With Phase 2 of the PWHL Expansion Player Distribution Process coming to a close, here's a look at what's happened so far and what to expect this week as the process moves into Phase 3.
Four signings were announced by expansion teams on Monday to complete Phase 2 of the process. Because a player who received an EFO had until 12 p.m. ET on June 9 to decide the agreement’s term, the final signing – Las Vegas' EFO – was not made official until Tuesday morning. Despite this, since all four teams had signed five players, the only-if-necessary selection process, dubbed the Foundational Roster Completion, was not required.
As first reported by John Wawrow of the Associated Press, Hilary Knight, who received the EFO from Las Vegas, will not play for the team and will instead be sent to Detroit in a sign-and-trade transaction. In exchange for Knight, Las Vegas will receive Detroit's first round pick in the 2026 entry draft.
Because a roster freeze is currently in place, the trade will not be finalized until that freeze is lifted on June 16, 2026 – the day before the draft. While the roster freeze prevents teams from actioning trades, extensions, and signings beyond those permitted by the expansion player distribution process, it does not expressly prohibit negotiations. Notably, both of the implicated teams were permitted to negotiate with Knight during Phase 2. While there's room for skepticism as to the circumstances underlying the trade and how organically the arrangement came about, the mechanics of the transaction appear to be entirely allowable within the confines of the rules.
During Phase 2, six players declined a Foundational Player Offer (FPO):
- Izzy Daniel (F, Vancouver)
- Kali Flanagan (D, Toronto)
- Jenn Gardiner (F, Vancouver)
- Julia Gosling (F, Seattle)
- Susanna Tapani (F, Boston)
- Grace Zumwinkle (F, Minnesota)
Phase 3, and beyond
Now that the four expansion teams have acquired their five foundational players, the process will move on to Phase 3, which begins at noon ET on Wednesday. Unlike in Phase 2, all 12 teams are involved and players already under contract will not be available.
Each team will be able to sign up to three players on expiring contracts, though existing teams will also have to take into consideration that any player signed during this window automatically takes up one of the three protection spots available at the end of the phase. For expansion teams, meanwhile, it’s their last opportunity to sign free agents who featured on their initial 20-player lists: if a player on an expiring contract was on an expansion team’s list, that team cannot sign them at any point after Phase 3.
The EFO and FPO contract formats are also off the table going forward. For the six players who received FPOs, Phase 3 will be their last chance to sign in the league for the 2026-27 season, and they cannot be signed for an average annual value of less than $73,125. Players were permitted to negotiate with their 2025-26 team throughout Phase 2 (and with all other teams during Phase 1 prior to receiving the FPO, courtesy of an unannounced rule change), so it is expected that an athlete who declined an FPO would have made that decision having already ensured they'll have a place to land in Phase 3. From this point on, no new EFOs can be issued (even if a team didn't use theirs in Phase 2), and there are no conditions attached to new contract offers meeting the FPO threshold.
Given that 15 of the first 20 signings were players whose rights were held by existing teams, expect expansion teams to be active during this window. It's likely that some free agents already have agreements with expansion teams in place, but opted to wait until Phase 3 to make it official so that the team could acquire top under-contract players during the only period when most were available. However, unlike Phase 2's requirement that all teams acquire five players, Phase 3 features only a maximum — no minimum. If an expansion team doesn't max out its three possible signings during Phase 3, it will carry those spots forward to Phase 4, where each expansion team will acquire as many players as it takes to get to a total of 10. That means each expansion team will acquire at least two, and at most, five, players in Phase 4, depending on what they do in Phase 3.
Phase 4 doesn't open until next week, but because the carry-over option will affect teams' approaches to Phase 3, it's important to know the basics. Players already under contract will once again be available to expansion teams during Phase 4, but before that, existing teams will each make three more protections. There are a lot of moving pieces with Phase 3 because of this. It's possible that some expansion teams will be adjusting their strategies on the fly based on existing teams’ signings, since those will impact how many under-contract players will remain unprotected in Phase 4 (and therefore, how many spots an expansion team may want to leave open).
Meanwhile, existing teams might tailor their approach to re-signing their players on expiring contracts based less on their value than on the perceived risk of losing them. For players who received an FPO, that risk is imminent: they must sign now, whether with their previous team or any other. But since expansion teams no longer have any mechanism to force a free agent to sign with them, a player who did not receive an FPO could preemptively agree to re-sign with their existing team during the Phase 5 re-signing period instead of Phase 3, and to reject any other offers in the meantime. This would enable the team to focus on acquiring new players and/or protecting players already under contract, who might otherwise be tempted (or required) to go elsewhere. It would take trust on both sides, but for a player who wants to stay where they are and maximize their team's chances at building/maintaining a competitive roster, staying on the sidelines of Phase 3 may be the best move.
Once Phase 4 hits, it will likely be largely reminiscent of Phase 2, with only the expansion teams in action. This time, an expansion team will only be permitted to sign free agents who were not on that team's original 20-player list, but all unprotected players whose rights are held by existing teams (including those under contract) will be available for signing or selection, regardless of whether or not those players featured on an expansion team's list. By the end of Phase 4, each existing team will have, in total, lost a maximum of four players whose rights it held.
In light of all this, some key things to watch for during Phase 3:
- With just three protection/signing spots to work with, how will existing teams, especially those with major departures, strike a balance between adding free agents to fill some of the gaps left by Phase 2, and preserving what remains of their roster?
- Will we see free agents who wish to remain on their existing teams strategically forego re-signing in Phase 3, in order to maximize their teams' protection spots?
- Will all players who declined FPOs re-sign with their previous teams, or will any go elsewhere?
- After focusing primarily on players already under contract during Phase 2, will expansion teams use Phase 3 to go all-in on their target free agents, or will some aim to maximize their access to under-contract players in Phase 4?
Player Movement (after Phase 2)
Acquired
Detroit
- F Daryl Watts (EFO)
- D Cayla Barnes
- F Hannah Bilka
- F Britta Curl-Salemme
- F Jesse Compher
Hamilton
- F Brianne Jenner
- G Kayle Osborne
- F Alina Müller
- D Nicole Gosling
- F Emily Clark
Las Vegas
- D Mae Batherson
- D Kendall Cooper
- D Erin Ambrose
- F Hayley Scamurra
- F Hilary Knight (EFO)
San Jose
- G Corinne Schroeder
- D Rory Guilday
- F Anne Cherkowski
- F Kristin O'Neill (EFO)
- F Maddi Wheeler
Lost
Boston Fleet
- F Alina Müller
Minnesota Frost
- F Britta Curl-Salemme
- D Mae Batherson
- D Kendall Cooper
Montreal Victoire
- D Nicole Gosling
- D Erin Ambrose (expiring contract – does not count towards max losses)
- F Hayley Scamurra
Ottawa Charge
- F Brianne Jenner (expiring contract – does not count towards max losses)
- D Rory Guilday
- F Emily Clark
New York Sirens
- G Kayle Osborne
- F Anne Cherkowski
- F Kristin O'Neill (expiring contract – does not count towards max losses)
- F Maddi Wheeler
Seattle Torrent
- D Cayla Barnes
- F Hannah Bilka
- G Corinne Schroeder
- F Hilary Knight (expiring contract – does not count towards max losses)
Toronto Sceptres
- F Daryl Watts (expiring contract – does not count towards max losses)
- F Jesse Compher
Vancouver Goldeneyes
- N/A
