Fleet re-sign F Susanna Tapani, but lose one more to PWHL expansion

The Boston Fleet re-signed forward Susanna Tapani to a two-year PWHL standard player agreement through the 2027-28 season, the club announced Wednesday.

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With the signing, Tapani is one of the team’s three protected players as part of Phase 3 of the PWHL’s expansion player distribution process ahead of the 2026-27 season.

The 33-year-old Tapani played in all 34 regular-season and playoff games last season, posting nine goals and nine assists. Tapani has appeared in a PWHL-leading 86 career games with Minnesota and Boston, posting 24-25–49 totals.

But the Fleet did see one other player depart, as defenseman Hadley Hartmetz signed a two-year agreement with expansion San Jose. Hartmetz skated in 27 games last season, notching 7 assists and a plus-7 rating.

In other PWHL player news Wednesday, Seattle re-signed forward Julian Gosling, but lost defenseman Megan Carter, who signed with expansion Las Vegas.

Walter Cup champion Montreal re-signed defenseman Maggie Flaherty, while Minnesota said so-long to goalie Nicole Hensley, who went to expansion Las Vegas.

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It was a busy day for Vancouver, as the Goldeneyes Vancouver lost blue liner Sydney Bard to expansion Detroit, but re-signed forwards Izzy Daniel (2-year deal) and Jenn Gardiner (3-year deal).

At the end of this phase, each existing team’s total protected list will consist of six players, and expansion teams will have up to eight total players, each signing a maximum of three players on expiring contracts during this phase.

The Phase 3 signing period continues until Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. deadline for existing teams to submit their protection lists.

Also, former nine-year NHL player Pascal Rheaume was named coach of the Toronto Sceptres.

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