Seattle hockey just grew another wing, and if you’re a Kraken fan who bleeds Deep Sea Blue, the news should make your tentacles tingle. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) officially tapped the Emerald City for its second expansion club, slated to drop the puck at Climate Pledge Arena in the 2025-26 season. Vancouver joined the league one week earlier, giving Seattle an instant cross-border rival and bringing the eight-team circuit to the Pacific Northwest.
The yet-to-be-named team will share both the big barn and the Kraken Community Iceplex with the NHL’s newest franchise. Owner Samantha Holloway called the move “an incredible step for growing the game” and pointed to record crowds Seattle has already produced for women’s hockey showcases.
A city that shows up for women’s sports
Seattle’s résumé for supporting women’s sports is ironclad:
- 14,551 fans set a U.S. attendance record for a women’s national-team game when Team USA beat Canada at Climate Pledge Arena in November 2022.
- 12,608 fans packed the building on January 5 for the PWHL Takeover Tour neutral-site clash between Boston and Montréal—before Seattle even had a team to cheer.
- The WNBA’s Seattle Storm rank among the league’s most valuable franchises, recently pegged at $151 million.
Why Kraken fans should be fired up
More hockey, same home.
From October through April (and, we hope, well into May), Kraken season-ticket holders practically live at Climate Pledge. With the PWHL club practicing at the Iceplex and playing under the old roof, there’s now a second reason to head to Seattle Center when the NHL schedule takes the team on the road.
Built-in rivalry energy.
Vancouver’s expansion announcement means the Pacific Northwest rivarly will fire on two fronts. Imagine a Saturday twin-bill: a noon PWHL tilt vs. Vancouver followed by a 7 p.m. Kraken-Canucks showdown. That’s 120 minutes of border-bragging rights up for grabs.
Inspiring the next wave.
Since opening in 2021, the Kraken Community Iceplex has hosted Learn-to-Play sessions for more than 2,500 kids. Placing PWHL stars in that same building creates a tangible pathway for all to dream beyond the beer-league ceiling. As Holloway noted, the shared campus “will continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.”
What comes next
The PWHL will hold an expansion draft this summer, followed by the league-wide amateur draft. Expect Seattle to lean on the Kraken’s scouting infrastructure; assistant GM Alexandra Mandrycky cut her teeth in player analytics and could lend the women’s side a data-driven edge from day one.
Naming and branding will be another fan-driven adventure. Will we see a nautical theme—perhaps the “Siren”—or lean into Seattle’s evergreen identity? Whatever crest lands on the sweaters, you can bet it will look sharp in Climate Pledge’s emerald LED glow.
For four seasons the Kraken have carried the banner for big-league hockey in the Pacific Northwest. Starting next fall, they’ll share that banner with some of the best women’s players on the planet. More game nights, more community programs, more reasons for Seattle to flaunt its puck-loving soul—what’s not to love?