PWHL headed to Las Vegas: 5 things you need to know

The Professional Women’s Hockey League is expected to announce Wednesday an expansion of the league into Las Vegas next season.

The league already has expanded into Detroit last month. Two more teams have been discussed before the beginning of next season.

Here’s five things to know about the newest sports league to land in Las Vegas.

How many teams?

Founded in 2023, the PWHL started with its original six teams: the Montreal Victoire, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Ottawa Charge, Toronto Sceptres and New York Sirens. The league expanded to eight teams in 2025, adding the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent.

The Detroit franchise, which has yet to be named, was announced last month. Reports have named Las Vegas as the next team and two more teams could also be announced Wednesday to bring the league to 12 franchises.

Las Vegas would be the first franchise south of Detroit and third one west of the Rocky Mountains.

Who are the stars?

The PWHL is home to the highest level of women’s professional hockey. Sixty-one of the league’s players participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics in February. Forty-one returned as medalists, including 39 in the gold-medal game between Team USA and Team Canada.

Sixteen gold medalists from Team USA play in the PWHL, including Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise, who had the first assist on the overtime game-winner over Canada. Heise finished the PWHL regular season second in points (30) and fourth in goals (13) in 30 games played. Linemate Kelly Pannek led the league with 16 goals and 33 points, a single-season record.

In an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic, PWHL players found 35-year-old Marie Philip Poulin, captain of Team Canada and the Victoire, to be the league’s best player, garnering 80 percent of the votes. Team USA captain Hillary Knight, 36, of the Seattle Torrent was next with 8 percent.

The same poll found Sirens forward Sarah Fillier and surefire No. 1 overall pick Caroline Harvey, just 23 years old, are candidates to emerge as the face of the league in the next three to five years. They earned 26.4 percent and 24.1 percent of the votes, respectively. Abbey Murphy (9.9%) and Heise (8.8%) followed in voting.

Where do PWHL teams play?

PWHL teams often play in the same venue as their NHL counterparts.

New York drew a record U.S. crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden in April for a regular-season game against Seattle.

The largest crowd in women’s hockey history came in April 2024 between Toronto and Montreal, drawing an attendance record of 21,105 in a sold-out game at the Bell Centre.

The PWHL surpassed one million single-season attendees for the first time in history for the 2025-26 season as the league’s expansion has coincided with growing interest nationwide.

The league has seen tremendous growth the past two seasons in average attendance. In its first season, the PWHL averaged 5,448 fans a game, 7,260 in 2024-25 and 9,304 a game during this past season.

Is there checking?

Long-barred from body checking, women’s hockey has evolved in recent years to allow more physical play, including at the Olympic level.

The PWHL permits even more aggressive checking rules than the Olympics, which has helped transform a game that has long deviated from men’s hockey.

There is also the “jailbreak” rule, where if a short-handed team scores a goal, the player in the penalty box (serving a minor penalty) is released, resulting in a return to 5-on-5. This does not apply for major penalties.

What is the PWHL season schedule?

The PWHL regular season begins in late November and concludes at the end of April. Four teams made the postseason, which began on April 30.

The Walter Cup Playoffs semifinals are currently underway, with a league champion to be named this month. The 2026 PWHL Draft follows on Wednesday, June 17.