With the 2025 PWHL Finals in full swing and new franchises on the horizon, the league rolled out a detailed expansion plan to build its two new teams on Monday.
The expansion process will see 24 current PWHL players — four from each of the six founding teams — join either Vancouver or Seattle next month.
To be eligible for selection, athletes must be either under contract or have rights held by a current team for the 2025/26 season.
Each original team can protect three eligible athletes at the outset, with squads reserving the right to protect one additional player should the incoming clubs select two players off the same roster.
In the lead-up to June 9th's expansion draft, Vancouver and Seattle will have five days to sign up to five unprotected players each.
After that window closes, Seattle and Vancouver will increase their rosters to a required total of 12 players via expansion draft selections, with the number of picks for each team determined by how many athletes the new franchises choose to sign.
Finally, the West Coast squads will then complete their 23-athlete lineups alongside the other six teams during the PWHL's June 24th entry draft.
With such a broad unprotected player pool, about half of the PWHL's current athletes — including some of its brightest stars — will be up for grabs, ensuring a very different landscape when the league takes the ice for its third season.
The PWHL officially announced Seattle as the league's newest expansion franchise early Wednesday morning, bringing the total number of teams taking the 2025/26 season's ice to eight.
The move comes exactly one week after the second-year league tapped Vancouver as its seventh market, capitalizing on the natural rivalry between the cross-border Pacific Northwest neighbors.
While Seattle's bid was led by Climate Pledge Arena's Oak View Group alongside the NHL's Seattle Kraken, both new teams will fall under the league's single-entity structure, with the Walter Group continuing to operate as the PWHL's sole owner.
Rising hockey fervor set up Seattle for PWHL bid success
The West Coast ice hockey hubs join the league's original six teams, as demand for women’s hockey continues to escalate throughout North America following the PWHL's 2024 launch.
Minnesota, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, New York, and Montreal have all seen fanbases grow over the PWHL's first two seasons, in which the league tested interest in additional markets via very successful Takeover Tours across North America.
As for the factors that tipped the scales in the Seattle's favor, the PWHL cites both the city's enthusiastic Takeover Tour turnout — 12,608 fans showed up for this year's January 5th matchup — as well as its long history as a hub for pro women's sports.
"We are looking forward to returning the love, energy, and excitement the Seattle sports community shared with us during the PWHL Takeover Tour," said PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer in the league's announcement.
"It's a joy to have PWHL Seattle join the WNBA's Storm and the NWSL's Reign, who are skyscrapers in the city's towering sports landscape."
With two new teams officially on board, the league next plans to release details regarding both an expansion draft and the roles Seattle and Vancouver will play in June 24th's PWHL Draft in the coming weeks.