Carpenter re-signs with Seattle, Nurse with Vancouver, protecting both from PWHL expansion process

Alex Carpenter is staying in Seattle, and Sarah Nurse is not leaving Vancouver. Both veteran forwards were protected from the PWHL expansion process when they re-signed with their respective teams on Tuesday.

Carpenter signed a three-year contract with the Torrent, and Nurse signed a two-year deal with the Goldeneyes. Both players were on expiring contracts, with Carpenter making $90,000 last season and Nurse $85,000.

Financial details of the new contracts were not immediately available.

The moves came during the first phase of the expansion distribution process. Each of the eight existing teams has until Wednesday to protect three players who are under contract. The next phase opens on Friday, when the league's four expansion teams - Detroit, Las Vegas, San Jose and Hamilton, Ontario - can begin signing so-called foundational players.

The 32-year-old Carpenter finished Seattle's inaugural season with a team-leading 12 goals and her 20 points matched Julia Gosling for the team lead. The three-time U.S. Olympian led the PWHL with 440 faceoff wins.

Carpenter, who spent her first two seasons in New York, ranks third among PWHL players with 31 career goals and is tied for third with 63 points.

The 31-year-old Nurse scored the Goldeneyes' first goal in Vancouver's inaugural season, and she finished tied for the team lead with nine goals despite missing 11 games due to injury. She's a three-time Canadian Olympian who spent her first two PWHL seasons in Toronto.