Tensions are mounting in the battle over the future of professional women’s hockey as the NWHL plots its expansion into a new market and attempts to convince more players to switch sides.



The National Women’s Hockey League is set to announce a new team in Toronto as soon as this week, a source confirmed to The Athletic on Monday. The Associated Press first reported last week that an expansion franchise would be added in the city.



The source added that the team has already signed five former members of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association, a group — comprised of former members of the defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League and featuring most of the sport’s biggest stars — that spent the past year boycotting league play and arguing that the NWHL does not provide a “viable option” for the professional game.



When asked about reports of the addition of a Toronto franchise, a league...