PWHL San Jose signs Hadley Hartmetz to two-year contract
A young rearguard is heading to the opposite end of the country.
On Wednesday, PWHL San Jose announced that the team has signed defender Hadley Hartmetz to a two-year contract that will run through the 2027-28 season.
Hartmetz is the sixth signing made by the expansion team in the Bay Area and the first in Phase 3. She joins the team’s initial signings made during the second phase of the Expansion Roster Distribution Process, which include Kristin O’Neill, Maddi Wheeler, Anne Cherkowski, Corinne Schroeder and Rory Guilday.
The 25-year-old spent the first two seasons with the Boston Fleet, the team that took her in the seventh round, 40th overall, of the 2024 PWHL Draft. However, she was left unprotected at the end of Phase 1 of this year’s expansion process, as general manager Danielle Marmer elected to protect goaltender Aerin Frankel, as well as defenders Megan Keller and Haley Winn, before re-signing Susanna Tapani earlier on Wednesday.
Hartmetz is the second member of the Fleet to have been signed by an expansion team, as Alina Muller signed a three-year contract with Hamilton during Phase 2.
The Pennsylvania native had a rough start to her rookie season, as a lower-body injury suffered in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championship Game kept the Ohio State Buckeye out of action until March 2025. She ended up playing just two games at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Hartmetz appeared in all but three regular-season games this past year, registering seven assists. She posted a plus/minus of +7 while averaging 12:54 of ice time. She didn’t score any points in the Fleet’s four-game series against the Ottawa Charge, which saw the second-seed suffer a small upset.
In 29 regular-season contests in her young pro career, Hartmetz has yet to score a goal.
Prior to joining the PWHL, Hartmetz won two national titles with the Buckeyes.
San Jose can sign two more players during this phase. Phase 3 of the expansion process continues through 3 p.m. ET on June 12.