Report: PWHL to stay away from expansion draft format as new teams arrive
There might be a different way the newest PWHL teams will have to build their rosters.
According to Pat Laprade of The Hockey News, in receiving information from the PWHL Players’ Association, the league will not have a “traditional expansion draft model.” Instead, players will be given more freedom to choose whether to join the list of expansion teams.
When the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent were introduced, the original six franchises were permitted to protect three players (with a fourth being added once two players were taken). The new teams were granted an exclusive signing period, allowing the two franchises to sign any player they wanted, per the athlete’s approval. It led to Vancouver signing the likes of Sarah Nurse and Sophie Jaques, while Seattle went out and got Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter. That was followed by a seven-round expansion draft, in which the two teams were eligible to select any player under contract.
However, applying the same rules to this wave of expansion might not be beneficial for the new teams entering the league. On average, the eight PWHL teams have fewer than eight players signed to contracts for next season, barely a third of the allotted 23-player roster. The New York Sirens, thanks to signing most of their draft picks to long-term deals, lead the league with 11 players currently under contract through the 2026-27 campaign.
The reason for so many pending free agents is that players are not signing new deals due to the uncertainty surrounding expansion. The list of UFAs features many of the game’s top stars – Daryl Watts, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight and Sarah Nurse, to name a few.
Per THN, there will be a series of “signing windows” for the new teams. Potentially, they will get a chance to sign free agents before the current eight franchises, even before teams get a chance to protect
The report also states that there’s supposed to be confirmation of the number of new franchises announced on Sunday, May 3, and that the league has a plan in place for a four-team expansion.