The PWHL Badly Wants Parity. At What Cost?

The PWHL’s first-ever expansion draft concluded on Monday, and the results were eye-opening.

Vancouver and Seattle, the seventh and eighth teams added to the league, came away from the draft looking like instant title contenders thanks to draft rules that prioritized competitive balance above all else. For a startup league entering its third season, parity is being touted as key.

“You want to make sure it’s going to survive across all markets,” Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey told Front Office Sports. “You don’t want early on some markets failing.” 

Boston, Minnesota, and the Canadian markets have an advantage as hotbeds for girls’ hockey, Gardner Morey said.

“To me, Seattle is a market where there is not as much girls hockey, so it might not be as popular,” Gardner Morey said. “You want them to succeed. That’s how the game is going to grow and the league is going to thrive.” 

The PWHL currently operates under a single-entity ownership model with billionaire sports owner, Mark Walter—who also co-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers—serving as the primary financial backer. Most pro major North American leagues, including the big four men’s leagues and WNBA, have individual owners, though MLS and the NWSL are single entities.

Adding to the league’s vested interest in Seattle and Vancouver’s success is the attendance from the Takeover Tour earlier this year which tested cities without franchises. Nearly 20,000 fans attended the game played in Vancouver while 12,608 showed up in Seattle—outstripping many of the league’s current markets. 

In 2024–25 the PWHL played its second season with six teams: the Minnesota Frost, Boston Fleet, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and the Toronto Sceptres. Each of the existing franchises lost four players to expansion, which included the draft itself and the brief signing window that occurred from June 4 to June 8. 

Expansion draft rules allowed teams to protect three players outright and then a fourth once they had given up two players, whether through the signing window or the draft. 

Seattle and Vancouver—which do not have team names yet—acquired five of the six last year’s first-round draft picks and nine Olympians between the expansion draft and the pre-draft signing window, leaving fans of the original six displeased. CBC, which broadcasts PWHL games in Canada, even ran a video titled “Did the PWHL expansion draft go too far?” 

New York, last place in each of the last two years, lost its second leading scorer, Alex Carpenter and starting goalie, Corinne Schroeder to Seattle during the signing period, for example.

While a bleak situation in New York appears to have become even more dire, the expansion draft also stands to threaten a budding dynasty in Minnesota. Between the draft and signing window, Vancouver added four of the Frost’s top eight in points from last year.

Seattle meanwhile will be anchored by three of the top 15 goal scorers from last season in Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight, Carpenter, and Jessie Eldridge. But Seattle GM Meghan Turner emphasized strong offense alone won’t help them compete with the Frost. Instead, it’s her goal to replicate Minnesota’s depth. 

“I’m from the greater Boston area,” Turner told FOS. “I’ve been a Patriots fan my whole life, so I know a thing or two about we’ll say dynasties and powerhouse sports. I know people love beating those teams. Minnesota has built an incredible organization as evidenced by their two Walter Cup championships.”