The roster is taking shape for the expansion San Jose franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

One of San Jose’s original five players is Coldstream’s Anne Cherkowski, 23, picked up by the California club in the league’s expansion distribution system.

She was the first forward signed by San Jose, inking a two-year deal on June 6 after spending her rookie season in the league with the New York Sirens in 2025-26.

“The whole expansion process in the PWHL is a little crazy, and people are getting shuffled around from team to team,” said Cherkowski, who turns 24 July 6. She’s spending the summer with family in Lake Country, rehabbing some nagging injuries from her rookie season, along with training and preparing for the move to California.

“I was pretty excited when the opportunity came to go to San Jose. I think it’s really cool to be part of something right from the beginning, and I saw San Jose as a really good fit for me and the next step in my career.”

Joining San Jose for the 2026-27 PWHL season are expansion teams in Hamilton, Detroit, and Las Vegas. The trio of newbies join the eight existing franchises in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Boston, and Minnesota.

None of the expansion teams have a nickname or logo yet.

The expansion clubs can acquire players through a pair of options:

• PWHL Expansion Player Distribution Process: Throughout the six-phase process, which began on June 2, teams may acquire players through contract signings, Expansion Foundational Offers (EFOs), Foundational Player Offers (FPOs), player selection processes* (if necessary), and the 2026 PWHL Draft. Beginning June 19, all remaining eligible unsigned and undrafted players may sign with any of the league’s 12 teams.

• 2026 PWHL Draft: Consists of six rounds and allows all 12 teams to select eligible players from a pool of talent, including recent collegiate graduates and/or players from other professional leagues.

As of Thursday, June 18, the San Jose club had 10 players signed through the expansion player distribution process, including two of Cherkowski’s former Sirens teammates, forwards Kristin O’Neill and Maddi Wheeler (existing franchises were allowed to protect three players on their rosters).

San Jose selected six players in the June 17 draft, three Canadians, and three Americans, all from the U.S. college ranks.

Being left unprotected was a little nerve-wracking at first for Cherkowski.

“It was tough only having three players to be protected,” she said. “We had so many good players on our team and I think there were numerous other girls who could have been protected as well, but the three they did choose, they’re fantastic hockey players and definitely deserved it.

“It’s definitely kind of scary being left exposed to the process, but it ended up working out well.”

Cherkowski was selected by New York with the first pick in the second round of the 2025 PWHL Draft (ninth overall). The 23-year-old recorded nine points (2G, 7A) in 28 games and her seven assists were tied for the second-highest total among Sirens rookies.

She got to play in front of friends and family twice in Vancouver, against the Goldeneyes, and was part of league history April 4 when the Sirens took on the Seattle Torrent at Madison Square Garden in New York City in front of 18,006 people, the largest crowd ever for a women’s hockey game in U.S. history.

Cherkowski and the Sirens won the game, 2-1 in a shootout. She set up the game-tying goal late in the third period, but was stopped in the shootout by Seattle netminder Corinne Schroeder, who is now Cherkowski’s teammate in San Jose, signing with the expansion club.

“We definitely played in front of some big crowds, it was pretty crazy,” said Cherkowski. “The whole season was definitely a really cool experience.

“I think it took a little while to kind of get into things, and figure out the different adjustments, the physicality, the pace of play, that sort of thing. But I was really happy with how my season went. I got a lot of cool opportunities at New York, and I’m very grateful for that whole experience.”

Cherkowski has a bit of a history with San Jose’s first-ever head coach/general manager, Troy Ryan.

She has worked with him in the past through Hockey Canada. Ryan is a former PWHL head coach with the Toronto Sceptres, and of Canada’s national women’s team.

Cherkowski won a pair of medals (one gold, one silver) competing for Canada at the 2019 and 2020 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship. She played collegiately at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, where she skated in 168 games for the Golden Knights.

In her college career, Cherkowski collected 147 career points (60G, 87A), earning ECAC First-Team All-Star honours her final season.