During the 2026 Walter Cup final, Montreal Victoire celebrated with captain Marie-Philip Poulin raising the trophy. The same day, the Professional Women's Hockey League announced four new teams for the 2026-27 season and revealed the protected player lists from all 12 teams, highlighting key moves such as Poulin and Stacey's protection for the Victoire and the Ottawa Charge's key player acquisitions.
Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin raises the PWHL Walter Cup after the team's win against the Ottawa Charge in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangTORONTO — Teams submitted their three protected players Wednesday for the Professional Women's Hockey League expansion. Four new teams will join the PWHL next season in Hamilton, Las Vegas, Detroit and San Jose, Calif. , for a 12-team league. The Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire protected forwards Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey and goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens.
The Ottawa Charge, which reached the Walter Cup final the last two years, made hometown forward Rebecca Leslie, goalie Gwyneth Philips and defender Ronja Savolainen their untouchable players. Defenders Renata Fast and Ella Shelton and goalie Raygan Kirk were the Toronto Sceptres' protected players. The Vancouver Goldeneyes protected forward Sarah Nurse, defender Sophie Jaques and goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer.
The Seattle Torrent left U.S. star Hilary Knight unprotected in putting forward Alex Carpenter, goalie Hannah Murphy and defender Anna Wilgren on its protected list. Forwards Taylor Heise and Kelly Pannek and goalie Maddie Rooney were protected by the Minnesota Frost. The New York Sirens were the only team to protect three forwards: Sarah Fillier, Kristýna Kaltounková and Casey O’Brien. Protected players either had their contracts extended, or received qualifying offers for teams to protect their rights.
The second of six expansion phases starts Friday when each expansion team can acquire five players by signing them. If they're unable to sign five by Monday, a selection process will be held. Each of the eight existing teams can lose a maximum of three players who are under contract for 2026-27 during the second phase. The Sceptres re-signed Fast and Kirk to three-year contracts.
Nurse agreed to a two-year extension with the Goldeneyes. Heise and Pannek signed three-year extensions with the Frost, who won the first two Walter Cup championships.
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