Fleet bring back 4-time Olympian Susanna Tapani, Torrent keep Julia Gosling

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.

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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