PWHL expansion draft explainer: How it works and what's at stake

As the Montreal Victoire players gathered with reporters on Tuesday, everyone seemed to acknowledge the same reality: change was coming, and the same group wouldn't be back next year.

It's not unique to the Victoire, which lost to the Ottawa Charge in four games in the semifinals last week.

The league will hold an expansion draft to help build new teams in Seattle and Vancouver, which begin play next season. It means every team will lose stars, putting rosters across the league into a blender.

"Every time you lose in those big moments, it's emotional," Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin told CBC's Jay Turnbull and other reporters gathered at locker clean out day on Tuesday. "You go through so much with your team as individuals. You want to do well for your team. It is very sad."

HOCKEY NORTH | CBC Sports predicts each team's expansion draft protection list:

Who will be protected in the PWHL expansion draft?

The expansion draft is set for at June 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Here's how the process will work, how we got here and how it could affect teams and players.

Each team will only be able to protect three players from expansion, to start. Those lists are due on June 3 at 12 p.m. ET.

It's a tiny number, and one that seemed to send shock waves through team fan bases over the weekend.

The idea is to make sure Seattle and Vancouver can be competitive from the beginning. Parity has been a key pillar of the league since it launched, and that's come with success. More than half of the league's games have been decided by one goal or a shootout, and three teams finished tied in the points standings this season.

The league spent months working on these rules, executive vice president of hockey operations, Jayna Hefford, said ahead