NHL, PWHL showing increased social media presence following drafts

Both the 2026 PWHL Draft and 2026 NHL Draft have resulted in a recent and widespread spike in conversation surrounding both leagues across various social media platforms.

In what comes as no surprise, conversations on platforms such as X were plentiful during the first rounds of both drafts. Gavin McKenna from Penn State University was the No. 1 overall selection when it came to the NHL Draft, and Caroline Harvey with USA Hockey and Wisconsin-Madison was taken as the first overall pick for the PWHL. Across Reddit in particular, a huge spike in engagement has been shown via the PWHL subreddit through individual accounts striving for a sense of community through a shared love of the sport. 

In an exclusive, the moderator of the PWHL subreddit said that this year's draft alone brought over 2,000 comments while live on June 17.

"The draft thread had almost 2,000 comments on it live reacting to the excitement on the draft and the implications on each team," u/thatmikeguy429 said. "This might have been our most active post ever ... Engagement will continue to grow because there is a rapidly expanding, grassroots fanbase hungry for professional women's hockey."

February and May saw explosive growth (over 20,000,000 views in May) which indicated a rapidly growing and dynamic interest in the PWHL across Reddit. Trends have shown that significant events — such as the 2026 PWHL Draft and recent expansion news — drive massive engagements and discussions across a variety of social media platforms.

Recent PWHL events draw spike in social media engagement, prove growth of fanship in league

The PWHL also recently announced expansion to Detroit on May 6, to Las Vegas on May 13, to Hamilton on May 14 and to San Jose on May 19.

When PWHL Vegas was announced, Reddit saw over 1.5 million views, 1.7 million to be exact, during that time period — which was a 70.2% increase.

WE’RE NOT DONE YET! 🎉​
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The PWHL is expanding to Hamilton, ON and Las Vegas, NV!​
➡️ https://t.co/I3OHhhyQ3m​
➡️ https://t.co/xd5Kd36jnw pic.twitter.com/2Qav8ERDpe

Christina Kothari, Global Head of Consumer Marketing at Reddit said that people across the globe are clearly coming together to support and help grow women's hockey.

“The growth of conversation around women’s hockey on Reddit signals something much bigger than rising interest in the sport,” said Kothari. “Communities like r/PWHL are bringing fans together, turning passionate audiences into mainstream cultural moments. Women are shaping online sports culture on Reddit and that momentum is reflected across our platform. [Our tools have] found that conversations about women’s hockey surged to 10.7 million in May 2026 alone—nearly four-times higher than the year before.

As PWHL continues growing across social media ahead of the 2026-27 season, the 2025-26 season also saw multiple attendance records set and included a sold-out game at Madison Square Garden — setting a new U.S. attendance record (with 18,006 fans) for a professional women’s hockey game. 

The PWHL has now expanded to 12 total teams following the previously referenced expansions. The Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres were the original six teams for the PWHL.

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