Draft, free agency, long-awaited team names and logos: Previewing a busy PWHL off-season

Fans will have to wait more than five months to watch another PWHL game, but the league's first off-season promises to be anything but quiet.

Less than two weeks after Minnesota won the first Walter Cup championship, 42 players will hear their name called at the league's entry draft in St, Paul, Minn. on June 10. That's also where the league will hold its awards ceremony on June 11.

Teams will be able to sign free agents beginning on June 21, including players who do not get drafted.

Behind the scenes, the PWHL is preparing to release long-awaited team names and logos in August, the league's senior vice-president of business operations, Amy Scheer, confirmed on TSN's Game 5 broadcast this week.

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Also high on the league's to-do list is to find the right venues for each team next season, and figure out a way for players to keep developing if they don't make a PWHL roster.

"When the season's over, we're going to review everything — every city, every venue that we're in, and we're going to try to improve," PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten told reporters last week.

It's all in preparation for a 30-game regular season, up from 24 games this season, that's expected to kick off toward the end of next year.

More than 160 players from 19 different countries have declared for June's seven-round draft and are eligible to be selected.

The draft order is based on regular-season standings, meaning New York will select first, followed by Ottawa, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal and Toronto.

That order will repeat over each of the seven rounds, with one caveat: teams weren't allowed to trade draft picks up to this point, but have a window to do so now that the season is over.