Less than three weeks after the Montreal Victoire celebrated the franchise’s first Walter Cup, teams across the PWHL have been shaken up like dice in a game of Yahtzee.
Four new expansion teams in Hamilton, Detroit, Las Vegas and San Jose have signed five players each over the last week, as the league enters its 12-team era.
Those signings have set a foundation for the new teams, and dramatically changed the look of many of the league’s existing teams.
Every team has holes to fill as the league enters the third phase of expansion, which begins on Wednesday afternoon. Expansion teams can sign up to three more players, while existing teams will have the chance to protect three more.
Here’s a look at how the four new PWHL teams look so far, and what we’ve learned about those teams through the first five signings.
PWHL Hamilton
Players signed: Brianne Jenner, F (Ottawa), Emily Clark, F (Ottawa), Alina Müller, F (Boston), Nicole Gosling, D (Montreal), Kayle Osborne, G (New York)
It’s still early, but it looks like Hamilton GM Meghan Duggan is building a team that could play with the same kind of pace and relentlessness as the one her head coach, Kris Sparre, led last season with the Boston Fleet.
It starts with former Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner, who’s consistently elevated every line she’s played on in the nation’s capital.
She leaves Ottawa as the team’s all-time leading scorer (61 points in 82 games), and that doesn’t account for what Jenner brings off the ice when it comes to leadership.
Duggan, who spent years playing against Jenner as a member of the U.S. women’s national team, sees her as a 200-foot centre who can do just about everything.
“You watched her and [Emily Clark] put Ottawa on their backs in the playoffs in the last couple of years and it’s hard not to notice players like that in those moments, players whose games really rise up when it gets tough,” Duggan said.
Like Jenner, Clark is a two-way player who can be relied on to kill penalties and set a team’s culture behind the scenes.
They’re joined up front by Alina Müller, the 28-year-old Swiss star that led her country to a bronze medal at the Olympics.
On the back end, Duggan signed former Montreal Victoire defender Nicole Gosling, who evolved into a power play quarterback on a championship team in just her first season in the league.
Both Gosling and 24-year-old goaltender Kayle Osborne are two players Hamilton will be able to build around for years to come.
“I think she’s probably one of the most valuable long-term goalie assets in the league and really ascending rapidly,” Duggan said about Osborne. “We were very clear with her that we see her as a true number-one starter to help put our team in the right position to win moving forward.”
PWHL Detroit
Players signed: Daryl Watts, F (Toronto), Hannah Bilka, F (Seattle), Jesse Compher, F (Toronto), Britta Curl-Salemme, F (Minnesota), Cayla Barnes, D (Seattle)
Detroit signed the top free agent on the market in Daryl Watts, who trails only Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin in goal-scoring since the league began in 2024.
For a while, it looked like Watts would return to her hometown Toronto Sceptres. But she ultimately accepted a four-year expansion foundational offer from Detroit — a contract worth more than $100,000 US per season.
“I had a Zoom call with [Detroit GM Manon Rhéaume] and her team,” Watts said. “They blew me away. From that moment on, Detroit was my favourable destination.”
Watts will be the cornerstone of Detroit’s offence, but she won’t be alone. She’s joined by Hannah Bilka, who was one of the top playmakers on the American team that won Olympic gold this past February.
Jesse Compher and Britta Curl-Salemme are power forwards who can chip in offence. Curl-Salemme finished third in the league’s scoring race this past season with Minnesota.
Rounding out the group is Barnes, an offensive defender who can move the puck and who has years of experience playing alongside Bilka, in particular.
That doesn’t account for Hilary Knight, who signed with Las Vegas but is reportedly headed to Detroit in a sign-and-trade, according to reporting from The Associated Press. The deal won’t be final until the PWHL’s trade freeze is lifted on June 16, according to the AP.
Knight will add one of the best shots in women’s hockey, and should solidify a potent offence in Detroit.
PWHL San Jose
Players signed: Kristin O’Neill, F (New York), Anne Cherkowski, F (New York), Maddi Wheeler, F (New York), Rory Guilday, D (Ottawa), Corinne Schroeder, G (Seattle)
San Jose will look to former New York forward Kristin O’Neill to set the tone in the Bay Area.
On the national team, O’Neill has carved out an identity as a gritty, bottom-six centre who can win faceoffs and make the game difficult for the opposition.
But San Jose GM and head coach Troy Ryan, who coached O’Neill on the Canadian team, sees more room to grow for O’Neill, who he signed with an expansion foundational offer.
“[She still has] the ability to be that player that she was with the national team,” Ryan said. “With expansion, I think with the experience she’s had over the last number of years, I think she’s ready for a step.”
That could mean more of an offensive role for O’Neill, who tied for third in points on Canada’s team at the Olympics (five points in seven games).
O’Neill, who is beloved by her teammates, is also a candidate to captain the new team.
Joining her are two New York teammates who just finished their rookie seasons, Anne Cherkowski and Maddi Wheeler. They’re also players who could take on more offensive responsibility with bigger roles in San Jose.
Ryan also signed goaltender Corinne Schroeder, who’s never had the opportunity to play in front of a strong defensive team over PWHL stints in New York and Seattle.
“We’re confident that we can surround her with a great team that gives her a career-like year,” Ryan said.
The most important signing of the five might be Rory Guilday, a young defender who can play the most difficult minutes against the opposition, and who pushed for a role on the U.S. Olympic team this past winter.
PWHL Las Vegas
Players signed: Hilary Knight, F (Seattle), Hayley Scamurra, F (Montreal), Erin Ambrose, D (Montreal), Mae Batherson, D (Minnesota), Kendall Cooper, D (Minnesota)
According to The Associated Press, Knight will be sent to Detroit in exchange for a first-round pick, but it’s not yet clear where that pick might land in next week’s draft.
With that trade in mind, Las Vegas is missing a bonafide top scorer and starting goaltender. But the team has a solid foundation on the blue line.
That begins with Erin Ambrose, a defender known for her hockey IQ and leadership off the ice.
“She really takes her time and she’s very genuine with everyone on the team,” said Vegas signing Hayley Scamurra, who played with Ambrose in Montreal last season. “She’ll do little things for people as much as possible. She’s head of the birthday committee and things like that.”
Ambrose, who was the league’s defender of the year in 2024-25, can lead a power play and mentor the two younger defenders Las Vegas GM Dominique DiDia has signed.
Those two defenders, Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper, both had standout seasons on a Frost blue line that had been depleted by the last round of expansion.
Both seized the opportunity to take on big roles in Minnesota. They made the Frost a difficult team to play against, according to Ambrose, who faced off against the Frost in the playoffs with Montreal.
The biggest piece here might be Cooper, who’s entering just her second professional season.
“Coop came in and I think honestly transitioned so seamlessly in this league,” Ambrose said. “From her first game, I was a fan of watching Coop. I think the way that she skates the game is one of her biggest assets.”
Scamurra is the only forward on the roster so far, but she brings a ton of versatility. She’s a gritty power forward, but showed this past season in Montreal that she also has more to give offensively.
Three of the players signed to Las Vegas have won Walter Cups. It’s not a coincidence.
“One of our pillars is excellence,” DiDia said. “We want to win, and we have players who have won. They know what it takes to win a Walter Cup.”
