Fleet protect Megan Keller, Haley Winn, and Aerin Frankel from PWHL expansion process

Sport admin June 3, 2026 0 Comments

Fleet protect Megan Keller, Haley Winn, and Aerin Frankel from PWHL expansion process

The Fleet used their first three protections from the PWHL’s expansion process to keep their defensive core intact, a decision that may result in the departure of one of their top scorers.

General manager Danielle Marmer chose to protect defenders Megan Keller and Haley Winn, as well as goaltender Aerin Frankel. The three, who are all under contract through next season, cannot be selected by any of the four expansion teams or signed by another existing team.

Expansion teams Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose will begin to fill out their rosters this week through a six-phase process intended to give players more choice in where they land. Phase 1, which ended Wednesday at 5 p.m., allowed existing teams to sign and protect three players.

After expansion teams begin to fill their rosters in Phase 2, the eight existing teams will be able to protect three additional players who are under contract or whose rights are held for the 2026-27 season during Phase 3 (June 10-12).

By the end of Phase 4 (June 14-15), each expansion team will have 10 players under contract, and the existing eight teams will have lost up to four players who are under contract for 2026-27, as well as any number of pending free agents from their 2025-26 rosters.

By protecting the Fleet’s defensive trio, Marmer left Alina Müller open to be poached by an expansion team. During last season’s expansion process, Marmer protected Müller over captain Hilary Knight, who signed with Seattle.

This time, Müller is a likely candidate to receive an expansion team’s Expansion Foundational Offer, which requires the player to sign with the offering team and carries a first-year salary of at least $100,000 — a slight bump from Müller’s 2025-26 base salary of $95,000.

The 28-year-old Swiss star was Boston’s first pick (third overall) in the inaugural PWHL Draft and is on a contract through the 2027-28 season. She joined the Fleet following a stellar five-year career at Northeastern and was named an alternate captain with the Fleet in 2025-26, when she racked up a career-high 21 points on four goals and 17 assists.

“I think I showed it, and I say it everywhere that this is the place I want to play hockey,” Müller said at the team’s breakup day in May. “I’ll do everything I can to stay, [but] it’s out of my power now.”

That Marmer chose to protect Keller and Frankel — two of the best players in the world at their positions — is no surprise. Former coach Kris Sparre, who departed after one season to take the top job in Hamilton, previously said there was a “0 percent chance” that the team would leave Keller unprotected.

But the big debate was between Winn and Müller.

A finalist for Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year, Winn, 22, is a strong skater and is lethal from the offensive blue line. Her 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) trailed only Keller and Vancouver’s Sophie Jacques among PWHL defenders. No one logged more time on ice this season than Winn.

The Fleet’s new coach, François Méthot, may have held some sway over the decision to protect Winn. The defender trains with Méthot in the summers in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y., and is a product of the Rochester Jr. Americans program, where Méthot has worked for a decade.

Keller, the team’s captain, was the league’s top-scoring blue liner this season (7-15–22) and was named a finalist for Defender of the Year alongside Winn. At 5 feet 11 inches, her frame, reach, and strength on the puck are unmatched, and she was a close second to Winn in time on ice, averaging 26:39 per game.

Frankel, whose teammates regularly call her the best goalie in the world, is a first-time MVP finalist and a finalist for Goaltender of the Year for the third straight season after posting a record eight shutouts. Her 1.17 goals-against average and .953 save percentage during the regular season were second in the league.