“This is a dream come true to just be able to play hockey for a living as a career, and to be able to do it in Boston, I’m just so excited,” Winn said during a news conference at the Fleet’s practice facility.

Winn, 22, joins fellow 2025 draft pick Ella Huber, a forward selected in the second round, as the first Boston rookies to sign deals. Huber’s two-year contract runs through 2026-27.

Boston’s top priority in this year’s draft was acquiring a high-level defender following the departure of five defensive pieces — Sydney Bard (Vancouver), Emily Brown (Seattle), Emma Greco (Vancouver), Jess DiGirolamo (Montreal), and Sidney Morin (Minnesota) —during the expansion draft and free agency.

General manger Danielle Marmer said she was looking for a pro-ready player with strong skating skills who can contribute on offense. Winn, who led Clarkson in scoring and finished second among NCAA defenders last season with 46 points (14 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games, fit the bill.

“She’s going to be able to come in right away and make an impact,” Marmer said. “The thing that’s most exciting for me, for Haley, is she’s going to get so much better in this league too … We talk about the adjustment from college hockey to the pros, but I think she’s going to have an easier time than most making that adjustment, and then her game is going to take off from there, as well.”

With Winn under contract, the Fleet have four players signed through 2027-28: Winn and fellow defender Megan Keller, forward Alina Muller, and goaltender Aerin Frankel.

Throughout all the roster changes brought on by expansion and free agency, Marmer made it a priority to sign her core players to long-term deals.

“They started their careers in Boston. I’m hoping they finish their careers in Boston,” Marmer said of Keller, Muller, and Frankel. “We want players who want to play for this city and not just play for the team and play for pro hockey, but they want to represent the city, and I think those three do it incredibly well.”

Alongside Keller and Frankel, Winn has represented Team USA at three consecutive women’s world championships, winning one silver medal (2024) and two golds (2023, ’25).

She will hope that having existing relationships with two of her Fleet teammates will help ease her transition from college to the pros. Winn also named forward Jamie Lee Rattray, a fellow Clarkson alumna who had 10 points in 30 games with the Fleet last season, as someone she hopes to learn from.

“There are so many girls that I’ll be able to learn and grow from,” Winn said. “I’m just super excited to kind of absorb it all.”

Winn said she spoke with Sparre on the telephone for the first time this week. His tenure with the Fleet will mark his first time as a head coach and his first time coaching women, and while Winn said he didn’t give much indication about what her role may look like, she was encouraged by the conversation.

Sparre spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, and Marmer said his background will help him strike a balance between developing young players for the future and winning with the team in front of him.

“It’s new environment for him, new for me, so I think we’ll both be doing a lot of adjustment and learning as we go,” Winn said. “But I’m super excited to just have him on the bench, and he seems like a great leader.”

Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.