever expansion draft capped a busy trade window to bring each new franchise's roster to 12 players.
Seasoned veterans and young prospects alike found themselves on the move last week, with notable names like former Boston Fleet captain Hilary Knight and New York Sirens vet Alex Carpenter bound for Seattle while Toronto Sceptres standout Sarah Nurse will head to Vancouver.
Each of the six founding PWHL teams could only protect three players ahead of the league's aggressive expansion process, with most front offices opting to prioritize speed and parity.
Team Canada's 2022 Olympic gold medalist Ashton Bell of the 2025 Walter Cup runners-up Ottawa Charge went first in Monday's PWHL expansion draft, with brought each original team's roster losses up to four total players.
Five of last year's six first-round entry draft picks are now en route to either Seattle or Vancouver, with only No. 1 overall selectee Sarah Fillier remaining with her original New York team.
"Selfishly, I'm very excited," Seattle GM Meghan Turner said after Monday's final selection. "I think it's a great roster that we've built so far."
Both Seattle and Vancouver will see their rosters nearly double to the league's 23-athlete tally later this month, when the expansion teams will join the founding six teams in snagging talent from the PWHL's June 24th entry draft.
The PWHL's expansion process incentivizes new teams to hit the ice ready to compete, though its impact on the league's existing clubs will likely not be clear until the puck drops on the 2025/26 season.
The puck has officially dropped on the PWHL expansion process, with existing teams releasing protected players lists as incoming 2025/26 franchises Seattle and Vancouver begin to build rosters.
The teams' exclusive signing window opened Wednesday morning and runs through Sunday, with the 2025 Expansion Draft set for Monday evening.
Both Seattle and Vancouver can sign up to five players each from the league's unprotected and free agency pool this week.
Regardless of how many athletes the franchises choose to sign, the expansion process requires that the new teams grow their rosters to 12 total players by the end of Monday's draft, before completing their 23-athlete lineups alongside the other six teams during the June 24th PWHL entry draft.
The six founding PWHL clubs could only list three protected players for this week's signing window and next week's expansion draft, forcing some difficult roster decisions.
The Boston Fleet did not opt to add captain Hilary Knight to the protected players list — despite the 35-year-old leading the league in scoring this season — with New York's Alex Carpenter and Toronto's Sarah Nurse also headlining the unprotected list.
With growth front-of-mind, the PWHL Players Association also announced that its members voted late last week to publicly disclose their salaries — a move expected to aid negotiations during this week's signing window.
"This will be a tool for players as they consider opportunities across the league," PWHLPA executive director Malaika Underwood told The Athletic.
The Minnesota Frost are back-to-back PWHL champions, taking down the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in Game 4 of the league's best-of-five Finals to lift the Walter Cup for the second time on Monday.
All bouts in the 2025 PWHL Finals were overtime affairs that finished in 2-1 results, with No. 3-seed Ottawa claiming Game 1 before the No. 4-seed Frost swept the next three games to claim the 2024/25 league title.
Monday's deciding matchup saw forward Kelly Pannek give Minnesota their first lead of the entire series by striking first in the second period before Ottawa forward Tereza Vanišová equalized in the third to force overtime.
Following 12 extra minutes of play, Frost forward Liz Schepers netted the game-winner — doing so for the second year in a row — to secure the Walter Cup in front of a Minnesota home crowd of 11,024 fans.
"I'll win anywhere. It's always fun — but to get to do it at home is extra special," said Frost defenseman Lee Stecklein following the Memorial Day victory.
Frost's Stecklein, Charge's Philips top PWHL Playoffs stat sheet
Stecklein finished the postseason as the league's scoring leader, notching four goals and four assists to finish atop the Frost-laden skaters' table with eight points — narrowly surpassing the seven points posted by teammates Sophie Jaques (two goals, five assists) and Taylor Heise (one goal, six assists).
On the other hand, Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips led all net-minders on the PWHL's postseason stat sheet while playing the most minutes between the pipes in league history.
The rookie's failure to drop a single game in regulation throughout the Charge's eight playoff matchups helped earn her the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award, despite Monday's series loss.
Notably, Minnesota's second straight PWHL championship belies the Frost's underdog status.
After needing another team's downfall to even squeak into the playoffs, doing to on the last day of the regular season, Minnesota got hot at just the right time to retain their singular hold on the second-year league's title.
"It's the belief we have in the room," Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said after the win. "It's hard to put into words. I think when you look at the way we won, it takes everybody."