Looking at the state of the PWHL

Sports news

Where things stand going into the Walter Cup qualifiers.

NEW YORK – The Women’s Professional Hockey League is on the cusp of its third season, as the Boston Fleet dropped the puck Thursday in Lowell against the Ottawa Charge.

Boston is one of the original six teams in the PWHL, which began play in January 2024. The league added two teams in April 2025: Seattle and Vancouver. 2-4 teams are scheduled to be added for the 2026-27 season, and an announcement is expected soon.

What is the status of the league? A few executives sat down with AP sports editors to discuss it. This is where things stand going into the Walter Cup Playoffs.

Expansion on the horizon

Where will the PWHL go next? League officials said the cities that showed the best in Takeover Tour matches — the neutral matches the league has seen since its inception — are a strong indicator of good candidates to host teams.

Detroit is one of the expansion’s favorite cities, with Little Caesars Arena hosting four games over three seasons, the most recent on March 28 in front of nearly 16,000 spectators that was broadcast on national television.

Canada is likely to field one or two teams, with a focus on Western markets. Capacity and availability of space are two of the biggest factors contributing to the decision to expand, PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Shear said Tuesday.

Other factors include geography – PWHL flies commercial, so it must be cities with direct flights. Sponsorship and youth hockey opportunities are important. Are there pipelines within the city to support future players? Are there enough big companies willing to spend money to support the team?

The big question is: How much expansion is too much? Vancouver and Seattle struggled in their first seasons. Are there enough resources to support up to four other teams?

“Are we going to be perfect when the puck drops on Opening Day? No, but I think in our three seasons we’ve had a little more appreciation for progress over perfection, and that will be the same tact that we take in Season 4,” Scheer said. “Will it be perfect? ​​No. Will the team survive? Will the players have a professional environment to play in? Will the fans have a great environment? Yes.”

Scheer said the league is looking at cities with venues that can accommodate at least 10,000 fans. For context: Boston’s main venue, the Tsongas Center in Lowell, seats about 6,500 people.

Can the women’s hockey pipeline support expansion?

The talent projected to enter the PWHL in the 2026 Entry Draft is impressive: Olympic stars Carolyn Harvey, Layla Edwards, Abby Murphy, and Tessa Janicki will qualify. Vancouver holds the No. 1 pick in a draft that has yet to be scheduled.

But each team carries 23 players. This means that a maximum of 92 roster points can be added in the expansion. Is there enough talent to fill the teams?

Jayna Hayford, executive vice president of hockey operations for the PWHL, believes the pipeline is not an issue, especially since the league is expected to attract more European talent. According to The Canadian Press, there are only 25 Europeans on rosters this season.

“When you look at the Olympics, you can see the gap is narrowing,” Hayford said. “We haven’t seen the great results that we’ve seen previously. So the talent outside of North America is huge, and I think it’s untapped from our perspective.”

Ilana Kloss, PWHL advisory board member, philanthropist, and partner of Billie Jean King, believes the PWHL serves as an inspiration to the player group.

“Young girls see that there is a professional league and a way to make a living by playing professional hockey,” Closs said. “I think the pipeline is going to get bigger and bigger… We feel comfortable that there will be a lot of young girls who want to play professional hockey.”

Why the league structure works right now

The PWHL is unique in that it is entirely owned by one person, Dodgers owner Mark Walter (who is not significantly involved in operations). While the league intends to eventually sell franchises to local owners, this single entity structure creates a more level playing field without concerns that an individual owner will not spend enough on the team.

“Each team gets the same resources,” Shear said, with the ability to quickly turn to the four-person advisory board to adapt based on market needs.

“I’ve been in other leagues where there are very wealthy owners and a lot of teams that don’t have the resources,” Kloss said. “I think the one thing that’s amazing about this league is that we invest in all the teams, but more importantly, we have a business plan that can sustain growth across the league.”

The focus at PWHL now, according to its executives, is investment — not profitability.

Will the PWHL cooperate with the NHL?

You’d be surprised how little overlap there is between the NHL and PWHL audiences. Scheer told the league’s Takeover Tour games that 40-80 percent of attendees in some markets had never been to an NHL game before going to watch women’s hockey.

The PWHL does not have an official partnership with the NHL, but Scheer said teams — especially those that might loan their venues for games, such as the Bruins, Rangers and Senators (Ottawa moved their playoff games to the larger Canadian Tire Centre) have been supportive. Some teams have lobbied the league to bring Takeover Tour to their city, Scheer said.

Due to the lack of crossover audiences, among other factors, the PWHL does not see direct relationships with teams — sharing personnel, resources and other things you might see in leagues like the WNBA — as a necessity.

“Do we need them? I don’t know. Today, do we need them? Sure, why not?” Think Cher. “I think there is room for everyone in the market to develop hockey.

“…We are not competitive [NHL teams]”We’re added to them,” Cher said.