Montreal Victoire protect Poulin, Stacey, and Desbiens in PWHL expansion
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Walter Cup champion Victoire protect Poulin, Stacey and Desbiens in expansion
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has initiated its expansion process, with existing teams submitting their lists of protected players. This move comes as the league prepares to welcome four new teams in Hamilton, Las Vegas, Detroit, and San Jose, Calif., expanding the league to 12 teams for the upcoming season. The Montreal Victoire, recent winners of the Walter Cup, have chosen to protect forwards Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey, alongside goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens.
The protection phase is the first of six steps in the expansion process. Teams were allowed to protect three players from being signed by the new expansion franchises. Only players already under contract for the 2026-27 season were eligible for protection. Free agents had a deadline of 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday to sign new deals, with any such signing automatically counting as one of the three protected spots for their respective teams.
Protected Players Across the League
Other teams across the league have also made their protection decisions. The Ottawa Charge, who reached the Walter Cup final in the past two seasons, protected hometown forward Rebecca Leslie, goaltender Gwyneth Philips, and defender Ronja Savolainen. The Toronto Sceptres secured defenders Renata Fast and Ella Shelton, as well as goaltender Raygan Kirk. Both Fast and Kirk have signed three-year contract extensions with the Sceptres.
The Vancouver Goldeneyes protected forward Sarah Nurse, defender Sophie Jaques, and goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer. Nurse also agreed to a two-year extension with the Goldeneyes. Meanwhile, the Seattle Torrent protected forward Alex Carpenter, goaltender Hannah Murphy, and defender Anna Wilgren. Notably, U.S. star Hilary Knight was left unprotected by the Torrent. Carpenter signed a three-year extension with Seattle.
The Boston Fleet retained goaltender Aerin Frankel and defenders Megan Keller and Haley Winn. The Minnesota Frost, who claimed the first two Walter Cup championships, protected forwards Taylor Heise and Kelly Pannek, and goaltender Maddie Rooney. Both Heise and Pannek signed three-year extensions with the Frost. The New York Sirens were the only team to protect three forwards: Sarah Fillier, Kristýna Kaltounková, and Casey O’Brien.
Expansion Team Roster Building
The expansion teams will now begin to construct their inaugural rosters from the pool of eligible players who were not protected. This pool includes notable players such as U.S. Olympic gold medalists Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka, Swiss forward Alina Müller, and Canadian Daryl Watts. The second phase of the expansion process is set to commence on Friday.
During this second phase, each of the four new expansion teams will have a three-day window to acquire five players. This can be done through direct signings. If a team is unable to sign five players by Monday, a selection process will be held to fill the remaining spots. Existing teams face the possibility of losing a maximum of three players who are under contract for the 2026-27 season during this phase of the expansion process.
The protection of players either involved contract extensions or qualifying offers to secure their rights. The initial phase of the expansion process, where teams submitted their protected lists, began on Tuesday, June 3, 2026.
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