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Susanna Tapani is staying put in Boston, and the Seattle Torrent re-signed forward Julia Gosling in opening the next phase of the PWHL’s expansion process on Wednesday.
Tapani is a four-time Olympian representing Finland and signed a two-year contract to return to the Fleet for a third season. Gosling made her Olympic debut representing Canada in February and signed a two-year contract.
The Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire re-signed defender Maggie Flaherty to a two-year contract. Vancouver retained two players by re-signing forward Jenn Gardiner to a three-year contract and forward Izzy Daniel to a two-year deal. Gardiner is from the Vancouver area and finished second on the team with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) last year.
The re-signed players automatically land on their team’s protected list. Each of the eight existing teams can protect three more players for six overall in Phase 3 of the expansion process.
Under the rules, Tapani, Gosling, Gardiner and Daniel were required to sign with any team during this three-day signing phase after rejecting expansion team offers during Phase 2.
Meantime, the league’s four expansion teams can sign three players after each added five in Phase 2.
Las Vegas added a sixth player to its expansion roster by signing Seattle defender Megan Carter to a two-year contract.
Carter had a goal and five points this past season and is on the move for a second straight offseason. She was selected by Seattle in the expansion draft last year following her rookie season in Toronto. The 25-year-old is from Milton, Ont., and played collegiately at Northeastern, where she was a two-time Hockey East defender of the year.
- Las Vegas also added its first goalie, signing Minnesota’s Nicole Hensley to a two-year contract. The two-time Walter Cup champion spent three seasons sharing the staring duties with Maddie Rooney, who was protected by the Frost.
- Detroit signed second-year Goldeneyes defender Sydney Bard, who became the first player Vancouver lost to an expansion team.
- San Jose signed second-year Boston defender Hadley Hartmetz to a two-year contract.
Tapani’s re-signing was key for a Boston team that lost top-line centre Alina Muller to Hamilton this past week. Tapani is a two-time Olympic bronze medallist. She ranked second on the Fleet with nine goals, and fifth with 18 points.
The 25-year-old Gosling finished last season tied for the Torrent lead with 20 points (six goals, 14 assists). She’s from London, Ont., and was selected sixth overall by Toronto in the 2024 draft out of St. Lawrence University.
The 26-year-old Flaherty carries the distinction of being the league’s only three-time Walter Cup champion after spending her first two seasons in Minnesota. From Lakeville, Minn., she had three goals and four points in nine playoff games and scored a career-best five goals and nine points in 30 regular-season outings.
Sceptres re-sign defender Kali Flanagan
Toronto Sceptres have re-signed defender Kali Flanagan to a three-year contract, the team announced.
The move makes Flanagan one of Toronto’s three protected players for phase three of the PWHL expansion process.
The 30-year-old Flanagan, from Burlington, Mass., recorded seven points in each of the last two PWHL seasons. She has played in every Sceptres game since the league began in 2024.
She helped the United States win a gold medal at the 2018 Olympics and was named the top defender for the 2022-23 season of the defunct Premier Hockey Federation.
The Sceptres protected defenders Renata Fast and Ella Shelton and goaltender Raygan Kirk during phase one of the PWHL expansion process.
New teams in Hamilton, Detroit, Las Vegas and San Jose will join the PWHL next season, bringing the league to 12 teams
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