The PWHL continues to make women’s sports history, as the players association voted to publicly disclose their salaries in an effort to promote transparency.
“This decision reflects our belief that greater salary transparency gives players clearer information and stronger context in individual negotiations, while also supporting a more transparent and credible marketplace for the league overall,” said PWHLPA executive director Malaika Underwood.
Only 10 PWHL players made more than $100,000 last season, led by Ottawa’s Emily Clark at $126,090 and New York’s Sarah Fillier at $125,000.
Reigning Walter Cup winner Montréal averaged just under $58,000 per player, with captain Marie-Philip Poulin and other top-paid stars opting to take pay cuts to maximize team depth.
Many players earned closer to the league low of $37,131.50, with 17 players on minimum contracts while others hovered around $40,000.
The 2026 PWHL playoffs brought the heat over the weekend, while the league also announced plans to add four teams via a new process that scraps the traditional PWHL expansion draft.
Two-time Walter Cup winner Minnesota took a 1-0 series lead over top-seeded Montréal with Saturday's 5-4 overtime victory. Jincy Roese scored the game-winner after Laura Stacey recorded the first hat trick in PWHL playoffs history for the Victoire.
Elsewhere, Ottawa evened its series against Boston 1-1 behind goalie Gwyneth Philips's 30-save performance.
The PWHL playoffs opened with intense physicality, as officials called 29 penalties through three games — including two majors and at least one suspension. Boston's Rylind MacKinnon subsequently served a one-game suspension for head contact against Ottawa's Gabbie Hughes.
"This series will be so tight," Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod said after Game 2's 3-1 finish. "We've seen it and we've said after last game, it's going to be hard-fought."
"Our players battle hard," Frost manager Ken Klee said after Game 1's 5-4 overtime win. "Sometimes it's us making mistakes, or other times it's just them making great plays."
PWHL Looks to Add Four Teams Without Expansion Draft
According to documents obtained by The Athletic, the PWHL expansion process will begin May 28th with multiple signing windows instead of an expansion draft. The league aims to give players more autonomy while adding four teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Expansion teams can now issue Expansion Franchise Offers — guaranteed contracts worth at least $100,000 with player-determined length up to four years. Teams may also hand out Foundational Player Offers worth $80,000 minimum over two years, with players free to decline the offers.
Unlike the previous expansion draft, existing teams can protect three players initially, then three more for a total of six throughout the five-phase process. However, teams can't lose more than four contracted players.
"Our approach has been thoughtful and player-focused, and we'll share more details at the appropriate time," the PWHL said in a statement.
Vancouver won the No. 1 pick in the June 17th PWHL entry draft, with Wisconsin and Team USA star defender Caroline Harvey expected to go first.
The PWHL has reached a new milestone, drawing more than 1 million fans during the 2025/26 season, signaling unprecedented professional women's hockey league growth as the league enters its third Walter Cup playoffs.
The league welcomed 1,116,497 spectators across 120 regular season games. Average attendance jumped 28% over last season to 9,304 fans per game — up 71% over its inaugural run in 2024.
Two PWHL expansion franchises drove much of this season's women's professional hockey surge. The Seattle Torrent led all teams with 12,875 fans per game at Climate Pledge Arena, while the Vancouver Goldeneyes averaged 11,234 at Pacific Coliseum. Both clubs additionally generated the highest first-year merchandise revenue in PWHL history.
The league also capitalized on Olympic momentum after February's women's hockey tournament in Milan. Players from around the world returned to a thriving domestic competition, with the PWHL strategically scheduling its season around the Winter Games.
"We knew this moment was going to be big for us and felt that this could be a game changer," PWHL EVP Amy Scheer told The Athletic.
The league's Takeover Tour brought games to 16 neutral sites, drawing 200,000 fans across seven untapped markets. Madison Square Garden and Climate Pledge Arena both set new US attendance records with sellout crowds, while Detroit hosted the first PWHL game aired on national TV.
Digital engagement exploded alongside ticket sales. YouTube viewership climbed 77% with fans tuning in from 154 countries — up from 106 last season. In-person merchandise sales also doubled, while online purchases jumped 50%, with post-Olympics sales surging 190% over the same period in 2025.
The 2026 PWHL postseason field is set, as Ottawa joined No. 1 Montréal, No. 2 Boston, and two-time defending champion No. 3 Minnesota with Saturday’s 3-0 win over Toronto.
The Victoire earned the No. 1 overall seed after a six-round 2-1 shootout win over Seattle on Saturday, opting to face Minnesota in this week’s best-of-five semifinal series.
“[Results] going all the way to the very end on the last day, I think it speaks to the quality of every single team in this league,” said Montréal head coach Kori Cheverie.
