PWHL San Jose sign Kristin O’Neill to two-year contract
PWHL San Jose announced on Saturday that forward Kristin O’Neill received an Expansion Foundational Offer and has been signed to a two-year contract.
K.O. HEADS TO SAN JO 🙌 Olympic silver medalist Kristin O'Neill has received an Expansion Foundational Offer and signed a two-year Standard Player Agreement as part of the Expansion Player Distribution Process. 📰 bit.ly/43fbl5v
By receiving an EFO, O’Neill is guaranteed to make at least $100,000 on her new contract, a significant raise from her $86,872 salary from the 2025-26 season.
According to The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy, O’Neill joins San Jose despite reports that she did not want to play there for undisclosed personal and professional reasons. Despite those reasons, San Jose general manager and head coach Troy Ryan opted to acquire the Oakville, Ontario product.
Kennedy also mentioned that, based on the timing of the signing, O’Neill was likely second on San Jose’s Exclusive Negotiation Target List, with the first being Daryl Watts. However, Watts opted to sign with Detroit’s PWHL team instead.
O’Neill joins San Jose after a season with the New York Sirens, where she put up four goals and one assists for five points in 30 games. The seventh overall selection in the inaugural PWHL Draft, O’Neill spent two seasons with the Montreal Victoire prior to last season, and has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 83 games in her PWHL career.
O’Neill also participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy with Canada, where she had three goals and two assists for five points in seven games on route to a silver medal. It was her sixth time representing Canada at the international level, and first time doing so at the Olympics.
O’Neill is San Jose’s fourth signing of this Phase 2 process of expansion, as she joins goaltender Corinne Schroeder, defender Rory Guilday and forward Anne Cherkowski as San Jose’s first four players in franchise history.