PWHL teams announce protected players during four-team expansion process

The PWHL’s eight existing teams have decided which players they’ll protect from its expansion roster-building process.

Teams were permitted to protect three players from being signed — or selected, if necessary — by the league’s newest teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose. Only players under contract for the 2026-27 season could be protected, which meant free agents needed to sign during Phase 1 of the six-phase process. Any signing automatically counted as one of the team’s three protections.

Next, the four expansion teams will begin to build their inaugural rosters from the remaining pool of eligible players. Phase 2 of the expansion process begins on Friday, and allows each expansion team to build the foundation of its roster by acquiring five players through signings and, if necessary, a player selection process.

Existing teams can lose a maximum of three players who are under contract for the 2026-27 season during this phase.

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Montreal Victoire

Protected

Marie-Philip Poulin (F)

Laura Stacey (F)

Ann-Renée Desbiens (G)

Boston Fleet

Aerin Frankel (G)

Megan Keller (D)

Haley Winn (D)

Minnesota Frost

Taylor Heise (F)

Kelly Pannek (F)

Maddie Rooney (G)

New York Sirens

Sarah Fillier (F)

Kristýna Kaltounková (F)

Casey O’Brien (F)

Ottawa Charge

Rebecca Leslie (F)

Gwyneth Philips (G)

Ronja Savolainen (D)

Seattle Torrent

Alex Carpenter (F)

Hannah Murphy (G)

Anna Wilgren (D)

Toronto Sceptres

Renata Fast (D)

Raygan Kirk (G)

Ella Shelton (D)

Vancouver Goldeneyes

Sophie Jaques (D)

Emerance Maschmeyer (G)

Sarah Nurse (F)