OTTAWA - On the eve of the Walter Cup final opener between the Ottawa Charge and the Minnesota Frost, the Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey League announced the dates, rules and procedures surrounding the 2025 expansion draft.
Rather than keeping the focus on the league鈥檚 showcase event, players and coaches were being asked about expansion and free agency. However, that didn’t change the priority and focus for Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod.
鈥淥bviously, what we鈥檙e doing is our priority and our only focus,鈥 said MacLeod. 鈥淪o, at the end of the day I can鈥檛 control those variables. All we can do is control what we鈥檝e been doing.鈥
MacLeod admitted that obviously her players are aware of what鈥檚 going on, but she and her coaching staff will continue to ensure the focus remains on the series considering how hard they worked to get there.
Minnesota coach Ken Klee had much of the same mindset.
鈥淵ou know, it鈥檚 just one of those things,鈥 said Klee. 鈥淎gain, we鈥檙e here to play.鈥
The expansion process, to ensure Vancouver and Seattle can be competitive in 2025-26, includes a player protection phase, an exclusive signing window, the expansion draft and the 2025 PWHL Draft.聽
Each of the six original PWHL teams will ultimately lose four players from their current rosters during the multi-stage process, which starts with teams submitting a list of protected players by June 3.
Beginning June 4, the expansion teams will have a five-day exclusive signing window to sign up to a maximum five unprotected or expiring-contract players. This will be followed by the Expansion Draft on June 9, where Seattle and Vancouver will alternate picks to build 12-player rosters, selecting from remaining unprotected players under contract or whose rights are held for the 2025鈥26 season.聽
The full order of selections and additional signing windows will be announced in the coming weeks.
鈥淥bviously, it鈥檚 information, you know, we鈥檝e been hoping to have, and you want to know what鈥檚 going on in the future,鈥 said Minnesota defender Lee Stecklein. 鈥淏ut it is the future at this point and these games are right in front of us. So, it鈥檚 nice to be able to talk to each other and sort of, again, kind of, have some questions answered.鈥
Ottawa punched its ticket to the final with a 3-1 series win over the top-seeded Montreal Victoire in their best-of-five semifinal, while Minnesota beat second-seeded 海角社区官网by the same margin, setting the stage for a championship showdown between the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.
Minnesota, which enters the series as the defending Walter Cup champion, will present a different challenge for the Charge.
In their semifinal against Montreal, the Charge focused on containing the Victoire鈥檚 top line. Against Minnesota, the challenge will be far more difficult.聽
The Frost, who led the league in scoring during the regular season, boast impressive depth, with 11 different players finding the back of the net in their opening series. They scored 18 goals in the first round compared to Ottawa鈥檚 eight.
鈥淲e take pride in playing good defensively and not giving them many chances and, obviously, Gwyn (Philips) played outstanding that series so we鈥檒l definitely rely on her a lot,鈥 said Ottawa defender Ashton Bell.聽
鈥淚 think just our structure and where we鈥檙e at in our play is definitely something that speaks a lot about how we limited their top line to not many, zero, if any goals. So, we鈥檒l definitely use that going into this next series.鈥
Philips鈥 play in goal had a significant impact on Ottawa鈥檚 success, whereas the Frost split duties between Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney.
鈥淲e know we need both,鈥 said Klee. 鈥淏oth are going to be involved. They know, their mentality is I鈥檝e got to earn my next start and that鈥檚 kind of served us pretty good.鈥
The series gets underway Tuesday in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2025.
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