PWHL announces rules, format for 2025 expansion draft
After months of anticipation, we know how the two newest teams in the Professional Women’s Hockey League will acquire their first batch of players.
On Monday, the league announced the key dates, rules and procedures for its first-ever expansion draft. It comes after the league formally announced the additions of franchises in Vancouver and Seattle in time for the 2025-26 season. The process will involve teams submitting player protection lists, with the new teams being granted an excluding signing window leading to the expansion draft next month.
Each of the original six teams—Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres—will initially be allowed to protect three players from the exclusive signing window and expansion draft.
A player is eligible to be protected if either their contract carries through the 2025-26 season or they were drafted in 2024, as an athlete’s playing rights are kept with the team that picked them for two years after being selected in the entry draft.
Protected lists must be submitted by Noon ET on Tuesday, June 3. The lists will be made public once finalized.
After that, Seattle and Vancouver will have a five-day period during which they are allowed to sign a maximum of five players to their teams. This class of players includes those who are unprotected or on an expiring contract. The window is open from 9 a.m. ET on June 4 to 5 p.m. ET on June 8.
There is one kicker with the protected lists. After an inaugural team has lost two players, whether in the signing period or draft, it is allowed to protect one more player, giving it a total of four protected assets. Those names most likely won’t be released until teams are eligible to protect a fourth name.
Each original franchise has at least 14 players it could protect, with players like Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Fleet captain Hilary Knight among the easy picks to be left alone. However, teams will have to be picky about who they leave open, including the Sirens, who have a league-high 17 names that could be protected—including Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter, Ella Shelton and Jessie Eldridge, among others.
That all leads up to the expansion draft, scheduled for Monday, June 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Seattle and Vancouver will participate in a back-and-forth selection process, with a minimum of seven picks each. That number will only rise if one or both teams fail to sign five players during the exclusive signing window. The goal is to have each team have 12 players on their rosters before the PWHL Draft.
The order of whether Seattle or Vancouver goes first will be determined later.
The PWHL also announced the format for the 2025 PWHL Draft. Compared to last year, when the league’s six teams participated in a seven-round process, this year, the eight teams will be involved in a six-round draft. That means only 48 of the 199 players who have declared for the draft will hear their names called. The Sirens “won” the first-overall pick for the second year in a row thanks to earning the most Gold Plan points. However, with the additions of two new tames, the league will announce the remaining selection order at a later date.
The draft is set to take place in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 24, starting at 7 p.m. ET.