PWHL Continues to Shakeup with Phase 2 Signings

Phase 2 of the PWHL expansion process comes to a close today, with each of the four expansion teams allowed to sign up to 5 players. So far Hamilton is the only team to complete all 5 signings, well Detroit and San Jose look for their final piece, Las Vegas seems to be struggling with only two players signed. There have already been some major names picked up, including Brianne Jenner and Emily Clark heading to Hamilton, Daryl Watts heading to Detroit, and Rory Guilday heading west to San Jose. Here’s a look at some of the best moves in Phase 2 so far:

Detroit 

Kicking things off is Detroit signing Britta Curl-Salemme from the Minnesota Frost on a three year deal. Curl-Salemme has been an impact player since being drafted in 2024 known for her physical presence and play making ability, finishing the league first in assists last season. With the signing of Curl-Salemme alongside Daryl Watts, Hannah Bilka and Cayla Barnes we can see Detroit's identity coming together, with players who continue to show up day-after-day leaving it all on the ice playing off Detroit's hard-working culture. GM Manon Rhéaume is looking to hit the ground running in Detroit’s inaugural season and those efforts are showing through their first selection phase. Moving into the next phases and with their last spot in Phase 2 Detroit is expected to focus on the backend to build out their D-core, and possibly find a goalie to shut it down. 

Hamilton 

Moving to Hamilton who has brought in an incredible lineup with their first five signings with Brianne Jenner, Kayle Osborne, Nicole Gosling, Alina Müller, and Emily Clark. Their core centers around massive players from Team Canada, alongside Swiss forward Müller from the Fleet. Signing Müller in Phase 2 was a smart play by Hamilton, who also brought on Kris Sparre as their head coach, also coming from the Fleet. We know Müller fits and excels within Sparre’s system finishing the season with a career best 21 points. She also led the Swiss team at this year’s Olympics scoring half of their goals, including the game-winning goal in overtime of the Bronze Medal Game to secure Switzerland's first medal in 12 years, while setting the Swiss record for all-time goals with 16 and assists with 13. Bringing together this caliber of National talent builds Hamilton’s identity around team pride and compete. 

San Jose

Jumping over to the West Coast, is San Jose, who is building their team around young talent signing Corrine Shroeder, Rory Guilday, and Anne Cherkowski, well centering with veteran leadership with the signing of Kristen O’Neill. San Jose probably has the most underrated move of the expansion process, signing Anne Cherkowski, who has fallen under a lot of people's radar despite the incredible rookie season she had in New York. While her stats may not have fallen where she’d like this season, she did a lot of things right on both ends of the ice, always in on the play, which led to major minutes with the Sirens. As Cherkowski settles into the PWHL in her second year, expect her impact to extend onto the score sheet and become a top player for San Jose. 

Las Vegas 

Rounding out the expansion is Las Vegas, who has been pretty quiet through Phase 2 with only Kendall Cooper and Mae Batherson signing, the defensive pair comes from the Minnesota Frost. This was a smart move by Las Vegas bringing in a proven defensive line with a combined 34 points this past season. The pair finished +9 and +10 respectively while playing a major part on the Frost’s backend from game-winning saves to offensive momentum; this dynamic duo looks to pick up right where they left off. Aside from this strong defensive pairing Las Vegas has no other signings, at this point it’s unclear what contracts are under talks or if they’re struggling to lock up players. Regardless, the PWHL expansion process lists that the selection process will apply if teams don’t sign 5 players in Phase 2, so expect Las Vegas’s core to continue growing with the focus likely on the front end. 

Phase 2 closes today so expect to see more signings coming through. Next up is Phase 3 where current teams are allowed to protect an additional 3 players to build out their rosters, before the expansion teams continue their signings. 

Based on the expansion signings so far here are some top contenders for Phase 3 protections: 

Minnesota Frost: Sidney Morin, Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, and Abby Hustler

Boston Fleet: Jesse Eldridge, Ella Huber, Abby Newhook, and Liz Schepers 

Montreal Victoire: Hayley Scamurra, Abby Roque, Kati Tabin, and Maggie Flaherty 

New York Sirens: Taylor Girard, Dayle Ross, Callie Shanahan, and Micah Zandee-Hart 

Ottawa Charge: Jocelyn Larocque, Fanuza Kadirova, Gabbie Hughes, and Sarah Wozniewicz

Seattle Torrent: Danielle Serdachny, Julia Gosling, Hilary Knight, and Lexie Adzija 

Toronto Sceptres: Jesse Compher, Emma Gentry, Kali Flanagan, and Emma Maltais 

Vancouver Goldeneyes: Abby Boreen, Ashton Bell, Claire Thompson, and Izzy Daniel