Seattle Reign announced the transfer of Canadian international forward Jordyn Huitema to Chicago Stars on Thursday, receiving $500,000 in league funds in exchange. The money is split between $200k in allocation money and $300k in intra-league transfer funds. Huitema subsequently signed a new three-year deal with the Stars. The move opens a roster spot and frees an international roster slot for the Reign.
“Jordyn has been a tremendous professional and teammate during her time with the Reign,” said Reign General Manager Lesle Gallimore in a team release. “We’re grateful for the commitment and energy she brought to the club and to our community. We wish her nothing but the best in the next chapter of her career.”
Huitema joined the Reign in the middle of the 2022 season on a transfer from PSG. She made 70 appearances for Seattle and scored 13 goals and four assists over three and a half seasons, earning the NWSL shield with the team in her first year and going to the NWSL final in 2023.
Allocation money can be used by teams to reduce salary cap charges or can be used in trades, but all remaining funds must be used by the end of 2026. Intra-league transfer funds increase the amount a team can spend on transfers before they incur a cap charge; the net amount teams can spend resets each year, so the Reign will need to make use of this increased transfer budget space before the end of 2026.
Gallimore indicated at a preseason press conference that the Reign will likely wait until the summer transfer window to make a big move, and these additional funds mean they can make a significantly larger transfer offer or make multiple moves. The winter transfer window also remains open until March 16.
