Marie-Philip Poulin among players protected by Montréal Victoire ahead of PWHL expansion draft

The PWHL expansion draft is less than a week away, and in anticipation of roster shakeups, the league announced Tuesday each of the inaugural six teams’ protected players list.

In locking in the 18 players who cannot be selected by either PWHL Seattle or PWHL Vancouver on June 9, we move one step closer to both those rosters getting built ahead of their debuts in 2025-26.

Each of the six teams had the opportunity to initially protect three players from selection ahead of the exclusive signing window (June 4-8) and the expansion draft.

Here is a full list of each team’s first three protected players.

• Montréal Victoire: Ann-Renée Desbiens (G), Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Laura Stacey (F)
• Boston Fleet: Aerin Frankel (G), Megan Keller (D), Alina Müller (F)
• Minnesota Frost: Kendall Coyne Schofield (F), Taylor Heise (F), Lee Stecklein (D)
• New York Sirens: Sarah Fillier (F), Ella Shelton (D), Micah Zandee-Hart (D)
• Ottawa Charge: Emily Clark (F), Gwyneth Philips (G), Ronja Savolainen (D)
• Toronto Sceptres: Renata Fast (D), Blayre Turnbull (F), Daryl Watts (F)

If one of the original six teams ends up relinquishing two players — whether during the signing window or draft — said team(s) will be allowed to protect one additional player, but can only do so if they are under contract for the 2025–26 season or the team must hold their playing rights through the 2025–26 season.

Throughout the process, Seattle and Vancouver will acquire a combined total of four players from each of the six inaugural team rosters from the 2024–25 season, either from the exclusive signing window or through selection in the expansion draft.

Here is a list of players eligible for Montreal’s fourth protection pick, but can also be signed or selected by either Seattle or Vancouver prior to that: Erin Ambrose (D), Cayla Barnes (D), Abby Boreen (F), Amanda Boulier (D), Jennifer Gardiner (F), Dara Greig (F), Amanda Kessel (F), Lina Ljungblom (F), Maureen Murphy (F), Kristin O’Neill (F), Anna Wilgren (D)

And here is a full list of Montreal players eligible to be signed during the exclusive window for Seattle and Vancouver: Sandra Abstreiter (G), Elaine Chuli (G), Claire Dalton (F), Gabrielle David (F), Clair DeGeorge (F), Catherine Dubois (F), Mikyla Grant-Mentis (F), Mariah Keopple (D), Alexandra Labelle (F), Dominika Lásková (D), Kennedy Marchment (F), Kelly-Ann Nadeau (D), Kati Tabin (D), Kaitlin Willoughby (F)

The expansion draft will feature Seattle and Vancouver selecting a minimum of seven players each until both rosters have reached 12 players. If one of the two teams enters the expansion draft with fewer signed players than the other, it will be granted additional selections to reach the required threshold of 12.

Players eligible to be selected in the expansion draft consist of unprotected players under contract for the 2025–26 season or those whose playing rights are held through the 2025–26 season.

Meanwhile, the order in which Seattle and Vancouver will make their selections will be determined at the beginning of the expansion draft.