Four teams qualify for the Walter Cup playoffs, with the No. 1 seed earning both home ice and first opponent choice advantage.
However, the lower seed has gone on to win all four of the third-year league’s previous semifinals — putting the Victoire and Fleet on watch.
The Frost will look to lean on star Kelly Pannek, after the forward finished the regular season as the PWHL’s Points and Goals Leader.
“I think the mindset is celebrating the wins of the regular season, the successes we’ve had,” said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield on Saturday. “Now let’s turn the page, and the new season begins — and that’s playoff hockey. That’s the best hockey that there is.”
How to Watch the 2026 PWHL Playoffs
The Walter Cup playoffs kick off Thursday at 7 PM ET, live on YouTube.
Five-time Olympian Hilary Knight took the stage at last week's US Soccer's SheBelieves Summit in Seattle, fresh off a whirlwind two months that included winning Olympic gold, multiple TV appearances, and a PWHL season unlike any before.
Knight captained Team USA to an overtime victory against Canada in February's 2026 Olympic women's ice hockey final. The 36-year-old forward described the win as fueled by unwavering conviction.
"The level of conviction that we were going to win that game never wavered," Knight said during her keynote conversation with women's soccer icon Julie Foudy.
What followed Olympic glory proved equally extraordinary. Knight delivered the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, appeared on the Tonight Show, and attended the Academy Awards. Later, TIME Magazine named her one of its Most Influential People.
But Knight says the most meaningful post-Olympics experience has been returning to the PWHL with Seattle. The league launched three years ago and played its inaugural season in 2024. Knight and her Seattle teammates went on to set a US attendance record just last month, when more than 18,000 fans packed Madison Square Garden for the first pro women's hockey game at the iconic venue.
"What's so cool and unique now is after the Olympic Games, we get to play in a professional season and return to that," Knight said. "To finally have a league, the structure and the facility behind us, to be able to take those big moments by storm — it's so incredible."
The PWHL success mirrors hockey's growth across women's sports. Youth hockey registration has surged since the league's formation, Knight noted, as young players can now see a clear professional future.
"Seeing all these younger faces in the stands who understand that now they have a career path is pretty special," she told the SheBelieves Summit crowd.
As the 2025/26 PWHL regular season winds down, individual scoring records continue to fall in quick succession — with Hayley Scamurra driving the trend.
Just days after Vancouver’s Jenn Gardiner set the single-game scoring record with four goals against Seattle, the Team USA forward scored the fastest hat trick in league history in Montréal’s 4-3 defeat to the Goldeneyes.
The Olympic gold medalist scored her trio of third-period goals in just two minutes and 44 seconds — also becoming the league’s first player to register a hat trick in a losing effort.
Scamurra’s Victoire can afford the slip-up, sitting atop the PWHL standings heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale with its postseason ticket already punched.
Boston and defending champion Minnesota await Montréal in the 2026 PWHL playoffs, with Seattle, Vancouver, and New York eliminated from contention while Toronto and Ottawa battle for the fourth and final postseason slot.
“It will be like a playoff game before the playoffs,” Ottawa interim head coach Haley Irwin said of Saturday’s Decision Day. “The mindset, in terms of how we play and how we’re going to go about it doesn’t change.”
The PWHL’s Decision Day kicks off on Saturday at 12 PM ET, live on YouTube.
Vancouver forward Jenn Gardiner made PWHL history on Saturday, scoring four goals to lead the Goldeneyes to a dramatic 6-5 overtime victory over Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.
Gardiner's performance set a new PWHL single-game scoring record. The 24-year-old also notched the PWHL expansion team's first-ever hat trick in front of 12,719 fans.
The lead changed three times during regulation. Vancouver tied the game at 5-5 with less than two seconds remaining in the third period, before Gardiner secured the overtime winner just 52 seconds into the extra frame.
Hannah Miller assisted on the winning goal while contributing two goals and two assists of her own. Either Gardiner or Miller factored into every Vancouver goal, with Sophie Jaques adding three assists for the Goldeneyes.
The victory completed a season-series sweep for Vancouver. The Goldeneyes finished 2-0-2-0 against fellow 2025/26 addition Seattle in their inaugural PWHL campaign.
Vancouver Misses 2026 PWHL Playoffs Despite Historic Win
However, the win couldn't save Vancouver's playoff hopes, as the Goldeneyes joined the already-eliminated Torrent outside the postseason picture. Both expansion teams now battle for prime draft positioning through the league's innovative Gold Plan initiative.
"I'm just proud of the group and how we came back and we kept believing," captain Ashton Bell said. "To see that line do so well was pretty cool to watch."
