The PWHL has officially announced the roster-building process for its four new expansion teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose.As The Athletic reported earlier this month, the league will not have a traditional expansion draft, a departure from last year’s system. Instead, this year, expansion teams will fill out rosters in six different phases and multiple signing windows.According to the league’s press release, expansion teams will have 10 players under contract by Phase 4 of its six-phase process. The league’s existing eight teams — Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Minnesota, Seattle and Vancouver — can lose a maximum of four players under contract for 2026-27, but there is no limit on how many players under expiring contracts the teams can lose from their 2025-26 rosters.“When we set out to build the Expansion Roster Distribution Process, our priorities were clear: to give players a meaningful voice throughout the process while maintaining competitive balance across the league for all 12 teams,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations. “We believe this framework accomplishes both goals and reflects the collaborative and forward-thinking approach that has helped shape the PWHL since day one.”Starting June 1 at 12 p.m. ET, all twelve PWHL teams will be permitted to have conversations with players they’d like to negotiate with from a list of 10 submitted by each club. However, contracts cannot be signed until Phase 1 officially begins on June 2. There will also be a roster freeze in effect from Phases 1-4, meaning existing teams cannot make trades or sign contracts outside of the expansion process.The league’s full rules are available in the “Expansion Roster Distribution Protocols” guide.The Athletic will also break it all down.Phase 1: Existing team foundational signings and protections (June 2-3)Similar to last season, the PWHL’s existing franchises will get to protect three players from the expansion process. There is one major change: Free agents will no longer be exempt.Last year, players on expiring deals, such as Susanna Tapani (Boston Fleet) and Natalie Spooner (Toronto Sceptres), didn’t need protection to stay with their clubs.This time around, existing franchises will need to sign their top free agents to protect them from being plucked by expansion teams. The Sceptres, for example, would need to sign star defender Renata Fast during Phase 1 to protect her.Any signed player automatically counts as one of the existing team’s three protections. In an interesting wrinkle, general managers may sign a pending free agent from any other team’s roster to protect them; existing teams may only lose one player this way in Phase 1.