The PWHL’s expansion rules seem to heavily favour Vancouver and Seattle

The Professional Women’s Hockey League announced in April that it is headed West, with franchises awarded to Vancouver and Seattle, as the league grows from its inaugural six to eight teams for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Now, we have our first look at how the new rosters will be built, with the PWHL confirming the details of the upcoming expansion draft in a press release Monday.

The draft is set to take place on June 9, with existing teams initially only allowed to protect three players from selection. And while the short protected players lists are unfortunate for the original six franchises, it’s great news for Vancouver and Seattle, who will be able to steal top talent from these deep rosters.

Here’s everything you need to know about the PWHL’s upcoming expansion draft (all times listed in PST):

Player protection lists due: June 3rd at 9 am

By the morning of June 3, all six existing franchises must submit the three players they are protecting for the start of the expansion draft. Protected players must be either under contract or have their rights held by the team for the 2025-26 season, meaning upcoming free agents are not eligible.

Note: after any team has had two players taken, whether through the Exclusive Signing Window or the Expansion Draft, they are then able to protect a fourth player from selection.

Exclusive Signing Window: June 4th at 6 am – June 8th at 2 pm

Vancouver and Seattle have an exclusive five-day window to sign up to five players who are either unprotected by their current team or set to become free agents this summer. This will allow players the opportunity to negotiate with a team they may be interested in joining while also allowing Vancouver a chance to target players they are looking at directly, without worrying Seattle will take them first. This could also be an opportunity for Vancouver to sign some homegrown talent, with a large crop of talented British Columbians already playing in the league.

Expansion Draft: June 9th at 5:30 pm

Vancouver and Seattle will finalize their initial rosters at the Expansion Draft, both selecting until they have reached 12 total players, including those they signed in the exclusive signing window. The order of selection has yet to be announced. The number of selections per team may differ depending on how many players each team signs in the initial window.

PWHL Entry Draft: June 24th at 4pm

This year’s PWHL Entry Draft will take place in Ottawa over six rounds, with the eight teams selecting from a pool of 199 eligible players. The New York Sirens hold the first overall pick for the second consecutive year, with the remaining order still to be determined with the introduction of two new franchises.

Meanwhile, the search for Vancouver’s General Manager is currently underway, and with these key dates fast approaching, they’re sure to have their work cut out for them right from the start.

Who would you like to see on PWHL Vancouver’s initial roster?