Boston Fleet captain and MVP candidate Hilary Knight heads a star-caliber list of players left unprotected by their respective teams in being made available to the PWHL’s expansion franchises in Seattle and Vancouver.
Among the other high-profile players left unprotected in a list released by the league on Tuesday were Minnesota’s Kelly Pannek and Grace Zumwinkle, New York’s Alex Carpenter, Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner and veteran defenseman Jocelyne Larocque and Toronto’s Sarah Nurse.
The release of the list opens the first part of the PWHL’s two-phased roster-building process, which opens with a five-day exclusive signing window Wednesday. It will be followed by an expansion draft on Monday.
Seattle and Vancouver can sign up to five players each, and will then fill out their remaining first 12 roster spots in the expansion draft.
The wealth of talent being made available is a result of the PWHL placing an emphasis on ensuring its two newest teams can be competitive for the league’s third season expected to open in November. The PWHL limited its six existing teams to protecting just three players, with the ability to add a fourth once they lose two players.
The six teams will lose four players each in the expansion process, after which all eight teams will participate in the PWHL draft on June 24.
Knight is coming off a stellar season in which she had 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) to finish tied for the league lead with New York rookie Sarah Fillier. And it comes as Knight, who turns 36 in July, is winding down her international career upon announcing the 2026 Winter Games will be her fifth and final representing the United States.
Knight intends to continue her PWHL career, and could be open to a move to the Pacific Northwest given she makes her offseason home in Idaho. Knight is also familiar with Seattle GM Meghan Turner, who spent the past two seasons as the Fleet's assistant GM.
The list of unprotected players include five of the six selected in the first round of last year’s draft in Ottawa’s Danielle Serdachny, Minnesota’s Claire Thompson, Boston’s Hannah Bilka, Montreal’s Cayla Barnes and Toronto’s Julia Gosling.
Thompson's future is uncertain as she has yet to announce whether she plans to resume pursuing her medical degree at NYU after being scheduled to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Games in February. She has ties to Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey, who coached Thompson as Princeton.
Both expansion teams will have numerous goaltending options, with New York’s Corinne Schroeder, Minnesota’s Nicole Hensley, Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer and Toronto’s Kristen Campbell available.
Boston protected goalie Aerin Frankel, defenseman Megan Keller and forward Alina Muller. The defending champion Frost protected captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, forward Taylor Heise and defenseman Lee Stecklein. New York protected Fillier and defensemen Ella Shelton and Micah Zandee-Hart.
Montreal protected goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens and forwards Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey. Ottawa protected forward Emily Clark, goalie Gwyneth Philips and defenseman Ronja Savolainen. Toronto protected captain Blayre Turnbull, forward Daryl Watts and defenseman Renata Fast.
The PWHL also issued a list of prospective unrestricted free agents, who are available to the expansion teams during the signing period, but not eligible to be drafted. The group includes the PWHL's inaugural season MVP, Toronto's Natalie Spooner, Boston's Susanna Tapani and Minnesota's Liz Schepers, who has scored the Walter Cup Finals series-clinching goal in each of the past two years.
AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
FILE - United States forward Hilary Knight skates to the bench to celebrate her goal against Canada during the first period of a rivalry series women's hockey game, Nov. 8, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
