The PWHL’s most consequential offseason is officially underway.
With four new franchises — Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose — set to begin play in the 2026-27 season, the league announced the framework for its Expansion Roster Distribution Process on May 27th, and the clock is already ticking. Phase 1 opens June 2nd, and with it comes the most agonizing decision every general manager in the existing eight teams will face this summer: which three players do you protect?
Three. That is it. Three players from a full roster of 23, leaving the rest exposed and available for the expansion teams to pursue through the league’s multi-phase signing process. Unlike the traditional expansion draft used when Vancouver and Seattle joined last season, the new structure gives players significantly more agency — but the protection list remains the foundation of the entire process. Whoever you protect stays. Everyone else is fair game.
As PWHL EVP of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford put it: “Our priorities were clear — to give players a meaningful voice throughout the process while maintaining competitive balance across the league for all 12 teams.”
For the teams with the deepest rosters, that competitive balance is about to come at a steep price. Here is our prediction for every team’s protection list — and an honest assessment of what each franchise stands to lose.
Boston Fleet
Protected: Megan Keller (D), Haley Winn (D), Abby Newhook (RW)
Boston faces one of the most gut-wrenching protection decisions in the entire league, and the reason is simple: they have too much talent. The Fleet finished the regular season as one of the top teams in the PWHL, built around one of the deepest rosters the league has seen — and now they must choose three players and watch everything else become available.
Megan Keller is the easiest call in the entire league. The best defender in the PWHL, the 2025-26 league scoring leader among blueliners, and the foundational piece of everything Boston does on and off the ice. She is untouchable.
Haley Winn goes second. The right-shot defender had a breakout season — 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points — and at her age and trajectory, losing her would set Boston’s blue line back significantly. She is the future of that defense corps alongside Keller.
The third spot is where it gets painful. Abby Newhook gets the nod here — a perfectly balanced rookie season on the wing and a player with a ceiling that Boston cannot afford to gamble with. But left unprotected is a list that would make most general managers lose sleep: Aerin Frankel. Jamie Lee Rattray. Alina Müller. The Fleet are going to lose meaningful players in this process, and there is simply no way around it. Boston will be hurt. The only question is how much.
Damage Assessment: High. Losing Frankel — arguably the best goaltender in the PWHL — is the realistic worst-case scenario, and it is entirely possible.
Minnesota Frost
Protected: Kelly Pannek (F), Taylor Heise (F), Kendall Cooper (D)
Minnesota built the league’s most dominant offence this season, scoring a franchise-record 91 goals on the strength of a forward group that has no real peer in the PWHL. Protecting three players from that group is an exercise in triage, and the Frost will not come through it unscathed.
Kelly Pannek goes first. She is Minnesota’s engine — the player who makes everyone around her better and the one whose absence would be felt most acutely in the day-to-day structure of the offence. Taylor Heise goes second. A dynamic, high-end scorer who has been one of the most exciting forwards in the league since Day 1, she is a cornerstone piece. Third goes to Kendall Cooper — the rookie defender who led the entire league’s first-year players with 17 assists and immediately established herself as a top-pairing blueliner. Protecting her makes long-term sense.
Left unprotected: Britta Curl-Salemme, Lee Stecklein, Mae Batherson, Abby Hustler, and the remainder of a roster that is staggering in its depth. Minnesota is going to bleed talent in this process, and the expansion teams know it.
Damage Assessment: Very High. The Frost have more to lose than any team in the league. Their depth is the expansion teams’ greatest opportunity.
Montréal Victoire
Protected: Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Ann-Renée Desbiens (G), Nicole Gosling (D)
This is the simplest protection list in the entire league to predict, and also the most heartbreaking in terms of what it leaves behind.
Marie-Philip Poulin. Ann-Renée Desbiens. Nicole Gosling. There is no debate. You do not leave the greatest player in the history of women’s hockey exposed. You do not leave the reigning Goaltender of the Year — the woman who posted a 1.11 GAA and seven shutouts and carried Montréal to the Walter Cup Finals — available to Detroit or Hamilton. And you do not leave a rookie defender who just put up 19 points in 30 games on the table when you have only three slots to work with.
But here is what that means: Laura Stacey, Kati Tabin, Natalie Mlynkova, and the rest of the Victoire’s supporting cast are all exposed. Montréal may be about to lose the depth that made their Finals run possible. Protecting the top three is non-negotiable. Living with the consequences is unavoidable.
Damage Assessment: High. The top-end is locked. The depth behind it is vulnerable — and depth is what wins championships in a long season.
New York Sirens
Protected: Casey O’Brien (F), Kristyna Kaltounkova (F), Sarah Fillier (F)
New York enters this process in a relatively stable position, thanks in large part to a front office that has been proactive about locking in long-term deals — the Sirens enter the offseason with more players under contract than any other team in the league. Their protection list reflects a clear organisational philosophy: protect youth, protect production, protect the future.
Casey O’Brien goes first without hesitation. The league’s top rookie this season with 22 points in 28 games, she is a generational-calibre talent who is only going to get better. Kristyna Kaltounkova is next — 11 goals in only 21 games is a scoring rate that no GM in their right mind exposes to expansion teams. Sarah Fillier, the former first overall pick and a proven PWHL contributor, rounds out the list.
