Winners and losers of the PWHL offseason: Vancouver nails it, Toronto rocked by expansion
With the PWHL’s six-phase expansion roster building process coming to an end, it’s clear the league’s newest teams are the biggest winners of the offseason.
Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose all stocked their inaugural rosters with elite talent, thanks to a set of rules — and an entry draft order — that heavily favored expansion teams over the PWHL’s eight existing clubs.
Twenty-five Olympians, including eight American gold medalists, were either drafted or signed by one of the PWHL’s four new clubs. The other eight teams, meanwhile, suffered major losses, including the departure of some of their franchise cornerstones.
Some teams — even the existing franchises — have come out the other side looking better than others. With most of the big players off the free agency board, it’s time to try to make sense of it all.
No-doubt winners
Vancouver Goldeneyes
While most teams are going through another summer of roster turnover, Vancouver has retained most of its talented core, including captain Ashton Bell and Defender of the Year finalist Sophie Jaques, forwards Sarah Nurse, Jennifer Gardiner, and Izzy Daniel, and starting goalie Emerance Maschmeyer.
On top of that, the Goldeneyes added Caroline Harvey with the first overall pick in last week’s entry draft. Harvey, 23, has already solidified herself as one the best women’s hockey players in the world and will give Vancouver two of the best offensive defenders in the league.
Save for losing some defenders — Sydney Bard, Nina Jobst-Smith and Mellissa Channell-Watkins — Vancouver will be able to run back a very similar lineup to last season, only with a major injection of talent from Harvey and a fresh voice behind the bench to replace former head coach Brian Idalski.
That — plus bounce-back seasons from Hannah Miller and Tereza Vanišová — should be enough to prove Cara Gardner Morey’s group is capable of much more than it showed in a disappointing inaugural season.
PWHL Hamilton
First-time general manager and American women’s hockey legend Meghan Duggan has built a roster with no obvious holes.
Hamilton has a solid defensive core with 22-year-old Rookie of the Year nominee Nicole Gosling, first-round pick and Finland national team defender Nelli Laitinen, and savvy depth additions in Allyson Simpson, Riley Brengman and Zoe Boyd. The group will play in front of a young promising goaltender in Kayle Osborne. The team has an appealing mix of youth, skill and experience at the forward position with Forward of the Year finalist Brianne Jenner, Swiss star Alina Müller, highly versatile forward Emily Clark and power forward Abby Hustler all featuring in the top six.
With 2026 Coach of the Year Kris Sparre behind the bench — and forwards such as Peyton Hemp and Alexa Vasko also signed — Hamilton should be a suffocating opponent.
Nice job, but…
PWHL Detroit
It might seem like a bit of a hot take to have Detroit here given the team is loaded with forwards Hilary Knight, Daryl Watts, Britta Curl-Salemme, Hannah Bilka and Jesse Compher, as well as top-pair defender Cayla Barnes. That’s a core group that has plenty of skill, speed and should have no issue scoring goals next season.
However, all that talent at forward came at the expense of the blue line, where three of Detroit’s five signed defenders (Stephanie Markowski, Sydney Bard and Nina Jobst-Smith) averaged fewer than 14 minutes per game. Only Barnes logged over 20 minutes a night.
It’s possible some of their young defenders take a leap with more opportunity. As it stands, though, the roster is a bit lopsided. And the fact No. 1 goalie Andrea Brändli — who was incredible at the Olympics, winning a bronze medal for Switzerland and in the SDHL — has yet to play a game the PWHL raises just enough questions to stop Detroit from being a slam dunk.
Montreal Victoire
Danièle Sauvageau’s work in free agency is nearly enough to push Montreal into the no-doubt winners circle. Retaining Abby Roque, who co-led the playoffs in scoring, and poaching Jessie Eldridge, one of the PWHL’s most productive wingers, on top of signing Emma Maltais is a triumph. Throw in first-round pick Petra Nieminen — a naturally gifted goal scorer from Finland — and Montreal’s forward group looks as talented as ever.
