Seattle’s Calculated Risk Up Front: Can Gosling and Serdachny Step Up as Sophomores?

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from freelance contributor Natalia Rachman. You can find more of Natalia's excellent work at Rinksiders.

After snagging the two highest-profile forwards available in the offseason’s exclusive signing period, Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, PWHL Seattle GM Meghan Turner and co. pivoted to a decidedly different approach in constructing their initial roster. Four of Seattle’s seven expansion selections, including their final three, were defenders, and they used a second-round pick in the entry draft to solidify their goaltending. While their counterparts in Vancouver splurged on offence in free agency, Seattle’s marquee signing was the reigning PWHL blocked shots leader, blueliner Mariah Keopple.

The value placed upon keeping the puck out of the net is apparent in Seattle’s methodology, as is a great deal of belief that became increasingly clear with each subsequent move—the belief that their top six forwards can shoulder the bulk of their scoring, and, most pertinently, that Julia Gosling and Danielle Serdachny can be effective parts of that top six. They’ll have ample opportunity to build upon their solid postseason performances with Seattle, a far cry from their respective rookie seasons where Gosling’s most frequent linemate was Emma Woods and Serdachny played alongside Anna Meixner more than Ottawa’s top five scorers combined.

Interestingly, said postseason performances were both accomplished with notably less ice time than in the regular season. Gosling’s two-goal outburst in Game 1 against Minnesota was done in just 10:48, higher than her series average of 10:22 per game but far lower than her regular season rate of 12:40. Meanwhile, Serdachny’s 12:47 average in the postseason pales in comparison to the 15:29 she had prior, particularly so when taking Ottawa’s nearly eight full frames’ worth of playoff overtime into account. Identifying what changed in those limited minutes, and how Steve O’Rourke and his staff can best facilitate these versions of the duo, is vital for Seattle’s championship aspirations going forward.

Whether it’s gaining the zone on the rush or maintaining possession on the cycle, Serdachny excels with the puck on her stick, though what eluded her in Ottawa was the ability to turn that control into viable scoring opportunities. Per PWHL Insights, the rate at which Serdachny generated high-danger scoring chances was ahead of only Mannon McMahon among Charge forwards, and she often found herself on the perimeter passing to areas that would traditionally be her responsibility as her line’s center.

However, for the final few games of the season and for the duration of Ottawa’s playoff run, Serdachny would line up on the wing instead of down the middle. She’d record two primary assists on passes from beneath the goal line to an open teammate in the slot, and while neither Ashton Bell nor Tereza Vanišová are natural centers, it served as a demonstration of the type of support Serdachny needs to succeed offensively. Seattle has several potential left-shot centers in Carpenter, rookie Lily Delianedis, or even Gosling herself, and playing alongside any one of them would not only allow Serdachny to pose a threat from the wing but improve upon her 41% faceoff efficiency by exclusively taking draws on her strong side.

For Gosling, on the other hand, it may have just been a simple case of regression to the mean. It took her 15 games and 31 shots to score her first career goal, only for her to score three more on her next eight tries. Coincidentally, 3-for-8 is how she shot in the playoffs as well, but she also went goalless in the 11 games between those stretches. Gosling has shown she can score at the professional level, and while it hasn’t been consistent, she has seldom experienced consistent usage with Toronto. Letting her settle into a rhythm through more regulated deployment and allowing her to gel with more skilled linemates than she was accustomed to in her rookie year could be exactly what Gosling needs in order to blossom into a dependable goal-scoring power forward in the PWHL.

2025 Top 25 Under 25: Julia Gosling (22), Joy Dunne (21)

Julia Gosling finds herself in this year’s top 25 following an honorable mention last year.

The Ice GardenEmma Sullivan

A favourable expansion process has given Seattle the flexibility to take risks in building their team, and they did so by putting their offensive eggs in the basket of players yet to produce at a level expected of the roles they’ll soon fill. That said, when considering two 24-year-olds with Canadian national team experience only a year removed from being made first-round picks, the potential reward is immense, one well worth taking a chance on. Seattle has the tools needed to enable Gosling and Serdachny to take the next step in their young careers, and that step, should everything fall into place, could very well be in the direction of the Walter Cup.