The Fleet could lose some top forwards to expansion. Will Alina Müller be among them?

WELLESLEY — Danielle Marmer plans to do everything she can to keep Alina Müller with the Fleet, but it’s not entirely in the general manager’s control anymore.

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As the PWHL expands by four teams — Hamilton, Detroit, Las Vegas, and San Jose — the existing eight clubs each got to protect three players from being poached by the league’s new additions. Marmer opted to use her protections on defenders Haley Winn and Megan Keller, as well as goaltender Aerin Frankel.

That means some of Boston’s top players, elite forwards in particular, could be at risk.

Among them is Müller, Boston’s first pick (third overall) in the inaugural PWHL Draft and one of the team’s top scorers, who could end up signing with one of the expansion teams despite saying she’d “do everything [she] can to stay” in Boston.

“It strictly came down to the strategy and the path that I felt was best to move forward in rebuilding this team,” Marmer said of the decision to not protect Müller. “I told her how much she means — I’m going to get emotional — how much she means to this organization and this city. I told her I love her, and that starting now it’s the path to get her back here in Boston.”

Because Müller is under contract through next season, she has a bit more security than, say, Jessie Eldridge and Susanna Tapani, who are on expiring deals.

In Phase 2 of the six-phase expansion roster-building process, which began Thursday, the expansion teams were each required to submit an “exclusive negotiation target list” of 20 players (both those under contract and free agents) they wish to sign.

The expansion teams will then begin filling their rosters by offering one of two types of deals to players who are on expiring deals: expansion franchise offers, binding deals that are similar to the NFL’s franchise tag, and foundational player offers, which are non-binding.

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Müller, whose contract runs through 2027-28, is not eligible for those contracts. But if an expansion team does not manage to sign five pending free agents by 1 p.m. on Monday, that team will be permitted to select players who are under contract through 2026-27 to fill out its roster, a process the league is calling foundational roster completion.

Should Müller make it through the foundational roster completion without being selected by an expansion team, she’s all but guaranteed to receive one of the Fleet’s additional three protection slots that existing teams are granted in Phase 3.

What are the odds of Müller still being a member of the Fleet by that point?

“I’m an optimist, so I’m going to say they’re good,” Marmer said.

But for pending free agents Eldridge and Tapani, two of Boston’s top scorers this past season, it’s more likely that they’ll be targets for EFOs or FPOs. Players offered an EFO, which comes with significant financial incentives, are required to sign with the offering team. But players offered an FPO are not required to sign.

Eldridge, an elite scorer, joined the Fleet from Seattle at the trade deadline and finished the year with a team-high 23 points on 14 goals and nine assists — though seven of those goals and six assists came while she was with the Torrent.

Tapani, a center who has been with Boston since a trade during the inaugural season, tied her career high in points with 18 (nine goals, nine assists), fifth on the team in scoring behind Eldridge, Keller, Müller, and Winn.

Marmer said Eldridge and Tapani were in the conversation for Boston’s initial protection slots, but the GM opted to prioritize the Fleet’s defensive core.

“You don’t want to see elite players leave your team,” Marmer said, “especially when they want to be here.”

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