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The Montreal Victoire have spent the better part of two weeks celebrating their historic Walter Cup win, culminating with massive crowds at the team’s victory parade on Saturday afternoon. And now, as the calendar flips to June, the PWHL offseason and another summer of change are upon us.In a whirlwind few weeks, the league introduced new expansion teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose. Starting this week, all four teams will begin to fill out their inaugural rosters through a complicated six-phase roster-building process.
By the end of Phase 4 (June 14-15), each expansion team will have 10 players under contract. The league’s existing eight teams — Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Minnesota, Seattle and Vancouver — will lose up to four players who are under contract for 2026-27 and any number of pending free agents from their 2025-26 rosters.
But first, teams are permitted to protect — or sign — three players from the expansion process. Should a team want to protect a player on an expiring deal, they must be signed to a new contract before the end of Phase 1 (June 2-3).
Before those protection lists are due (June 3 at 5 p.m. ET), The Athletic is going to take a run at projecting each team’s protected players, which is an even trickier task than last year. With the free-agent signing requirement, we’re not just considering what a general manager might do, but also what prominent free-agent players might want as well.
For example, Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey might want to protect star forward Sarah Nurse. But what if Nurse wants to head home to Hamilton?
We also have to consider that all twelve existing teams are able to negotiate with players starting on June 1 at noon, though nobody can be officially signed until June 2 when the Phase 1 signing period opens. Existing teams are also permitted to poach a free agent from another team to protect them in Phase 1, which would cause plenty of chaos. (We’re not going to go there in this exercise.)
There’s a lot to account for this time around, but let’s give it a shot.
Montreal Victoire
Protected list: Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Laura Stacey (F), Ann-Renée Desbiens (G)
There’s no need for projection here, as Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau confirmed to local media that she will (once again) protect Poulin, Stacey and Desbiens.
With Nicole Gosling — Montreal’s 24-year-old No. 1 defender — signed through 2027-28, the Victoire will have to hope she makes it through Phase 2 of the roster-building process so she can be protected in Phase 3. That feels pretty unlikely, though. Given her age and output as a rookie (19 points in 30 games and a Walter Cup championship), Gosling will be a highly desirable asset.
Only players on expiring contracts can be signed to the “Expansion Foundation Offer” and “Foundational Player Offer” contracts, but expansion teams can still offer Gosling a standard player contract in Phase 2 — likely for more than the $50,000 she made this season — in an attempt to poach her from Montreal. There’s also the risk of a player selection process if expansion teams fail to sign five players, where Gosling would surely be taken off the board.
Boston Fleet
Protected list: Megan Keller (D), Aerin Frankel (G), Haley Winn (D)
There’s no way Keller and Frankel — two of the best players in the world at their position — are going anywhere. The big debate for Boston, for a second straight season, is what to do with its third and final protection spot.
General manager Danielle Marmer protected Alina Müller over star captain Hilary Knight last season. The Swiss star is still only 28 years old and is one of the most complete forwards in the women’s game. Her +4.1 net rating, according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, is a team-high for the Fleet and just outside the top 10 league-wide.
However, Winn would be incredibly hard to give up.
Nobody logged more ice time this season than the 22-year-old rookie defender, who is a finalist for both Defender and Rookie of the Year. Winn is a smooth skater, excellent in transition and dangerous from the offensive blue line — only Keller and Sophie Jaques had more points by a defender this season.
No matter what happens with the forward group, the Fleet will be OK next season as long as they have Frankel in the crease and some combination of Keller and/or Winn on the ice for 40 minutes a night.
Minnesota Frost
Protected list: Taylor Heise (F), Kelly Pannek (F), Maddie Rooney (G)
Last year, I kept things simple, correctly projecting the Frost would protect captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise and Lee Stecklein. There’s always a chance I’m overthinking things, but it doesn’t feel quite that straightforward this time around.
The only sure thing is Heise, who became the second-highest scoring player in PWHL history this season at just 26 years old. After that, we have to consider Pannek, who led the league in goals (16) and points (33); Britta Curl-Salemme, who finished third in league scoring; captain Coyne Schofield, who was a point-per-game player; Stecklein, who is still the model for a defensive defender in the women’s game; rookie defender Kendall Cooper, who led the blue line with 19 points; and, of course, goaltender Maddie Rooney, who took control of the crease in the regular season and playoffs.