Seattle defenders led the Torrent's offensive charge. Anna Wilgren scored her first two goals with Seattle, while Cayla Barnes recorded her first career multi-point game with one goal and two assists after captain Hilary Knight opened the scoring.
Vancouver scored six goals for the first time in franchise history, as both teams combined for 11 goals and seven third-period tallies — new PWHL records.
The PWHL shattered another attendance record Saturday night, as 18,006 fans packed Madison Square Garden to witness the New York Sirens' 2-1 shootout win over the Seattle Torrent.
The sold-out crowd set a new US attendance benchmark for women's hockey, surpassing the previous high of 17,335 set at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena on February 27th. The milestone represents the fourth time the PWHL has broken the US record this season — and the eighth time since the league's 2024 debut.
"People ask if I'm surprised," said Torrent and Team USA captain Hilary Knight. "I'm not surprised that we sold out MSG. It's a testament to the caliber of play that we have, our fanbase, the product that we put together, and the work that we do when the lights aren't bright."
Sarah Fillier tied the game for New York with 3:45 remaining in regulation before scoring in the shootout. Defender Maja Nylén Persson netted the shootout winner while goaltender Kayle Osborne stopped 20 shots and four of five shootout attempts for her ninth win of the season.
Alex Carpenter scored Seattle's lone goal on a power play in the second period. The Torrent outshot New York 38-21 but fell short in the end.
The attendance figure ranks as the second-highest of the 2025/26 season and seventh-highest in PWHL history. New York completed a professional hockey sweep at Madison Square Garden after the NHL's Rangers defeated Detroit 4-1 earlier that day.
The victory keeps New York's playoff hopes alive as the Sirens trail fifth-place Ottawa by two points with five games remaining in the push for the final PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs spot.
Boston anticipates its own sellout at TD Garden next week, as the Fleet host Montreal in what should rank second in US attendance for the league.
The PWHL is back in action on Thursday night, as the Winter Olympics' brightest stars rejoin their club teams just one week after the gold-medal game — with the third-year pro hockey league racing toward the 2026 playoffs.
With two months remaining in the 2025/26 regular-season, the Boston Fleet currently tops the PWHL standings with 30 points, trailed by the No. 2 Minnesota Frost (28 points), No. 3 Montréal Victoire (27 points), and No. 4 New York Sirens (24 points).
While no team's been officially eliminated, the No. 5 Ottawa Charge, No. 6 Vancouver Goldeneyes, No. 7 Toronto Sceptres, and No. 8 Seattle Torrent all have post-Olympics ground to make up if they want to keep their postseason dreams alive.
Thursday night's matchup will see two Olympic foes team up, as Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin joins US star forward Hayley Scamurra on Montréal's line for the Victoire's clash with New York.
Then on Friday, US captain Hilary Knight and Team USA's 2026 Olympic leading scorer Hannah Bilka again join forces for Seattle as the Torrent host Toronto, before US veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield takes the ice for back-to-back champion Minnesota’s Sunday showdown in Montréal.
With 61 players — 30% of the entire league — returning from Milan, the PWHL is anticipating a further boost in interest after the Olympic tournament garnered record viewership this month.
"It's just the reality that women's hockey isn't going to go silent. It's not going to go dark," Coyne Schofield said ahead of last Thursday's gold medal final. "You'll be able to see every one of these players in tomorrow night's game a week from now, which is pretty awesome and hasn't been the case for the existence of women's hockey."
How to watch the PWHL on Thursday
The 2025/26 PWHL season returns to the ice on Thursday, when No. 3 Montréal visits No. 4 New York.
The puck drops at at 7 PM ET, live on YouTube.
New York Sirens forward Taylor Girard made PWHL history this week, earning a record four-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a line skirmish at the end of Sunday's 2-1 win over the Montréal Victoire.
The brawl occurred at the the final buzzer of the PWHL's record-breaking Takeover Tour stop in Washington, DC, with eight players — four Sirens and four from the Victoire — subsequently issued 10-minute misconducts in addition to Girard's infraction.
As the sole player not originally on the ice to join the skirmish, Girard was the only player to receive an additional 20-minute charge.
Even more, Girard's actions immediately triggered a four-game suspension, as the PWHL Rulebook dictates that exact punishment for "the first player to leave the players' bench illegally during an altercation or for the purpose of starting an altercation from either or both Teams."
The four-game ban marks the longest punishment in PWHL history, doubling the two-game suspension that Seattle Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová received for an illegal check to the head last month.
With the PWHL on break after January 28th as 30% of the league's rosters compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, the four-game suspension means that Girard — who sits second on New York's scoring sheet with five goals on the season — will not be available for the No. 2 Sirens until March 5th.