Frost lose Mae Batherson, Kendall Cooper to Las Vegas
Article excerpt
The Minnesota Frost lost two defensemen, Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper, to the Las Vegas franchise in the PWHL's Phase 2 expansion roster distribution Saturday. The signings come just a day after forward Britta Curl-Salemme departed for Detroit, marking a second consecutive loss for the new Minnesota team in the league's player allocation process. Las Vegas secured both blueliners on standard two-year contracts as part of its inaugural roster construction.
A day after losing forward Britta Curl-Salemme to Detroit, the Frost lost a pair of defenders to Las Vegas in Phase 2 of the PWHL’s Expansion Roster Distribution Process.
Las Vegas announced late Saturday that it had inked Minnesota blueliners Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper as the franchise’s inaugural signings, securing the pair on standard 2-year player agreements.
Detroit and Las Vegas, yet unnamed, are two of the four expansion teams set to join the professional women’s hockey circuit, along with Hamilton, Ont. and San Jose.
Minnesota announced it had protected and re-signed forwards Taylor Heise and Kelly Pannek as well as protecting goaltender Maddie Rooney during Phase 1 of the process.
However, that left a lot of the two-time league champion’s star power exposed to be plucked by the four new teams looking to fill rosters.
Batherson completed her second season with Minnesota in 2025-26, registering 15 points (3G, 12A) across 30 appearances.
Cooper had a standout rookie season, recording 19 points (2G, 17A) in 30 appearances for a Frost defensive corps that led the PWHL in scoring.
With the trio of attritions, Minnesota has now lost its maximum of three players during Phase 2, which runs until noon Monday.
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