(I didn’t even mention Grace Zumwinkle, who tied for second in goals (13). That’s how stacked this team is.)
To be clear: Coyne Schofield, Minnesota’s captain, is still one of the very best players in the league. And Stecklein is the epitome of consistency from the blue line. But, as free agents, Minnesota could try to slide both Coyne Schofield and Stecklein through Phase 2, where only four total players on expiring deals can be offered a binding contract through the “Expansion Foundational Offer.” While either player would be an exceptional centerpiece, it’s easy to imagine expansion teams saving those “EFO” contracts for younger cornerstone players.
If that’s Minnesota’s thinking, landing on Pannek is pretty simple. She’s a Minnesota native, an MVP and Forward of the Year finalist and arguably the best two-way forward in women’s hockey. However, that might also make Pannek extremely popular when the negotiation window opens.
With four expansion teams coming in versus two last year, goalies feel like they’re at more of a premium this time around. That and the new rules make protecting Rooney feel like a pretty safe bet. Last year, as a free agent, Rooney didn’t need to be protected from expansion and signed a three-year extension with the Frost through 2027-28. This year, if the Frost don’t protect Rooney and/or Hensley, the team could risk losing them both.
Ottawa Charge
Protected list: Gwyneth Philips (G), Ronja Savolainen (D), Brianne Jenner (F)
The Charge are a tricky team to project with a lengthy short list and only one true lock to be protected.
That is, of course, Philips, who earned a second consecutive Goaltender of the Year finalist nod following another standout season. She set a single-season record with 28 starts, and made more saves (786) on more shots (844) than any goalie in the PWHL.
After that, Ottawa could go a number of different directions. The team could protect both Savolainen and Rory Guilday, the team’s 2025 first-rounder, to solidify its blue line of the future, or opt to protect one forward and one defender.
General manager Mike Hirshfeld protected Savolainen last season, and we’re going to go with that again. Guilday, 23, is younger with a ton of potential, but according to Dom’s model Savolainen, 28, was Ottawa’s most valuable defender with a +1.5 net rating, compared to Guilday at -0.3.
At forward, there are plenty of options. The Charge could once again protect Emily Clark, who had a down year offensively after offseason surgery but is critical to the on- and off-ice mix in Ottawa. There’s hometown hero Rebecca Leslie, who had a breakout season with 14 goals and 23 points this season, as well as rookie forwards Sarah Wozniewicz and Fanuza Kadirova to consider.
I’m going to go bold here and protect 35-year-old captain Jenner. She finished fourth in league scoring, was named a finalist for Forward of the Year this season and was the straw that stirred the drink on one of the league’s best lines (beside Leslie and Wozniewicz). Jenner was Ottawa’s best player with a +3.9 net rating and one of the top 10 offensive players in the league this season. Not to mention, she’s an invaluable presence in the locker room and someone head coach Carla MacLeod called “one of the best players to have ever played our game.”
Toronto Sceptres
Protected list: Renata Fast (D), Daryl Watts (F), Blayre Turnbull (F)
As long as Fast doesn’t opt to sign in Hamilton, with the allure of more money and playing closer to her hometown in Burlington, she’s a lock to be protected by the Sceptres. She wasn’t nearly as productive this season, with a career-low one goal and 10 points, but Fast is still one of the best defenders in the game and one of Toronto’s most valuable assets.
Watts is another easy choice. She led the Sceptres in scoring this season and is one of the most productive players in the PWHL’s history, behind only Poulin and Heise in all-time points (63). There’s a world in which Watts, who made just $59,000 last season, is looking for a big bump in salary. Still, keeping her in Toronto should be a priority for general manager Gina Kingsbury.
Now comes the toughest choice: between Toronto’s captain Blayre Turnbull and the team’s starting goalie Raygan Kirk.
Turnbull was protected over star center Nurse last season and had a career year with nine goals and 17 points, which ranked second in team scoring behind Watts. However, Kirk finished her sophomore season with the third-best save percentage (.934) and goals-against-average (1.87) among starting goalies — behind only Desbiens and Boston’s Frankel — and was arguably the only reason Toronto stayed alive in the playoff race until the final day of the season.
