PWHL Seattle roster reaches 12 after expansion draft

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OTTAWA, ONTARIO - JANUARY 11: Hannah Bilka #19 of Boston Fleet skates against an Ottawa Charge defender during the first period of a PWHL game at The Arena at TD Place on January 11, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario. (Troy Parla / Getty Images)

PWHL Seattle's roster now consists of 12 players after Monday night's expansion draft brought seven more players to the Emerald City.

Led by U.S. legend Hilary Knight, PWHL Seattle had already signed five players during a signing window ahead of the expansion draft. Danielle Serdachny (F, Ottawa), Cayla Barnes (D, Montréal), Alex Carpenter (F, New York), and Corinne Schroeder (G, New York) were the four players that joined Knight in Seattle over the last week.

PWHL Vancouver had the first pick on Monday night as the draft went in a snake format with Seattle picking No. 2 and No. 3 before Vancouver picked No. 4 and No. 5 and so on. Ashton Bell of the Ottawa Charge was selected first by Vancouver before Seattle was on the clock. Ottawa defender Aneta Tejralová was the first pick by Seattle, and Boston Fleet forward Hannah Bilka followed as the No. 3 overall pick.

Forward Jessie Eldridge (New York Sirens) and Julia Gosling (Toronto Sceptres) were the next pair to join Seattle, then defenders Anna Wilgren (Montréal Victoire) and Megan Carter (Toronto), and finally Boston defender Emily Brown as Seattle's final selection.

Despite being back-to-back PWHL Champions, Seattle did not add any players from the Minnesota Frost through the expansion draft or signing window. Three players each came from Boston (Knight, Bilka, Brown) and New York (Carpenter, Schroeder, Eldridge), and two each for Montréal (Barnes, Wilgren), Ottawa (Serdachny, Tejralová), and Toronto (Gosling, Carter).

Seattle general manager Meghan Turner spent the last two seasons as assistant general manager with Boston and knows Knight, Bilka and Brown well. Knight – the PWHL's co-leading scorer last season – played on the same line with Bilka on the Fleet. In the league's Takeover Tour this season, Bilka had a goal and an assist, along with the winning goal in a shootout, in Boston's 3-2 win over the Victoire at Climate Pledge Arena in January.

Free agency for the PWHL will begin on June 20 with the PWHL Entry Draft to be held on June 24. Seattle still needs to add at least 11 more players to round out their 23-player roster for their inaugural season.

The Source: Information in this story came from the PWHL and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.