PWHL expansion is going to take big bite out of existing teams

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The PWHL expansion draft rules are out, and they are as costly to the existing teams as most had predicted.

Each team will lose four players from its 2024-25 roster with the ability to protect just three initially and then one more after a team has lost two of its roster members.

The  incoming expansion teams, PWHL Seattle and PWHL Vancouver, will have a five-day Exclusive Signing Window beginning at 9 a.m. ET on June 4 and concluding at 5 p.m. on June 8 in which they can sign up to five players each from the six existing teams unprotected roster or any unsigned players for the coming season.

Expansion protection lists are due at noon ET on June 3.

Neither incoming team is required to take five players during this part of the process, but can take no more than five.

Beginning June 9 at 8:30 p.m., the league will then conduct the expansion draft in which Vancouver and Seattle will select a minimum of seven players until both have reached a 12-player roster.

Should one team enter the expansion draft phase with fewer players than the other, it will be granted additional selections until the roster reaches 12.

The order in which the two teams will select will be determined at a later date.

The players eligible for the expansion draft will consist of the remaining unprotected players under contract for the 2025-26 season and any remaining unsigned players for the coming year.

It leaves general managers of the original six teams with some very tough decisions to make.

Using Toronto as an example, the Sceptres’ three protections likely would be from a group that includes foundational signings forward Blayre Turnbull, defender Renata Fast and forward Sarah Nurse, mainstay forwards Daryl Watts, and Emma Maltais, defender Allie Munroe, and possibly goaltenders Kristen Campbell and Raygan Kirk. Also to consider are the team’s high draft picks from a year ago in forward Julia Gosling, defender Megan Carter and forward Izzy Daniel. They, too, could be part of the protected possibilities.

All but three of that group, and a fourth after two Sceptres have been taken, are going to be exposed in both the exclusive signing window and expansion draft. Again, all told, a maximum of four will be lost.

Keep in mind all of this is done to promote competitive balance within the league, now consisting of eight teams, and ensure that the two newcomers in Vancouver and Seattle are competitive the moment they take the ice.

The Sceptres currently have 13 players under contract for next season. The list of Toronto free agents that could be signed during either period include forwards Hannah Miller, Natalie Spooner, Jesse Compher, Emma Woods, Hayley Scamurra, and Maggie Connors, along with defenders Savannah Harmon, and Kali Flanagan in addition to any left unprotected.

A priority with the new teams is expected to be established defenders, though that is not set in stone.

Just over two weeks after the expansion draft on June 24, the league’s annual six-round draft of collegiate graduates and/or players from other professional leagues will take place in Ottawa.

The New York Sirens will select first with the full order or selection for the remainder of the draft to be confirmed at a later stage.

Busy times are ahead for the PWHL, and that doesn’t even include the league’s Walter Cup final, which gets underway Tuesday night at 7 p.m.  ET with Ottawa hosting Minnesota.

mganter@postsmedia.com