OTTAWA, ONTARIO - MARCH 04: Alex Carpenter #25 of the Seattle Torrent skates against the Ottawa Charge during the third period at The Arena at TD Place on March 04, 2026 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Troy Parla / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The Seattle Torrent announced they have signed center Alex Carpenter to a new three-year contract, making her one of three protected players for the team ahead of the PWHL's upcoming expansion process.
Carpenter, 32, led the Torrent in goals during their inaugural season with 12 and was tied with Julia Gosling for the team lead in points with 20. Seattle acquired Carpenter during their expansion process last year after playing her first two seasons in the PWHL with the New York Sirens.
Carpenter was a member of the United States' gold medal winning team at this year's Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. It was her third appearance in the Olympics after earning silver medals in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, and 2022 in Beijing, China.
As part of expansion, existing teams will be able to protect a total of three players from being acquired from incoming teams during the first phase of the process. The players must be under contract to be protected. Since Carpenter was on an expiring contract, she automatically became one of the Torrent's protected players through re-signing with the team.
Teams have until 2 p.m. PT on Wednesday to finalize their three protected players.
Once the existing eight teams in the league protect their three players, the four incoming expansion teams will be able to sign their first five players each from the existing rosters, though no team can lose more than three players in this stage.
When the four expansion teams have added five players to their roster, existing teams can protect another three players. Existing teams cannot lose more than four players under contract through the four phases of the expansion process.
Torrent players overwhelmingly expressed a desire to remain with Seattle for next year at the end of their season, but it appears unlikely that everyone will be able to return for the 2026-27 campaign.
Seattle Torrent enter their first offseason with fond memories and uncertain futures as expansion looms
While the results on the ice didn't match expectations entering their inaugural season, the Seattle Torrent enter their first offseason with fond memories and uncertain futures as expansion looms.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Torrent and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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