The PWHL offseason has been relatively quiet compared to the NHL, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been plenty happening behind the scenes.
With the league expanding from eight teams to 12 for the 2026-27 season, the fantasy landscape is changing in a big way. Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose will all enter the league this season, creating new opportunities for players who may not have had significant fantasy value in the past.
We’re also starting to see more draft picks sign, rosters take shape and important organizational decisions get made. Training camps are still several weeks away, but the picture is becoming much clearer.
So, with the 2026-27 season approaching, here are 10 things fantasy managers should know right now.
1. The PWHL Has Grown to 12 Teams
This is easily the biggest development for fantasy hockey.
The PWHL now has 12 teams after adding Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose. The four expansion franchises went through an offseason roster-building process designed to give them a foundation while maintaining some continuity for the established teams. For fantasy managers, expansion means more opportunity.
There are now more roster spots, more top-six positions, more power-play opportunities and more players who could find themselves in meaningful roles simply because the league has expanded. That doesn’t mean every new player suddenly becomes fantasy relevant. It does mean the player pool is getting deeper.
The Add List Take: Expansion is probably the single biggest reason I’m becoming more interested in the deeper PWHL player pool for 2026-27. In a league this young, an additional four teams can create fantasy value in places we aren’t expecting yet.
2. San Jose Has Signed Laila Edwards
The fourth overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft is officially under contract.
San Jose signed defender Laila Edwards to a three-year contract on September 14. Edwards finished her Wisconsin career with 199 points in 151 games and won three NCAA championships. She also represented the United States at the 2026 Olympics and won gold in Milan. Her final collegiate season wasn’t quite as dominant statistically as her 2024-25 campaign, but her combination of size, offensive ability and experience makes her one of the most interesting rookies entering the league. And unlike a prospect waiting for an opportunity, Edwards is joining an expansion team that has plenty of roster decisions still to make.
The Add List Take: Edwards is one of the players I’m most interested in watching when training camp opens. If San Jose gives her a significant role, she could move quickly up our fantasy rankings.
3. San Jose Just Added Two More Draft Picks
San Jose wasn’t finished with its young players. On September 22, the team signed forward Sloane Matthews and goaltender Tia Chan to three-year contracts through the 2028-29 season. Matthews was selected in the 2026 Draft, while Chan was also part of San Jose’s draft class. That gives the Sharks another pair of young players to watch as their inaugural roster continues to take shape.
For fantasy purposes, Chan is particularly interesting because goalie opportunity can be difficult to find in the established PWHL. An expansion team could potentially give a young goaltender a significant workload if the opportunity presents itself.
The Add List Take: I’m not ready to rank either player aggressively yet, but both belong on the preseason watch list. Goaltending especially could become one of the more interesting fantasy situations in San Jose.
4. Vancouver Has a New General Manager
The Vancouver Goldeneyes made a significant organizational move this week, naming Alison Izzi as the team’s new general manager. Izzi brings experience from the NHL and AHL, including work involving hockey operations, player contracts, governance and player safety. She replaces Cara Gardner Morey, who moved into the head-coaching role earlier this offseason. This matters for fantasy because Vancouver is entering its second season and still has plenty of roster decisions ahead. The Goldeneyes already have several intriguing players under contract, including Jenn Gardiner, Sarah Nurse, Hannah Miller, Sophie Jaques, Izzy Daniel and Ashton Bell.
The Add List Take: A new GM doesn’t automatically mean major fantasy changes, but Vancouver is a team I’ll be watching closely once camp begins. Any changes to line combinations, player usage or special-teams roles could create some very interesting fantasy opportunities.
5. Madison Samoskevich Is Back in Vancouver
One player whose fantasy stock is worth watching is Madison Samoskevich. The Goldeneyes re-signed the forward to a one-year contract on September 8 after she was part of Vancouver’s inaugural roster. A one-year deal doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about her projected role, but it does give Samoskevich another opportunity to establish herself in a league that is now four teams larger. And that’s the bigger fantasy angle.
The Add List Take: Samoskevich isn’t someone I’m rushing up the rankings based solely on the contract, but she’s exactly the type of player I want to monitor during camp. Expansion creates opportunities, and second-year players can benefit from a larger league just as much as newcomers.
6. Training Camp Is Coming November 18
We finally have a firm date. All 12 PWHL teams will open training camps on November 18, following the IIHF Women’s World Championship in Denmark. Training-camp rosters are scheduled to be announced during the week of October 5, with each team expected to invite between 28 and 32 players. That’s going to be a major date on the fantasy calendar.