Left exposed is a deeper roster than most, but New York has done their homework in terms of contracts and will be among the least damaged teams when this process concludes.
Damage Assessment: Moderate. New York loses pieces but is better positioned than most.
Ottawa Charge
Protected: Brianne Jenner (F), Rebecca Leslie (F), Gwyneth Philips (G)
Ottawa’s protection decisions are complicated by one enormous variable: Brianne Jenner is an unrestricted free agent. Under the expansion rules, pending free agents can sign with any existing team during Phase 1 and be counted toward that team’s protection list. If Ottawa wants to keep their captain — and they absolutely do — they need to sign her first and protect her second. Assuming that happens, Jenner anchors the list.
Gwyneth Philips is the second name, and it is not close. The back-to-back Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP and the most dominant playoff goaltender in PWHL history is untouchable. Losing Philips would fundamentally alter Ottawa’s identity as a team built to compete for championships. Rebecca Leslie, one of the most reliable two-way forwards in the league, completes the trio.
What this leaves exposed is painful. Ronja Savolainen, Fanuza Kadirova, Michela Cava — players who were instrumental in Ottawa’s Walter Cup Finals run — are all available. The Charge have one of the league’s best structures. They are about to lose some of the players who make it run.
Damage Assessment: High. Ottawa’s depth was the story of their playoff run. That depth is now exposed.
Seattle Torrent
Protected: Julia Gosling (F), Danielle Serdachny (F), Theresa Schafzahl (F)
Seattle is a team still finding its identity in Year 2. The Torrent’s top-line talent is evident — but their depth has been the question mark all season — and the expansion process creates an interesting opportunity for them to reshape their roster while protecting the core of what they are building.
Julia Gosling has been Seattle’s most dynamic offensive player and is the clear first protection. Danielle Serdachny, a skilful forward who provides consistent offensive production, goes second. Theresa Schafzahl rounds out the list as one of the more reliable all-situations forwards on the roster.
What Seattle leaves exposed may not generate the same headlines as Montréal or Minnesota, but the Torrent are still a franchise that cannot afford to lose depth in a season where establishing a legitimate identity is the priority.
Damage Assessment: Moderate. Seattle has less to lose than the league’s elite teams, but every piece matters when you are still building.
Toronto Sceptres
Protected: Jessie Compher (F), Renata Fast (D), Raygan Kirk (G)
Toronto is a team in full transition. Several key players enter the summer as unrestricted free agents, and the protection list reflects an organisation trying to anchor the next chapter while managing enormous uncertainty. Raygan Kirk is the cornerstone here — the UFA goaltender who emerged as one of the league’s top starters this season with a 1.90 GAA and three shutouts. Toronto will move quickly to re-sign her and lock her in as their protection anchor.
Jessie Compher provides the forward leadership and proven PWHL production that Toronto needs at the core of their rebuild. Renata Fast — a shutdown defender and one of the most reliable two-way blueliners in the league — gives the protection list its defensive backbone.
What Toronto has left unprotected may not be as star-studded as some other rosters, but the Sceptres have the fewest players under contract of any team heading into this process. Their protection decisions are as much about what they can re-sign as what they already have.
Damage Assessment: Moderate to Low. Toronto has already been somewhat stripped by previous offseasons. The expansion process accelerates a rebuild that was already underway.
Vancouver Goldeneyes
Protected: Sophie Jaques (D), Hannah Miller (F), Jenn Gardiner (F)
Vancouver is a franchise with a clear identity and a clear priority: protect the captain, protect the core, and trust that the first overall pick in the upcoming expansion draft will be the piece that elevates everything else.
Sophie Jaques — the team captain, top defender, and the most productive blueliner on any expansion team in PWHL history with 20 points in Year 1 — is the obvious first protection. Hannah Miller, one of the most reliable two-way forwards on the roster, goes second. Jenn Gardiner, whose skill and versatility give Vancouver a dynamic piece at forward, rounds out the list.
The Goldeneyes are also set to add Caroline Harvey with the first overall PWHL Draft pick — a generational defender who will immediately become the best player on the roster. Whatever Vancouver loses in the expansion process, they are gaining the most coveted prospect in women’s hockey. That is a trade most teams would make.
Damage Assessment: Low to Moderate. Vancouver is built for the future and their draft capital softens the blow significantly.
The Big Picture: Who Gets Hurt the Most?
When you step back and look at all eight protection lists together, the conclusion is unavoidable — and it matches exactly what you would expect from a league designed to spread talent to new markets.
Minnesota and Montréal have the most to lose in terms of pure talent depth. Boston, despite protecting Keller and Winn, faces the gut-wrenching possibility of losing Aerin Frankel —arguably the best goaltender in the league — to an expansion franchise. Ottawa’s Walter Cup Finals run was built on depth and structure, and both are now exposed. These four franchises will feel the expansion process most acutely, and how quickly they respond in free agency and the draft will define whether they remain contenders or spend next season rebuilding.
For the expansion teams, the unprotected rosters of these four franchises represent an extraordinary opportunity. Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose are not walking into an empty room. They are walking into a room filled with legitimate PWHL talent — players who were instrumental in playoff runs, players who won hardware, players who were beloved by their fanbases.
The PWHL has never been deeper. And it is about to prove it.
– The Add List +