PWHL Expansion Plans Continue As League Grows

The Professional Women's Hockey League announced the expansion to two more hockey markets last year, expanding the league from six to eight teams for the coming season. As the PWHL’s third year embarks, the league is flourishing and growing quickly.

After increasing from six to eight teams, the league is reportedly set to expand again. According to a new update first reported on by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the PWHL could expand once more as early as the 2026-2027 season. Not only that, but this time they are eyeing an even larger expansion than before, with as many as four new organizations being discussed as part of this wave.

“I’m told as many as 4 new markets in the next wave, which may come as early as the 2026-2027 season,” he wrote via his X account. “No timeline on an announcement, but the league is continuing to grow. There is a lot of interest out there from such markets as Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Quebec City, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Denver, Los Angeles Las Vegas and more.”

There is a lot of interest out there from such markets as Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Quebec City, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and more. We’ll see where this all lands, but a 12-team league seems to be on the horizon.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) September 29, 2025

Where to Next?

A few of these cities are ones that have already expressed interest in adding a team or have hosted events or neutral-site matchups for the PWHL over the past two years. Places like Denver, Detroit and Quebec City hosted games last season as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour and the year before Detroit and Pittsburgh played host for a weekend of games. These four cities feel like the strongest contenders to land a team.

One of the biggest reasons why these locations stand out is because they already have built-in fanbases, ready to go. Pittsburgh has an arena with a capacity over 18,000, Quebec City has pleaded for professional hockey to return since the Nordiques left, Ball Arena is a beautiful arena for being 26 years old, and Detroit’s Little Caesar's Arena is under a decade old and cost nearly a billion dollars to construct.

Using this group of cities would also spread out the expansion of the league, which they could be ready to do. The last wave kept things located in the Pacific Northwest with Seattle and Vancouver, which made complete sense logistically. As the PWHL keeps growing in popularity and financial success, the time is nearing when they can begin branching out to even more parts of the United States and Canada.

PWHL Rising

What stands out as the most notable part of all of this is how quickly the expansion is happening. Since 2023, this league has gone from six to eight and now to possibly 12 teams in less than five years since its inception. As more information comes out on the next step in the league’s expansion, what’s becoming increasingly undeniable is how fast and steadily this league is rising.

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