San Jose has a PWHL team, but it still needs players to take to the ice. Some of those players will be selected in the PWHL Draft on June 17. But there will also be players selected before the draft. These are the players who are currently in the PWHL and might be willing to switch to another team. That’s what’s happening starting on June 1, when the Preliminary Player Negotiation Period opens at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET.
The expansion process is set to happen in six phases, and it happens mostly in the first few weeks of June, so buckle up, it’s going to happen fast. Newly named General Manager and Head Coach Troy Ryan will be tasked with picking these players. The good news for PWHL San Jose fans is that Ryan moved over from the Toronto Sceptres, so he knows a lot about the women he’ll be asked to evaluate and select.
But how will it all go down? Here’s what you need to know as a budding PWHL San Jose fan.
How will San Jose build the foundation of its PWHL roster?
Each PWHL team can protect three players. These are the untouchables, meaning expansion teams can’t talk to the players or try to sign them. For the Montreal Victoire, the newly crowned Walter Cup Champions, it sounds like the team will protect forwards Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens.
There’s no word yet on who the Ottawa Charge, Toronto Sceptres, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, New York Sirens, Seattle Torrent or Vancouver Goldeneyes will protect, but it will come out in the next day or two. Lists were due on May 28, and Phase 1 – Existing Team Signings and Protections, is supposed to take place from June 2-3.
After that, it’s Phase 2, where expansion teams get a shot. Between June 5 and 8, it’s a frenzy. Hamilton, Detroit, San Jose and Las Vegas will submit a 20-player Exclusive Negotiation Target List identifying the players the team wants to pursue. Anyone who’s not protected by the existing teams is fair game, but you don’t know whether you’re targeting the same player as another expansion team. In other words, you could be fighting it out with another team. You cannot sign a player not on your list.
The goal is to sign five players through this process. Within those contracts, there can be one binding Expansion Foundational Offer (EFO), which will be handed to a “cornerstone player.” It’s a multi-year contract opportunity that can last anywhere from one to four years. It’s up to the player to decide how long they want the contract to last.
There’s also a non-binding Foundational Player Offers (FPOs) available to eligible players on expiring contracts. These are larger contracts that are for at least two years and pay more than $80,000 per season, but unlike the EFO, a player has the option to decline the offer and explore free agency instead.
A couple of other wrinkles in the expansion process. First, each existing team can lose up to three players under contract for the 2026-27 season. And, if an expansion team doesn’t have five players signed when the music stops, the rules say a “selection process” will be used, but there’s not much detail on what that selection process is.
Confused yet?
Here’s the bottom line. When it’s all said and done, PWHL San Jose will have five roster players.
The next building block of PWHL San Jose: free agency
On June 10-12, that’s when Phase 3, the Preliminary Open Signing Period, starts. This is where all the teams get a shot at the free agents. Just like free agency day in the NHL, players get to choose who makes them the best offer based on quality of life (remember we have sunshine, awesome facilities and really great women’s hockey fans) and money.
The PWHL has added some ground rules to this process to try to keep from gutting existing teams:
- Existing teams can add three additional protections to their list; it doesn’t matter if the players are signed for next season or on expiring contracts.
- Expansion teams can sign up to three additional players.
- Players who received an FPO and remain unsigned after Phase 2 must sign in Phase 3.
After everyone’s had a fair shot at the free agents, the expansion teams get another shot in Phase 4, the Expansion Signing Period from June 14-15. Any player not signed or protected can sign with the expansion teams, and this includes players under contract from 2026-27.
The goal is to get each expansion team’s roster up to 10 players. If a team hasn’t reached 10 players by the end of Phase 4, an additional player selection process will take place to finish things up.
During Phases 1-4, the teams are under a roster freeze. They can’t make trades, sign players or execute contract extensions, except under very limited circumstances.
You can read the full rules here.
After that, the existing teams will get a chance to bring back their players. Existing teams will have time between June 16 and 18 to re-sign players that were not signed in Phases 1 through 4. Existing teams must also make qualifying offers to players who were selected in the 2025 PWHL Draft and whose rights were held for the 2026-27 season if the team wants to retain those rights.
And in the middle of all that, there’s the PWHL Draft.
What players are available in the PWHL Draft
I’m not even going to pretend like I know who is available to PWHL San Jose to help the team round out its roster; however, here’s the high-level overview of it all.
There are 236 players who have declared for the 2026 PWHL Draft happening in Detroit, Michigan, at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17. There’s a good mix of players in the group: 128 forwards, 68 defenders, and 40 goaltenders.
There’s a lot of talent in this pool of players. 23 of the draft-eligible players competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics, including the tournament MVP Caroline Harvey. Harvey then went on to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and an NCAA Championship with the University of Wisconsin. The defensewoman would certainly be a great addition to San Jose’s roster, but the odds of the team landing her are likely slim.
Also joining the draft are Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms, Tessa Janecke and Abbey Murphy. All four women recently won gold with Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina. Swiss bronze medalist Andrea Braendli, who was named Best Goalkeeper in Milan, will join the draft.
Where will San Jose pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft?
As of this writing, we don’t know where San Jose will pick in the draft. The PWHL does things a little differently from the NHL. The league doesn’t have a lottery; it runs the Gold Plan instead. The Gold Plan is a points-based system that rewards the eliminated clubs for finishing the season strong. This season, the Vancouver Goldeneyes earned the top spot in the draft, so the Goldeneyes will pick first.
The PWHL hasn’t announced a draft order after that.
In case you’re wondering, the other expansion team, the Seattle Torrent, also missed the playoffs and finished second according to the Gold Plan. The New York Sirens were third and the Toronto Sceptres fourth. Then, of course, there are the four expansion teams that all need draft picks – San Jose, Hamilton, Las Vegas and Detroit.
With all the big names declaring for the draft this season, odds are that San Jose should get a solid young player in round one. The PWHL says it will run six rounds of the draft this year, leading to 72 players being selected.
