This week on the Hockey Edition of The IX Sports Podcast, host Maya Smith jumps right in by breaking down who each of the eight existing Professional Women’s Hockey League teams chose to protect heading into the expansion draft.
The New York Sirens were the only team not to protect a goaltender. Tune in to hear Smith break down decisions across the league, where there were several surprises.
Smith also explained the next steps of expansion. With four new teams joining the league this upcoming season (Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, San Jose), it’s a new and complicated process for building rosters.
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“So the expansion teams are now going to be submitting a list of 20 players that they would like to talk to, as well as a list of players they’d like to sign to the franchise player offer, which will all be kind of told to the media and the players after the fact. We’re not going to see those lists, unless it gets leaked,” Smith explained.
Salary debate
Editor-in-Chief of The Ice Garden, Mike Murphy, joined Smith to discuss PWHL salaries, which the PWHL Players Association voted to make public last week.
Last week on the podcast, Smith said that she was “a little bit shocked” to see that some players make less than people who work office jobs. (You can read more about the salaries in this article from Melissa Burgess.)
The league spent a collective $11.1 million in player salaries last year and every team had at least one player making six figures except for the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Cost of living and housing stipends were not released alongside salary information.
“I think it is in the player’s best interest to have this information publicly available,” Murphy said.
He pointed out that 33 of the known salaries are under $40,000 (USD), adding that there are housing stipends and bonuses that aren’t factored into that figure. But, he said, players have to pay taxes and agents.
“I mean, I think the conversation now is, you know, players know that the fans know, and that the media know. I don’t think that is going to disrupt the very special relationship between fans and players, and, and the role media plays,” Murphy said. “But I do think we, we might have more conversations from members of the media with players about, like, you know, ‘Why did you move to — for example — why did you sign with Hamilton,’ and they might say, ‘You know, I loved playing in New York, but I needed to make more money.'”
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
What you missed on today’s episode of Women’s Sports Daily: A look into the return of Serena Williams and what’s next for the USNWT
