HAMILTON, ON (June 21, 2026) – PWHL Hamilton today announced that forwards and former Stoney Creek Sabres teammates Alexa Vasko and Kayla Vespa have each signed two-year Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Standard Player Agreements through the 2027-28 season, marking homecomings for the St. Catharines and Hamilton natives. The signings are the first for PWHL Hamilton as part of the league’s Open Signing Period that began on Friday and allows all 12 teams to continue building their rosters in advance of the 2026-27 campaign.
Vasko reunites with former Ottawa Charge teammates Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Peyton Hemp and Zoe Boyd, after playing her last two PWHL seasons in the nation’s capital. The 27-year-old centre recorded two goals and one assist across 30 regular-season games in 2025-26, anchoring the Charge’s fourth line and providing reliability at the faceoff dot with a 53.1 win percentage. She also brought physicality with 49 hits this past season, second-most on the team. Vasko spent her first PWHL season with Toronto after being selected in the 14th round of the inaugural PWHL Draft and has appeared in 78 career regular-season games with nine points (6G, 3A), and 21 postseason appearances. The St. Catharines native played three seasons for the Stoney Creek Sabres (2014-17), overlapping with Vespa from 2014-16, and won a silver medal with Canada at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, before embarking on a collegiate career at Mercyhurst University.
Vespa has played all three of her PWHL seasons for the New York Sirens, including two with PWHL Hamilton defender Allyson Simpson and goaltender Kayle Osborne, after being selected by the club in the 13th round of the inaugural PWHL Draft. The 29-year-old from Hamilton appeared in all 30 Sirens games this past season, contributing two assists, and has amassed 63 career regular-season games overall, recording five points (2G, 3A). Prior to turning professional, Vespa enjoyed a standout collegiate career at St. Lawrence University and was recruited out of the Sabres program, where she played three seasons from 2013-16.
PWHL Hamilton now has 12 players under contract for the upcoming season: forwards Jenner (Phase 2), Clark (Phase 2), Alina Müller (Phase 2), Abby Hustler (Phase 4), Hemp (Phase 5), Vasko (Phase 6), and Vespa (Phase 6); defenders Nicole Gosling (Phase 2), Boyd (Phase 3), Riley Brengman (Phase 4), and Simpson (Phase 4); and goaltender Osborne (Phase 2).
The team also selected six players in the 2026 PWHL Draft presented by Upper Deck, adding four forwards, one defender and one goaltender to the organization’s roster on Wednesday.
A complete list of player signings and transactions is available on the official PWHL Transactions Page. To see the full overview of the status of PWHL player contracts, visit the PWHL Contract Guide here.
ABOUT PWHL HAMILTON
PWHL Hamilton is one of 12 teams in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which was founded in 2023. The PWHL began its inaugural season in January 2024 and features the best women’s hockey players in the world. PWHL Hamilton was officially announced as one of the league’s four new expansion teams on May 13 and will debut at TD Coliseum in the fall. Fans can place a time-stamped deposit here, opens in a new tab to secure priority access to season tickets for PWHL Hamilton’s historic inaugural season, once ticket packages are released. To learn more and stay up to date, visit HamiltonPWHL.com, subscribe to PWHL Hamilton’s newsletter here, opens in a new tab, and follow the team on Facebook PWHL Hamilton, opens in a new tab, Instagram @PWHL_Hamilton, opens in a new tab, X @PWHL_Hamilton, opens in a new tab, TikTok @PWHL_Hamilton, opens in a new tab, YouTube PWHL Hamilton, opens in a new tab, Threads @PWHL_Hamilton, opens in a new tab, Bluesky @PWHL-Hamilton, opens in a new tab, and LinkedIn PWHL Hamilton, opens in a new tab.
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