TORONTO, ON- JANUARY 21 - The Toronto Furies gather around Christina Kessler before the game against the Calgary Inferno at the MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence. The Toronto Furies are one of five teams in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The CWHL is the highest level of hockey for women. The League strives to become a professional league where the players earn a pay cheque to play. in Toronto. January 21, 2017. Steve Russell/Toronto Star (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

NWHL expected to add teams in Toronto and Montreal

Steve Russell / Toronto Star / Getty

The National Women's Hockey League board approved investments to add teams in two Canadian markets that are expected to be Toronto and Montreal, league commissioner Dani Rylan told ESPN's Emily Kaplan on Tuesday.

This news comes days after the Canadian Women's Hockey League announced it will discontinue operations beginning May 1 due to financial concerns.

Rylan said she met Monday with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and the NHL agreed to "significantly" raise its financial contribution to the NWHL. That will make it one of the league's biggest sponsors.

The NHL is going from paying $50k to each women’s league to now paying $100k for the one league remaining, according to a source https://t.co/doMNSEI02m
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 2, 2019

The NWHL commissioner says she's also heard interest in potential private ownership of franchises, "not only from NHL owners, but other major stakeholders in major-league sports."

Toronto and Montreal, both of which housed CWHL teams, are expected to take the NWHL to seven franchises to go along with clubs already in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Jersey.