The Montreal Victoire have spent the better part of two weeks celebrating their historic Walter Cup win, culminating with massive crowds at the team’s victory parade on Saturday afternoon. And now, as the calendar flips to June, the PWHL offseason and another summer of change are upon us.In a whirlwind few weeks, the league introduced new expansion teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose. Starting this week, all four teams will begin to fill out their inaugural rosters through a complicated six-phase roster-building process.By the end of Phase 4 (June 14-15), each expansion team will have 10 players under contract. The league’s existing eight teams — Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Minnesota, Seattle and Vancouver — will lose up to four players who are under contract for 2026-27 and any number of pending free agents from their 2025-26 rosters.But first, teams are permitted to protect — or sign — three players from the expansion process. Should a team want to protect a player on an expiring deal, they must be signed to a new contract before the end of Phase 1 (June 2-3).Before those protection lists are due (June 3 at 5 p.m. ET), The Athletic is going to take a run at projecting each team’s protected players, which is an even trickier task than last year. With the free-agent signing requirement, we’re not just considering what a general manager might do, but also what prominent free-agent players might want as well.For example, Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey might want to protect star forward Sarah Nurse. But what if Nurse wants to head home to Hamilton?We also have to consider that all twelve existing teams are able to negotiate with players starting on June 1 at noon, though nobody can be officially signed until June 2 when the Phase 1 signing period opens. Existing teams are also permitted to poach a free agent from another team to protect them in Phase 1, which would cause plenty of chaos. (We’re not going to go there in this exercise.)There’s a lot to account for this time around, but let’s give it a shot.Montreal VictoireProtected list: Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Laura Stacey (F), Ann-Renée Desbiens (G)There’s no need for projection here, as Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau confirmed to local media that she will (once again) protect Poulin, Stacey and Desbiens.With Nicole Gosling — Montreal’s 24-year-old No. 1 defender — signed through 2027-28, the Victoire will have to hope she makes it through Phase 2 of the roster-building process so she can be protected in Phase 3. That feels pretty unlikely, though. Given her age and output as a rookie (19 points in 30 games and a Walter Cup championship), Gosling will be a highly desirable asset.Only players on expiring contracts can be signed to the “Expansion Foundation Offer” and “Foundational Player Offer” contracts, but expansion teams can still offer Gosling a standard player contract in Phase 2 — likely for more than the $50,000 she made this season — in an attempt to poach her from Montreal. There’s also the risk of a player selection process if expansion teams fail to sign five players, where Gosling would surely be taken off the board.Boston FleetProtected list: Megan Keller (D), Aerin Frankel (G), Haley Winn (D)There’s no way Keller and Frankel — two of the best players in the world at their position — are going anywhere. The big debate for Boston, for a second straight season, is what to do with its third and final protection spot.General manager Danielle Marmer protected Alina Müller over star captain Hilary Knight last season. The Swiss star is still only 28 years old and is one of the most complete forwards in the women’s game. Her +4.1 net rating, according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, is a team-high for the Fleet and just outside the top 10 league-wide.However, Winn would be incredibly hard to give up.Nobody logged more ice time this season than the 22-year-old rookie defender, who is a finalist for both Defender and Rookie of the Year. Winn is a smooth skater, excellent in transition and dangerous from the offensive blue line — only Keller and Sophie Jaques had more points by a defender this season.No matter what happens with the forward group, the Fleet will be OK next season as long as they have Frankel in the crease and some combination of Keller and/or Winn on the ice for 40 minutes a night.Minnesota FrostProtected list: Taylor Heise (F), Kelly Pannek (F), Maddie Rooney (G)Last year, I kept things simple, correctly projecting the Frost would protect captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise and Lee Stecklein. There’s always a chance I’m overthinking things, but it doesn’t feel quite that straightforward this time around.The only sure thing is Heise, who became the second-highest scoring player in PWHL history this season at just 26 years old. After that, we have to consider Pannek, who led the league in goals (16) and points (33); Britta Curl-Salemme, who finished third in league scoring; captain Coyne Schofield, who was a point-per-game player; Stecklein, who is still the model for a defensive defender in the women’s game; rookie defender Kendall Cooper, who led the blue line with 19 points; and, of course, goaltender Maddie Rooney, who took control of the crease in the regular season and playoffs.