However, the Victoire took some pretty big hits on defense, losing Erin Ambrose (a Montreal mainstay and 2024 Defender of the Year) and Nicole Gosling (who became their No. 1 defender down the stretch of the regular season). Top-four defender Amanda Boulier also signed in Boston in free agency, which will put a lot on the shoulders of Kati Tabin and Maggie Flaherty. The hope, of course, is that Ann-Renée Desbiens, who is coming off a record-setting season, will be enough to steady the ship on the back end.
PWHL San Jose
Outside of Caroline Harvey, there was no player in the draft better suited to be the face of a franchise than Laila Edwards. She has the ability to play at forward and on defense, she’s won at every level with three NCAA titles and an Olympic gold medal over her four-year career at the University of Wisconsin, and will bring size (6-foot-1) and a big shot to San Jose’s lineup no matter the position.
“She’ll be a special part of San Jose, both on and off the ice,” said Troy Ryan, the team’s coach and GM.
Beyond Edwards, Ryan drafted quite well, adding University of Connecticut goalie Tia Chan to play behind No. 1 Corinne Schroeder and some solid forwards in Sloane Matthews — who was a point-per-game player for No. 1 Ohio State — and Northeastern’s Lily Shannon.
Ryan also made some savvy signings during the expansion process by bringing in two-way center Kristin O’Neill, shutdown defender Rory Guilday and high-upside winger Natálie Mlýnková. He’s built a young roster — only O’Neill and Schroeder are over 25 years old — with a ton of potential offensively. On paper, though, the lineup looks a bit short on proven commodities while other expansion teams seem situated to produce.
PWHL Las Vegas
Vegas might be the most intriguing expansion team to hit the ice next season. GM Dominique DiDia has built a strong blue line with a mix of offensive ability (Kendall Cooper), strong defensive play (Megan Carter) and those with the complete package (Erin Ambrose). She has arguably the best and most proven goaltender among the expansion teams in two-time champion Nicole Hensley. The forward group is largely a collection of gritty, Walter Cup-winning forwards, led by Hayley Scamurra, Maureen Murphy and Katy Knoll.
DiDia also made a winning bet by trading Hilary Knight to Detroit in exchange for a first-round pick, which turned out to be third overall. She also traded Abby Boreen — who was selected in Phase 4 — back to Vancouver for their second-rounder, which gave Vegas three picks in a fairly stacked top 13. With those picks Vegas was able to add two-way center Tessa Janecke (No. 3), four-time national champion Lacey Eden (No. 5) and 5-foot-11 Issy Wunder (No. 13) to its forward group.
The major concern with Vegas is that its best, most skilled forwards (Janecke and Eden) have yet to play in the PWHL and could need a minute to settle in. Overall, though, this is a team with depth and a very clear identity.
It could have been worse
New York Sirens
The Sirens lost a handful of young, useful forwards and No. 1 goalie Kayle Osborne, which certainly stings. But the organization managed to keep all three cornerstone forwards in Sarah Fillier, Casey O’Brien and Kristýna Kaltounková.
The Sirens also stood to lose key figures from the blue line in Maja Nylén Persson or captain Micah Zandee-Hart but only parted ways with Allyson Simpson, which gives them three of their top four defenders for next season. First-round pick Emma Peschel should fit in the top four just fine, which makes that loss a bit easier to stomach.
The Sirens will probably be top-heavy next season, but that’s not exactly a new problem. And with Elaine Chuli in the crease — and continued production from their big three — New York might not be meaningfully worse next season.
Minnesota Frost
The Minnesota Frost had the best group of five forwards in the PWHL this season, with Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Britta Curl-Salemme combining for 65 goals this season — around 71 percent of the team’s league-leading offense.
That the Frost have only lost Curl-Salemme from that group is what keeps them out of any of the true “losing” tiers. Should Kendall Coyne Schofield choose not to re-sign in Minnesota, the team could take a true step backwards. Their depth has taken a hit with forwards Abby Hustler and Katy Knoll on the move, as well as defenders Kendall Cooper and Mae Batherson.
But first-round draft pick Sara Swiderski is a nice addition to the blue line and Viivi Vainikka could fill a top-six hole. Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine Minnesota taking a major nosedive with Heise, Zumwinkle, Pannek and No. 1 defender Lee Stecklein locked down with Ken Klee — one of the very best coaches in the league — still behind the bench.
