Upper Deck Expects To Release Physical PWHL Trading Cards This Fall

The Inaugural Flagship PWHL hockey trading card set is slated to be released this fall, Paul Zickler, Director of Sports Brands, told The Hockey News. An exact date is to be determined.

This news comes after Upper Deck's e-pack release of their PWHL Showcase Product. Unlike past PWHL sets, the upcoming fall release will be available as a physical product in hobby shops.

The base set will feature 50 veterans and current players, the most expansive PWHL product thus far. Action shots and other sorts of dynamic imagery will be a product feature.

Upper Deck shared regarding the look of the product, Zicklers says it will include some of Upper Deck's "iconic flagship designs, wink wink."

"It's going to be more of our standard designs," Zickler said. "You're going to see some of those iconic designs, you know, from past flagship products. So it will be more like your traditional trading card product."

On the card, the product will feature the team names from the inaugural PWHL season, such as PWHL Minnesota, rather than showcasing their new team names.

"The first edition set will pay homage to the inaugural season," Zickler said. "So they'll be listed as their team names in the inaugural set."

The Cover Athlete

The product packaging will feature a star from the inaugural PWHL season.

"I think you can sort of use your intuition there," Zickler said. "But [she] had a great playoff, too."

Throughout year one, names like Taylor Heise, Natalie Spooner, Alex Carpenter, and Kendall Coyne Schofield were the showstoppers. Given Zickler's comment about great playoffs, it would be easy to assume he is referencing the MVP of the PWHL Playoffs — Taylor Heise.

Autographs and Jersey Cards

Due to a lack of jerseys during the inaugural season and an upcoming transition to team names and official branding, Zickler says jersey and patch cards are a longer-term play.

Autograph cards fall in the same category due to the intricacy of building the cards.

"We have to build out the products and volumes to support those elements, too," Zickler said. "That's on the vision board for our team at Upper Deck."

Beyond The Fall

Development on PWHL products released in 2025 is in its early stages. Still, Zickler says because of the success of their on-demand products, like the Game Dated Moments cards, Upper Deck will try to capitalize on moments during the upcoming season.

"I think we'll see flagship again," Zickler said. "We may see some other sort of unique product, maybe earlier on, maybe a smaller set, depending on photography that's available and, you know, I think you'll see some surprises in some new product offerings in other areas of our business as well."

Upper Deck plans to release the official solicitation of the product in the coming week.