On Wednesday afternoon, The Minnesota Frost announced their three protections in Phase 1 of the expansion process. The Frost re-signed and protected forwards Kelly Pannek and Taylor Heise. With their third and final spot, they protected goaltender Maddie Rooney.
“We had some really difficult decisions to make heading into this process,” general manager Melissa Caruso told reporters over Zoom on Thursday morning. “But, at the same time, we had the unique opportunity to lock in two of the league’s top forwards, one who’s also up for MVP, and an elite goaltender. So I think at the end of the day, we’re really happy with where we’re at following the end of Phase 1.”
Here are three things that stood out to me about the Frost’s Phase 1 protection decisions.
1. Depth down the middle
Looking at the Frost’s situation heading into Phase 1, there weren’t any easy decisions. However, I thought protecting Taylor Heise was the closest thing to a no-brainer. Last season, Heise scored 30 points and led the league in assists. She was also named a finalist for forward of the year.
“Taylor is obviously a huge piece of this team,” Caruso said. “[She’s] an elite athlete and playmaker. She can impact the game, and not just with her goalscoring.”
The only player to outperform Heise offensively last season was her teammate, Kelly Pannek. Pannek led the league in goals (16) and points (33). She’s not only a finalist for forward of the year, but she’s also an MVP finalist.
“Kelly is a two-way center who really unlocked her offensive side this year. I think her leadership and IQ are unmatched, but also her face-off wins, and positional awareness won countless games for us this season,” Caruso said.
By protecting both Heise and Pannek, the Frost have set themselves up with one of the best top-six center tandems in the league. Importantly, both Heise and Pannek offer more than just scoring. Heise finished second in the league among forwards in plus/minus, and Pannek finished sixth. Pannek led the Frost in the faceoff dot among centers, finishing with a 59.3% winning percentage on 575 draws.
The forward group will look very different next season, but building around Pannek and Heise is a great place to start.
2. Prioritizing goaltending
With their third and final protection, the Frost decided to protect goaltender Maddie Rooney. I thought Rooney’s protection was the most surprising of the three. However, it makes a lot of sense in the context of how the league as a whole valued goaltending in Phase 1. Seven of the eight existing teams protected a goaltender. In that context, Rooney would have very likely been selected by an expansion team in Phase 2 had she not been protected.
“I think any given night, any game is anyone’s game, and goaltending is such a huge piece of that. So having the opportunity to protect Maddie really sets us up for success moving forward,” Caruso said.
Rooney is coming off her best regular-season performance for the Frost. She posted a .921 save percentage in 16 starts, good for fifth-best in the league. Rooney has been even better across three playoff runs. In 15 starts across three seasons in the playoffs, Rooney has a .936 save percentage.
3. No defenders protected
With so many talented players and so few protection slots available, it was inevitable that some element of the Frost’s roster would be hit hardest. At the moment, that appears to be the defense core. The Frost decided against using a protection on a defender, leaving talented players like Lee Stecklein, Kendall Cooper, and Mae Batherson open to expansion teams.
All three defenders will be targets for expansion teams. Lee Stecklein has been a leader on the back end for the Frost in all three seasons. Last year’s first-round pick, Kendall Cooper, led all PWHL defenders in assists in her rookie season. Mae Batherson saw her ice time jump in her second year, and she responded by posting career highs in goals, assists, points, and plus/minus. Add talented veterans Sidney Morin and Natalie Buchbinder to the list of expansion targets, and the Frost backline could be hit hard by the expansion process.
The Frost will now have to hope that one or more of their talented defenders make it through Phase 2 and can be protected in Phase 3.
“I think there is some hope that we can still retain a lot of our d-core as well … there are a lot of great players available around the league right now and only so many spots,” Caruso said.
Previewing Phase 2
In Phase 2, the Minnesota Frost will lose up to three under-contract players to expansion teams. Players like Britta Curl-Salemme, Kendall Cooper, Mae Batherson, and Abby Hustler are all under contract and likely candidates for expansion teams.
Players on expiring contracts are also available to expansion teams. Each expansion team has one Expansion Foundational Offer (EFO) they can offer to a player on an expiring deal. The EFO is binding, meaning that if a player is offered an EFO, they must sign with the expansion team that offered them. Former Frost players Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle are all EFO candidates. However, there are only four EFO’s to hand out, and plenty of other good players on expiring deals available, including Daryl Watts, Hilary Knight, Brianne Jenner, and Abby Roque.
The Frost will now hope that one of their former stars isn’t offered an EFO, which would allow them to negotiate with and possibly re-sign that player in Phase 3.
Phase 2 of the 2026 PWHL expansion process will begin on Friday, June 5. Stay up to date on signings and expansion rosters with The Ice Garden’s 2026-27 PWHL Roster Tracker.
