- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 431,935
- Reaction score
- 44
With the PHWL, professional women's hockey players have faced many firsts. While previous leagues have held entry drafts, they never had much meaning. The same goes for free agency.
In the PWHL, pro players, agents, and general managers are navigating the new restrictions (and freedoms) that come with these events. The same goes for trades. Soon however, a true first will occur. For the first time, professional women's hockey will see an expansion draft.
The PWHL's first expansion draft will likely cut deep into rosters. It's something general managers have already been steeling themselves for, and fans will need to do the same as players they've grown to love will be plucked from rosters.
Parity has been a key to the PWHL's early success, and according to Jayna Hefford, the league's executive vice president of hockey operations, the league wants the new teams to be successful immediately as well.
"The priority is that this Vancouver team will compete on day one for a Walter Cup," said Hefford.
"Knowing that's the priority, that's been guiding us as we work though what an expansion draft could look like, or player dispersal process."
"The parity and competitiveness across this league is one of the greatest assets we have," continued Hefford.
The NHL's most recent expansion drafts gave the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken a strong start. They gave teams two options. First, they could protect eight skaters of any position and a goaltender, or second they could choose to protect seven forwards, three defenders and a goaltender.
It would not be surprising to see the PWHL mimic these allowing teams to protect somewhere around 10 players.
To help the new franchises reach the salary cap, it's also likely teams will be asked to expose at least a player from each contract level, meaning teams may need to expose one of their inaugural six signees, as well as a certain number of players on 2-3 year contracts. Every PWHL team currently has at least 11 players on multi-year deals.
It's very likely the expansion teams will have players with national team experience exposed to them.
When looking at the number of players to be exposed and selected, it would be nearly impossible for expansion teams in this league to be competitive picking only one player from each team. The PWHL will almost certainly give each of the expansion teams (at least) two selections from each existing team meaning the six existing clubs will lose (at least) four players.
An ideal starting point for the new PWHL teams would be to give them between 12 and 18 players to start with. 12 would mean each team loses four players. If new teams were given 18 players, it would result in six players per team being dispersed. Both numbers are completely feasible and fair in the PWHL's quest to keep parity in the league. A six player loss however, would more significantly impact fan bases and also the efforts general managers have undergone to build their current rosters.
To ensure the new teams are instantaneously competitive, the PWHL will almost certainly give the expansion franchises the first and second picks in each round.
This means the new expansion teams would have the oppportunity to add players like Kristyna Kaltounkova, Abbey Murphy, Haley Winn, or Casey O'Brien in round one, and could potentially find a veteran like Michelle Karvinen at the start of round two.
Much of this will depend on the declaration of players like Murphy and Lacey Eden who remain undecided on their PWHL pathways.
After the opening round of the 2025 PWHL Draft, particularly in an eight team draft, there is a steep drop in talent. Another drop happens near the end of round three.
There are potential hidden gems in the draft however, as there will be veterans sprinkled in who could surprise many. Among those are players like Anna Shokhina from Russia and Sweden's Sara Hjalmarsson.
Continue reading...
In the PWHL, pro players, agents, and general managers are navigating the new restrictions (and freedoms) that come with these events. The same goes for trades. Soon however, a true first will occur. For the first time, professional women's hockey will see an expansion draft.
The PWHL's first expansion draft will likely cut deep into rosters. It's something general managers have already been steeling themselves for, and fans will need to do the same as players they've grown to love will be plucked from rosters.
Parity has been a key to the PWHL's early success, and according to Jayna Hefford, the league's executive vice president of hockey operations, the league wants the new teams to be successful immediately as well.
"The priority is that this Vancouver team will compete on day one for a Walter Cup," said Hefford.
"Knowing that's the priority, that's been guiding us as we work though what an expansion draft could look like, or player dispersal process."
"The parity and competitiveness across this league is one of the greatest assets we have," continued Hefford.
How deep will an expansion draft go?
The NHL's most recent expansion drafts gave the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken a strong start. They gave teams two options. First, they could protect eight skaters of any position and a goaltender, or second they could choose to protect seven forwards, three defenders and a goaltender.
It would not be surprising to see the PWHL mimic these allowing teams to protect somewhere around 10 players.
To help the new franchises reach the salary cap, it's also likely teams will be asked to expose at least a player from each contract level, meaning teams may need to expose one of their inaugural six signees, as well as a certain number of players on 2-3 year contracts. Every PWHL team currently has at least 11 players on multi-year deals.
It's very likely the expansion teams will have players with national team experience exposed to them.
When looking at the number of players to be exposed and selected, it would be nearly impossible for expansion teams in this league to be competitive picking only one player from each team. The PWHL will almost certainly give each of the expansion teams (at least) two selections from each existing team meaning the six existing clubs will lose (at least) four players.
An ideal starting point for the new PWHL teams would be to give them between 12 and 18 players to start with. 12 would mean each team loses four players. If new teams were given 18 players, it would result in six players per team being dispersed. Both numbers are completely feasible and fair in the PWHL's quest to keep parity in the league. A six player loss however, would more significantly impact fan bases and also the efforts general managers have undergone to build their current rosters.
Could the entry draft be a route toward parity?
To ensure the new teams are instantaneously competitive, the PWHL will almost certainly give the expansion franchises the first and second picks in each round.
This means the new expansion teams would have the oppportunity to add players like Kristyna Kaltounkova, Abbey Murphy, Haley Winn, or Casey O'Brien in round one, and could potentially find a veteran like Michelle Karvinen at the start of round two.
Much of this will depend on the declaration of players like Murphy and Lacey Eden who remain undecided on their PWHL pathways.
After the opening round of the 2025 PWHL Draft, particularly in an eight team draft, there is a steep drop in talent. Another drop happens near the end of round three.
There are potential hidden gems in the draft however, as there will be veterans sprinkled in who could surprise many. Among those are players like Anna Shokhina from Russia and Sweden's Sara Hjalmarsson.
You must be registered for see images attach
Continue reading...
