For the third time in franchise history, the Boston Fleet have hired a new bench boss.
After Kris Sparre was named the head coach of PWHL Hamilton — one of four new expansion clubs set to break ground in the Professional Women’s Hockey League — Boston was again left searching for a new head coach at the crossroads of another expansion process.
On Thursday, the team announced that François Méthot has been named the organization’s third head coach. Boston has endured a revolving door of sorts in that position following the departure of Courtney Kessel after the first two seasons.
Sparre, a Coach of the Year finalist, led the Fleet to an impressive 16-5-4-5 season to propel Boston back into the postseason in his first year at the helm. Boston’s 62 points tied the Montreal Victoire atop the league standings and was the team’s winningest season to date amid a historic 18-point improvement from the year prior.
The Fleet, which have called UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center home in its first three PWHL seasons, has yet to announce venue plans for 2026-27.
At the team’s breakup day last month, Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer and players expressed great confidence in Sparre to build upon this past season’s playoff exit to the Ottawa Charge after Boston lost three straight games in the best-of-five semifinal clash.
That all changed when the Mississauga, Ontario native took a job closer to home, opening the door for Marmer to tab Méthot as his replacement.
With over 11 years of coaching and player development on his resume, Méthot most recently spent three seasons as general manager and head coach of the Rochester Jr. Americans of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). He played a big role in capturing a division title last season.
The Montreal native enjoyed a 17-year professional playing career — including six seasons in the American Hockey League — and was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1996. Méthot has spent a lot of time in the player development world as the founder of Rochester Ice Center Hockey Academy, where he has worked with high-level NHL, PWHL and NCAA players.
One of those players is Fleet defender Haley Winn. Méthot’s relationship with the star blueliner dates back to when she was 13 years old at Bishop Kearney, where Méthot would train with Winn twice a week at 6 a.m.
That combination of playing experience with coaching and developmental rapport with elite players was appealing to Marmer in a speedy interview process that consisted of a short list of candidates.
“We had a pretty immediate connection and alignment in our vision for this organization,” Marmer said.
Coaching in an environment like Boston was extremely appealing for Méthot.
“There’s a level of excellence here in Boston that is very impressive,” Méthot said. “You look at all the championships from the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Bruins. It’s what we want to do with the Fleet.”
Méthot said he has already had a conversation with some of the players and has gotten feedback from the organization to understand what the team can improve upon next season. He said he will implement a style of play focused on aggressiveness and physicality that also enables puck possession and offensive creativity, a similar mentality that seemingly worked under Sparre.
“If you look at my teams and how we did, I’m a very aggressive style type of coach,” Méthot said. “And that’s what they started last year. I know Kris was a big fan of that style, and I’ve watched a lot of games already, and there’s definitely a good base to build on there.”
Expansion news
Marmer also announced the organization has protected Megan Keller, Winn and Aerin Frankel ahead of expansion proceedings that are once again set to change Boston’s roster.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for our game and for women’s ice hockey,” Marmer said. “Part of this process means that there’s going to be players who meant a lot to our team and the city of Boston who won’t be on our team next season. But on the flip side of that, really grateful to have the opportunity to protect players who are a core of what we’re trying to build here, and those players are Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller and Haley Winn.”
The second phase of the expansion process is set to commence from June 5-8, where expansion clubs can sign five players. In Phase 3, teams can protect three more players.
Boston’s initial protection list ultimately boiled down to Winn or Alina Müller, a talented forward who recorded 4-17-21 line last season. But Marmer opted to double down on a defensive identity that proved to be pivotal this past season, backboned by the immense play of Frankel. The Northeastern product racked up an eye-popping eight shutouts in the regular season with a .953 save percentage.
Winn burst onto the scene as a rookie and showcased herself as one of the top two-way blueliners in the league. She totaled 5-14-19 and often logged heavy minutes with Keller, a franchise cornerstone who amassed 7-15-22.
“Alina is a world-class player,” Marmer said. “There is nothing that she could have done differently for this protection to have gone a different way. It was strictly the strategy of this build and this process.”
Marmer said forwards Jessie Eldridge and Susanna Tapani, among others, were also considered for protection.
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