It’s the dawning of a new era of professional women’s hockey in North America. On Tuesday, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced its six inaugural franchises that will compete in a 24 game regular season kicking off in January of 2024.
The newly formed league ends years of behind the scenes turmoil between the now defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), and the Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association (PWHPA). By bringing all the parties under one banner, the hope is to now create a unified front which can properly scale over the coming years.
The PWHL is being funded by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and his wife Kimbra, with the hopes of paying its players a livable salary so that they can be full time athletes and no longer need to supplement their income in the offseason.
With funding now secured, the league felt confident in their timeline to launch in early 2024. The inaugural season will feature 3 Canadian teams and 3 American franchises, with a league spokesperson confirming that the 6 clubs are in the final stages of selecting General Managers to oversee operations.
Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa are the sites for the 6 founding members of the league. While home arenas, team names and logos have not yet been revealed, the PWHL confirmed that those details will be released in a series of announcements over the next few weeks.
“Today, we look ahead to a phenomenal future for the PWHL,” said PWHL SVP of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford. “We’ve never seen more excitement and demand for women’s sports, and through the launch of this league, the top women’s players in the world will have the opportunity to reach even greater heights.”
“Our great game has the power to captivate and connect sports fans everywhere, and we are thrilled to plant roots in six of North America’s most passionate hockey markets,” said Dodgers president and PWHL board member Stan Kasten.
Rosters for the league will be formed during an initial “free agency” period which will begin on September 1st 2023. Teams will be able to sign a maximum of 3 players each during this time to form the nucleus of their roster. This will then be followed by the first ever PWHL Draft which will take place on September 18th. Current or graduating NCAA players won’t be eligible for the preliminary free agency period, but can be selected via the draft.
Per the newly ratified PWHL collective bargaining agreement, teams can have up to 20 players signed in advance of training camps which are slated to kick off in November. In an effort to ensure teams make good on their financial commitments, the current CBA calls for at least 6 players on each team to be signed to 3 year contracts of “no less than $80,000 per league year”.
The CBA is slated to run through 2031 and includes a minimum salary of $35,000 per year for players on active rosters.
The 2024 PWHL schedule is set to be released later this year.
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