Should the Sceptres leave Kirk unprotected, she’d be one of the best goalies available and surely get scooped up by an expansion team. But Turnbull would also likely be a commodity as a proven leader and complete player coming off a career year — especially in former coach Troy Ryan’s San Jose.
The outcome is going to be brutal for the Sceptres no matter what, but I’m going to stick with my gut and protect Turnbull.
Vancouver Goldeneyes
Protected list: Sophie Jaques (D), Sarah Nurse (F), Emerance Maschmeyer (G)
Vancouver feels pretty straightforward, with three of their inaugural signings at the top of the list yet again.
Jaques finished the season with the highest net-rating among defenders (+4.9) in the league and led the Goldeneyes in scoring with her second straight 20-point campaign. With Claire Thompson expected to return to medical school, keeping Jaques as a core piece is critically important for Vancouver.
While there’s always a chance Nurse could move back east — either in a return to the Sceptres or to her hometown Hamilton — she’s an obvious choice for Vancouver to protect. She was Vancouver’s best forward and co-led the team in goals (9) despite missing nearly half the season.
With projected 2026 first-overall pick Caroline Harvey joining the team in the near future, general manager Gardner Morey could protect another forward, such as Jenn Gardiner or Hannah Miller, but keeping at least one goalie from Vancouver’s tandem is probably a safer bet. Maschmeyer was one of Vancouver’s foundational signings this season and took the reins as the 1A goalie, starting 19 games and posting a career-high .916 save percentage.
New York Sirens
Protected list: Sarah Fillier (F), Casey O’Brien (F), Kristýna Kaltounková (F)
Last season, Sirens general manager Pascal Daoust shocked most fans (and media) by leaving star forward Alex Carpenter and starting goalie Corinne Schroeder unprotected from the expansion draft. Both players went on to sign with the Seattle Torrent, and Daoust churned out a masterful retool, adding both Kaltounková and O’Brien within the first three picks of the 2025 draft.
There shouldn’t be any surprises this time around.
Despite a small dip in production, Fillier still led the Sirens in scoring and is one of the best players in the league. O’Brien, who was taken third overall, led all rookies with 22 points in 28 games — just one point off Fillier’s mark — and was among the most consistent newcomers in the PWHL. And while No. 1 pick Kaltounková missed most of the final two months of the season with an injury, she still led all rookies — and the Sirens — with 11 goals.
New York stands to lose key figures from the blue line, such as Maja Nylén Persson or Micah Zandee-Hart, and starting goaltender Kayle Osborne. But the Sirens’ core trio of forwards is too elite to split up.
Seattle Torrent
Protected list: Hilary Knight (F), Hannah Bilka (F), Cayla Barnes (D)
After a difficult inaugural season, finishing last and winning just eight games, it’s tough to project what Seattle might do with their three protection slots.
Will general manager Meghan Turner stick with the veterans she started the organization with, such as Knight and Carpenter? Or is it better to build around a young core that could soon include the No. 2 draft pick? (The PWHL has not announced the draft order other than Vancouver selecting first, but last year the non-playoff teams selected before the expansion clubs.)
Where I landed is somewhere in between. Knight is 36, but she remains a productive player and an important person to have around an organization. She’s the biggest name in American women’s hockey and frankly, it would be a shame to see her go unprotected two years in a row.
Bilka, 25, gives Seattle a young star forward who, when healthy, is one of the most dynamic offensive players in the game. With the third slot, Turner could protect Carpenter or Julia Gosling, who tied for the team lead in scoring. But I wonder if Carpenter would be tempted to sign in Las Vegas, where her former agent, Dominique DiDia, is the general manager.
If that’s not the case, then Turner’s choice gets even trickier. Protecting Gosling, a 25-year-old power forward, is very tempting, but the Torrent probably need to keep at least one defender — especially if they’re going to land a top forward at second overall — and Barnes is their best on the blue line.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Toronto Sceptres, Minnesota Frost, Vancouver Goldeneyes, New York Sirens, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Seattle Torrent, Boston Fleet, NHL, Women's Hockey
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