Boston Fleet
The Fleet lost their best center in Alina Müller and didn’t meaningfully replace her through the draft or free agency. But GM Danielle Marmer did a nice job retaining other forwards, such as top scorers Susanna Tapani and Abby Newhook, and filling holes on the blue line.
Boston selected Grace Dwyer, a steady two-way defender from Cornell University, and Leah Stecker, one of Penn State’s top defenders, with their first two picks in the entry draft and signed Amanda Boulier to help replace Zoe Boyd, Riley Brengman and Daniela Pejsova. Forward Jessie Eldridge, who scored seven goals in 11 games after being acquired by the Fleet, is a loss of high-end talent as well, but she always seemed like more of a rental player to begin with.
Much like New York and Minnesota, Boston kept elite talent at the top of their lineup in Defender of the Year Megan Keller, Rookie of the Year Haley Winn and league MVP Aerin Frankel, which should be enough to stop them from taking a major step back next season.
Moderate losers
Ottawa Charge
Ottawa appears to be hitting the reset button with just two players remaining from the team’s inaugural roster and four players over the age of 30.
Their blue line is largely intact with five returning players and 11th overall pick Vivian Jungels likely subbing in for 2025 first-rounder Rory Guilday. Not to mention goalie Gwyneth Philips is too good for Ottawa to ever be that bad.
Still, Brianne Jenner, their captain and leading scorer, is a major loss. Now the Charge are making a pretty high-stakes bet that Rebecca Leslie can be an all-star forward without Jenner – or a true No. 1 center – up the middle. Ottawa will also hope that Sarah Wozniewicz and Fanuza Kadirova can take sophomore steps and that Michela Cava and Brooke McQuigge will have bounce-back seasons offensively.
With Carla MacLeod as head coach, the Charge should see internal growth and the organization certainly has the youth — and cap space, with six-figure deals for Jenner and Emily Clark off the books — to be set up for success down the road. But it’s easy to imagine the team taking a hit in the short term.
Seattle Torrent
Admittedly, Seattle was a tough team to place. The Torrent kept their top four point-producers in Alex Carpenter, Julia Gosling, Danielle Serdachny and Theresa Schafzahl. Then they drafted star forward Abbey Murphy with the No. 2 pick in the entry draft.
But the team also had the league’s worst record (8-1-5-16) and goal differential (minus-28) and watched forwards Hannah Bilka and Hilary Knight walk, along with No. 1 defender Cayla Barnes and goalie Corinne Schroeder.
GM Meghan Turner made it pretty clear she sees upside in defender Anna Wilgren and goalie Hannah Murphy, but I’m not sure adding Murphy — as great as she is — is going to be enough to dig Seattle out of the basement in just one year.
Biggest loser
Toronto Sceptres
All eight existing franchises lost key pieces from their 2025-26 rosters; some lost plenty more than others. But it’s hard to fathom putting a single team in the same tier as the Toronto Sceptres.
Not only did the expansion process hit them hard, the organization lost their head coach in Troy Ryan and unfairly fell to No. 8 in the entry draft order.
Their top scorer, Daryl Watts, is gone. So are top-six forwards Jesse Compher, Emma Maltais and Maggie Connors. Captain Blayre Turnbull also announced that she’s pregnant with her first child and won’t be on the ice with the team this season. That leaves just one of Toronto’s top five scoring forwards, Natalie Spooner who had three goals in 2025-26.
Somehow Kirsten Simms, one of the most skilled and productive forwards in the NCAA over the last three years, fell to Toronto at No. 8 in the draft last week. Still, the team with fewest goals scored last season (51) lost over half of its offense — that’s 30 goals if we include Savannah Harmon’s two goals scored this season before announcing her retirement.
The blue line looks solid with Renata Fast, Ella Shelton, Allie Munroe and Kali Flagan all remaining in the top four. But Toronto is about to ask a lot of 21-year-old Simms and 35-year-old Spooner.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Toronto Sceptres, Minnesota Frost, Vancouver Goldeneyes, New York Sirens, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Seattle Torrent, Boston Fleet, NHL, Women’s Hockey
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