The PWHL established two new teams for the
2025–26 season, the
Seattle Torrent and
Vancouver Goldeneyes. In order to help these new teams fill their rosters, the league granted them an exclusive signing window from June 4–8, and held an
expansion draft on June 9, 2025.
Protected lists and exclusive signing window Before 5:00 pm on June 3, each current team submitted the names of three current players under contract for next season to the league to be protected from signing by the expansion teams. After a current team lost two players, they were then allowed to protect a fourth player. Once the protected lists were submitted, the Seattle and Vancouver teams had a five-day exclusive window, from June 4 through June 8, to sign up to five players each. Any player who was either unprotected, or on an expiring contract, could be signed by either expansion team.
Protected players Signed players Expansion draft On June 9, the two expansion teams drafted at least seven additional players from the current PWHL teams, until they reached a 12-player roster. If one (or both) of the expansion teams signed fewer than five players during the exclusive signing window, they would receive more than seven picks in the expansion draft. Brooke McQuigge, Gabby Rosenthal, and Anna Wilgren are restricted
free agents with their rights controlled by Vancouver or Seattle; they will technically not be members of those teams until they sign a contract in free agency. ==Format==