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Seattle Torrent Sign Alex Carpenter, Protect Her From Expansion Thieves

The Seattle Torrent re-signed forward Alex Carpenter to a 3-year PWHL Standard Player Agreement on June 2, keeping one of the franchise’s foundational pieces through 2028-29 and committing one of the team’s 3 protection slots under the league’s Expansion Roster Distribution Process (proper noun) ahead of 2026-27. If that sounded like word salad, it’s the entire expansion process is word salad. Carpenter signed as one of Seattle’s foundational players in June 2025 and played all 30 regular-season games of the inaugural season, serving as one of the first alternate captains in team history. The 32-year-old from North Reading, MA, tied Julia Gosling for the team scoring lead with 20 points, led the Torrent with 12 goals, and ranked second with 8 assists. Carpenter came to Seattle after playing 2 seasons with the New York Sirens. She’s the third all-time leading scorer in PWHL history with 63 points (31, 36A) and she has 16 power play assists, the actual most in league history. She’s also an Olympic medalists, having won gold in the 2026 Winter Games, and winning silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was left off the She represented the United States at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and won her first gold after silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was a shocking cut from the 2018 gold medal-winning Pyeongchang team, so Milan was her first Olympic gold). She has 18 Olympic points (11G, 7A), which is fifth all-time in U.S. Olympic women’s history. The PWHL is adding four teams this season, and since so much of the league is not under contract, they can’t do a traditional expansion draft, so they have this byzantine six phase process that is…well, the video does a good job explaining it. But Carpenter is locked into one of the 3 protection slots available to teams during Phase 1. Teams have until today at 2pm to finalize their three protection slots before Phase 2: Expansion Team Foundational Signing Period. (No, seriously, that’s how it’s officially communicated by the PWHL. That is a proper noun.) There’s going to be a lot of turmoil with the league expanding by 50% from 8 teams to 12 teams. In addition to all the roster turnover, the Torrent also fired head coach Steve O’Rourke. These first few years of expansion are real Wild West.

Black and Brown Youth in the South End Find Their Voices Through Spoken-Word Poetry

Melinda French Gates Becomes Minority Owner of the Seattle Kraken

Melinda French Gates is becoming a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken, the team’s parent company said Monday, pending approval from the NHL. The size of her stake and the terms were not disclosed. French Gates, 61, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is buying into One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Kraken. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported the deal. French Gates is worth about $30 billion, according to Forbes, and the investment is her first ownership stake in a major professional sports team. She joins a group led by majority owner Samantha Holloway that includes minority investors David Wright, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Holloway became majority owner in December 2024 after the death of her father, David Bonderman, the TPG co-founder whose group, Seattle Hockey Partners, won the expansion franchise. “As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,” French Gates said in a statement. “I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community. Seattle is an engine of innovation in so many ways, and Samantha Holloway’s leadership of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena reflects that.” Holloway said in the statement, “Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact.” “It’s just time,” French Gates told ESPN. “What you’re seeing is a generation of women coming into their full power. I’ve walked into tough rooms, and being one of the few is very hard. Once we can create enough that we’re one of many, it just gets easier.” Though originally from Dallas, French Gates has lived in the Seattle area for nearly 40 years. She joined Microsoft in 1987, where she met Bill Gates, and worked on multimedia products before leaving in 1996. She co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2000 until 2024 and now runs Pivotal, a Kirkland-based organization she founded in 2015 to support women and young people in the United States and abroad. One Roof Sports and Entertainment, created in March, owns the Kraken and controls Climate Pledge Arena, along with the Kraken Community Iceplex, the rebuilt Memorial Stadium, and the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The group is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Seattle. What this means for the Kraken Nothing changes from a hockey operations standpoint. Jason Botterill will continue to be the GM, they are conducting an audit, they will pursue free agents and make draft picks and attempt trades and it will be business as usual there. The addition brings financial security. Though the NHL has a hard salary cap, Scouting, front office salaries, player development, analytics, facilities, and support staff are not subject to an NHL salary cap and can vary from organization to organization, depending on the owners’ willingness and ability to spend money. A group with French Gates’s money can cover all of that through a rebuild without needing the team to turn a profit, and won’t be forced to cut costs or tear the team down in a bad year. There is also a very expensive NBA bid going on. In March, the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, and Holloway’s group, advised by JPMorgan Chase and Moelis, is the only public Seattle bidder. The NBA hired PJT Partners to evaluate the markets, ownership groups, and arenas and the expansion fees is projected to be somewhere in the $6 to $10 billion range. French Gates is now an owner in One Roof, the group pursuing the NBA team, so her money is already behind that effort. Though we don’t know the extent of her stake, her fortune is several times the projected fee, and because the NBA weighs the strength of each ownership group, her name helps the Seattle bid. Her most visible impact will probably be in the community. The One Roof Foundation has focused on getting more kids into sports, and French Gates has spent her career working on opportunities for women and families. Holloway said, “We’re really aligned on that.” For the Kraken, the deal leaves them with a richer, steadier ownership group. For One Roof, it adds another prominent name as it tries to bring the NBA back to Seattle.

The Electric Sculptures of Black Artist Tom Lloyd Illuminate the Frye

An exhibition at Frye Art Museum called "Tom Lloyd" is a fascinating exploration into the career of Lloyd, an early pioneer of light art who has remained obscured from broader art history.

DOOM LOOP: Public Outreach

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COLUMN | Federal Way Students Build Their Futures by Trying the Trades

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The Roundup: The Op-Ed That Caused an Uproar

In this week's edition of The Roundup, Mike Davis talks about op-eds published over the past week regarding the Lake Washington Boulevard closure to cars — and readers' response to one op-ed in particular.

Sound Transit Votes to Fully Fund Graham Street Station; Completion Expected in 2031

In a unanimous vote, Sound Transit plans to pay for the station, in part with a federal grant and a $30 million commitment from the City of Seattle.

What Mayor Katie Wilson Says About Graham Street Station, Lake Washington Boulevard, and South End Issues

From long-delayed transit projects to encampments, surveillance cameras, and neighborhood concerns, Mayor Katie Wilson answers readers' questions about issues shaping South End communities.

DOOM LOOP Special Feature: Car-Free on Lake Washington Boulevard

Brett goes to the opening of Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Boulevard.

OPINION | We Deserve This Lane: Lake Washington Boulevard Belongs to People, Too

John Aaron writes that closing Lake Washington Boulevard to through-traffic isn’t anti-car — it's a long-overdue investment in safety, equity, and public space for South Seattle.

1 Year Later, How WA's Controversial Cap on Rent Hikes Has Been Enforced

A year into Washington’s limit on residential rent increases, the state has yet to collect a cent in civil penalties from landlords.