There has been notable criticism suggesting that the PWHL’s 2025 expansion rules were heavily skewed in favor of the new franchises (Vancouver and Seattle), at the expense of the inaugural six teams. Perhaps it was a lesson learned from the days when the NHL treated incoming expansion teams as second-class citizens.
Who can forget these first-year NHL nightmares: Washington Capitals (1974–75): Record: 8–67–5 = 21 points Kansas City Scouts (1974–75): Record: 15–54–11 = 41 points Oakland Seals (1967–68): Record: 15–42–17 = 47 points
And yet, many believe the PWHL went into overkill mode to avoid seeing first-year teams similarly compete with one hand tied behind their backs.
From Margaret Fleming, Front Office Sports: “The PWHL expansion rules permitted teams to initially protect only three players. Starting Wednesday, a five-day open signing period begins, during which Seattle and Vancouver can sign up to five players each. Once an existing franchise loses two players, it can select a fourth to protect. The expansion draft will follow Monday night, when the new teams will bring their squads to 12 apiece. The entry draft on June 24 will fill out the rest of the expansion teams’ rosters.”
From Nick Faris and Jolene Latimer, The Score: “The exercise is going to rattle the six original markets. All have to part with four players from their 2024–25 lineups. General managers face painful dilemmas: Which stars should they protect, and who should they reluctantly risk losing?”
From Hailey Salvian, The Athletic: “While most players would agree that the idea of expansion is exciting and signals success for the league, it’s been a bittersweet end to the 2024–25 season, knowing that teams will be almost unrecognizable next season. ‘When the rules and things came out, you definitely could see it hurt people,’ said Minnesota forward Taylor Heise. ‘When you see you’re going to be able to keep three people and maybe a fourth… There’s 25 people on a team. Like, there’s a lot of people that could be gone or missing next year. It’s a really hard thing to deal with.’”
PWHL head office countered the critical chirping this way:
From Hailey Salvian, The Athletic: “The priority is always about competitive balance,” said executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. “When you look at our league, over 50 percent of the games have been decided by one goal or in a shootout. That is something that is rare in professional sports, and it’s something that we’re committed to protecting through this expansion process.”
Maybe so, Jayna, but that doesn’t change the fact that the original six franchises are still in their infancy stage. Selling tickets for a novel event is one thing. Sustaining—and increasing—fan support is a much bigger challenge. Fan familiarity is paramount when establishing a long-term connection between ticket buyers, players, and teams.
Ensuring Vancouver and Seattle are competitive coming out of the gates is one thing. Guaranteeing them contender status from the get-go will do nothing to quell the critics. Just ask the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, who posted a 51–24–7 record, collecting 109 points—setting the NHL record for wins and points by an expansion team in its debut season.
In that situation, however, it was blundering decisions by many of the Knights’ opponents that contributed to the successful Vegas debut. Multiple side agreements called for Vegas to select certain (unwanted) unprotected players in exchange for one or more draft picks, and/or to avoid selecting other (wanted) players altogether. By the time the Seattle Kraken entered the NHL, team GMs were far more reluctant to spoon-feed another newcomer the same way.
Undoubtedly, PWHL GMs will also avoid a similar trap. But if the PWHL’s 2025 expansion guidelines are as one-sided as many say, it might not matter. With additional PWHL expansion undoubtedly on the horizon, the original six teams will be monitoring this year’s post-expansion results closely. Ironically, when expansion happens next, both Vancouver and Seattle will get a taste of their own medicine.
Call it karma.
