In April, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced an expansion to both Seattle and Vancouver. While this is phenomenal news for the league and women’s sports in general, the news came with a downside. That downside is the need for an expansion draft. In a small league, an expansion draft can feel devastating, both for General Managers and fans. Fan favorites are often left unprotected and, especially in this scenario, the majority of players will be available to be drafted by an expansion team.
The process for this expansion draft allowed for each original six team (Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, Toronto Sceptres) to protect three players before an Exclusive Signing Window opened. The expansion teams can sign up to five players during this window. After two players have been selected from each original six team, the teams will then have the opportunity to protect one more player before the Expansion Draft takes place. Seattle and Vancouver will each take 12 players during this entire process.
Many have expressed concern over the state of the original six teams with such a miniscule protection list and fans are worried for the state of their teams in the 2025-26 season. Much of this concern was directed towards the New York Sirens. As the only team to miss the playoffs in both seasons, even the most loyal of fans have expressed their worry over losing any players.
On June 3, the original six teams released their initial protection lists, which left many PWHL fans shocked. Most notably, the Boston Fleet did not protect their captain, Hilary Knight, who is, arguably, one of the best hockey players ever.
Looking at the New York Sirens, it was known that this would be a difficult decision. The only clear protection agreed upon by many in the media and fans was Sarah Fillier. Nominated for Rookie of the Year and Forward of the Year, Fillier is a staple for New York’s future, a sentiment that General Manager Pascal Daoust emphasized during the team’s end-of-season media availability. Fillier finished the season with 13 goals and 16 assists, falling one point shy of a point-per-game season.
New York ultimately ended up protecting Sarah Fillier, Ella Shelton, and Micah Zandee-Hart, the team’s captain.
Shelton is a critical player to New York, both on and off the ice. Daoust made it clear that, moving forward, the Sirens are focused on maintaining their culture in the locker room and finding ways to transfer that culture to wins. Ella Shelton scored the first ever goal in the PWHL and continues to prove that she is a stellar offensively-minded defender. Shelton finished the 2024-25 season with 21 points and her protection did not come as much of a shock to most.
The real kicker was the protection of the captain, Zandee-Hart. While obviously a staple off the ice and a critical piece to the Sirens’ culture, the defender only scored three points in 19 games this season. The captain is one of the older members of the roster and with other teams not protecting their captains, one is left to wonder why this decision was made. The focus on culture is likely the reason that Zandee-Hart was selected for protection.
Jarringly, the Sirens did not elect to protect goaltender, Corinne Schroeder, who most would consider a crucial part of many of the Sirens’ wins this season. While the Sirens did not operate with a “starter” this season, it would have been clear to many that Schroeder was their best option the majority of the time.
Also left unprotected and available to be selected by Seattle or Vancouver are forwards Alex Carpenter, Jessie Eldridge, and Abby Roque. These women finished the season with 23, 14, and 13 points, respectively. While many fans would have liked to see Roque and Eldridge protected, the exclusion of Carpenter is the statistical anomaly here. Carpenter is the oldest player on the roster, so that may have factored into the decision.
The Sirens will have quite a few gaps to fill after losing four players during this process, especially considering the retool that was likely coming due to two seasons missing the playoffs. Daoust had mentioned that the team would look at the roster once the expansion process has ended before making any definitive statements as to prospects and transactions in the off-season.
The PWHL Expansion Draft takes place on June 9. The Entry Draft will be hosted in Ottawa on June 24. The New York Sirens have been struggling and need to reassess after the expansion. The question that remains, is how does this team move forward after they are almost certain to lose key players?