For the first time, we’ll get a much clearer picture of which rookies are making an immediate push, which veterans are moving up the depth chart and which players are competing for power-play and top-six roles.
The Add List Take: November is when the fantasy picture should really start coming into focus. Until then, we’re projecting opportunity. Once camp opens, we’ll finally have actual lineup information to work with.
7. Preseason Will Give Us a First Look at the Expansion Teams
Each PWHL team will play two preseason scrimmages between November 22 and 30. There will be games involving all four expansion teams, including Detroit vs. Hamilton, Las Vegas vs. Minnesota and Vancouver, and San Jose vs. Seattle. That’s particularly important for fantasy managers because expansion-team line combinations are going to be among the biggest unknowns heading into the season. The preseason should give us our first meaningful clues about which players are playing together and which rookies are pushing for important roles.
The Add List Take: I’m already circling these games. Preseason line combinations are never guaranteed to carry over to opening night, but they’re one of the best clues we get before fantasy drafts and opening-week waiver decisions.
8. The U.S. Television Deal Is Another Big Development
The PWHL and Scripps Sports announced a national U.S. television agreement for the 2026-27 season, giving the league its first season-long national television package in the United States. The agreement includes a Saturday “Game of the Week” on ION, which Scripps says reaches more than 128 million U.S. households across its distribution platforms.
That isn’t directly a fantasy statistic, but increased exposure matters. More nationally televised games mean more opportunities for casual fans to discover players, teams and the league itself.
The Add List Take: From a fantasy perspective, increased exposure is another reason I’m expecting the PWHL player pool to become more familiar to fantasy managers. The more people watch, the more likely individual players are to become household names — and that can eventually translate into greater fantasy interest.
9. The Rookie Class Is Going to Be Extremely Interesting
The 2026 PWHL Draft produced several players worth tracking, but expansion makes this class even more intriguing. With 12 teams instead of eight, there are simply more NHL-style opportunities available: more lineup spots, more special-teams positions and more chances for young players to establish themselves.
Edwards is already signed in San Jose, while teams around the league continue to add their draft picks. Detroit, for example, has signed goaltender Andrea Brändli and defender Casey Borgiel, while Vancouver has signed goaltender Katie DeSa.
The Add List Take: I’m going to be paying much closer attention to rookie deployment this season. In a league this young, a rookie who wins a top-six or power-play role could become fantasy relevant much faster than expected.
10. Expansion Could Create the Next Wave of Fantasy Breakouts
This might be the most important fantasy takeaway from the entire offseason. When a league expands by 50 percent, opportunity moves around.
Players who were buried behind established stars may suddenly have a path to larger roles. Young players who weren’t ready for significant minutes two years ago may now have room to develop. Veterans who were previously depth pieces could become important players on new teams.
The PWHL’s expansion process allowed Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose to build initial rosters through a combination of signings, player selections and the draft. All four expansion teams reached 10 players during the formal expansion process before the offseason moved forward.
The Add List Take: This is where I think fantasy managers can gain an edge. Don’t just look at the obvious stars. Look for the players whose opportunity is changing. That’s often where fantasy value appears before the rest of the league catches up.
Players I’m Watching Closely
With training camp still a couple of months away, these are some of the names currently sitting on my PWHL fantasy radar:
Laila Edwards — San Jose
The obvious rookie to watch after signing her three-year deal.
Madison Samoskevich — Vancouver
A returning player who could benefit from Vancouver’s continued roster development.
Tia Chan — San Jose
A young goaltender who could become interesting depending on how the Sharks construct their crease.
Katie DeSa — Vancouver
Another young goalie worth tracking heading into camp.
Sloane Matthews — San Jose
A draft pick who now has a three-year commitment and an opportunity to establish herself with an expansion club.
And then there are the players we haven’t started talking about yet.
That’s what makes this offseason so interesting.
The Add List PWHL Fantasy Outlook
We’re still too early to completely overhaul the fantasy rankings, but we’re getting close.
The next major checkpoint will be the release of training-camp rosters in early October. From there, we’ll have several weeks to monitor signings, injuries, line combinations and preseason usage before the November 18 camps open. And that’s when things are going to get really interesting.
The PWHL is entering its third season with 12 teams instead of eight, four brand-new markets and a much deeper player pool. That creates more uncertainty, but it also creates more fantasy opportunities.
For The Add List, I’m especially interested in finding the players who benefit from that new opportunity before their fantasy value catches up.
That’s where the next wave of PWHL fantasy adds could come from.
Stay tuned,
– The Add List +