State of the Sirens: What New York Needs for the 2025-2026 Season

Are stormy seas ahead for the Sirens? After a brutal expansion draft process that saw the team lose four players who were central to their strategy in the 2024-25 season, New York will need to rebuild through free agency and the entry draft at the end of the month. Here's what happened in the expansion draft and what the Sirens will need going forward.

What Happened: The Expansion Draft

The PWHL will welcome two new teams to the league for the upcoming season, in Seattle and Vancouver. And to fill out their rosters, the league designed an expansion draft process that heavily favored the new entrants. Teams could only protect three players to start, and they could only protect players who were under contract for the 2025-26 season or whose rights belonged to the team. Then, the team would have to give up two players. Finally, they could protect a fourth player.

Seattle and Vancouver also benefitted from an exclusive signing window, where they could each sign up to five players from the pool of players who were free agents or not protected.

The Sirens used their first three protection slots on Sarah Fillier (F), Ella Shelton (D), and Micah Zandee-Hart (D).

The Sirens lost Alex Carpenter (F) and Corinne Schroeder (G) to Seattle before the expansion draft, and then lost Jessie Eldridge (F) and Gabby Rosenthal (F) in the draft. They used their final protection slot on Maja Nylén Persson (D).

Why They Did It: The Sirens' Pre-Expansion Draft Strategy

As the Sirens prepared for the expansion draft, they anticipated high demand for defenders, so they decided that protecting their defensive core was a priority. General Manager Pascal Daoust explained in a press conference after the expansion draft that he viewed the Sirens' defense as a strength of the team and needed to protect their core players.

That meant that, strikingly, key forward Alex Carpenter was left exposed for Seattle to snap up. After the expansion draft, Daoust was pressed on the Sirens' decision to leave Carpenter unprotected. "We knew that there was a high risk of losing a player like Alex," he explained. "It was not a fun process."

Daoust emphasized, though, that their decision didn't reflect on Alex's talent. "We had to have major discussion," he said, "and from there, Alex unfortunately wasn't on our short list of three." But any other team in the Sirens' shoes could have chosen to protect her, he clarified.

Daoust was also asked about losing Corinne Schroeder to Seattle. He acknowledged that the loss was painful: "Losing a player like Corinne is always a big loss for any team. That was like a risk, of course." But he remained confident that Kayle Osborne could step up to the number one goalie slot.

What's Next: Free Agency and the Entry Draft

The Sirens enter free agency with a complete blue line. Daoust said he's not looking for defenders oņ the market, but as part of the Sirens' larger strategy, he's willing to move players around. As he put it, "this is probably the part of the game where we can be a GM in a way and try to strategize and to find solutions."

But the Sirens will face challenges as they enter free agency. Sarah Fillier — arguably the Sirens' offensive linchpin, especially after losing Carpenter, Eldridge, and Rosenthal — hasn't yet signed with the team for the upcoming season. Daoust defended the delay, saying that the team's priority was preparing for the expansion draft, free agency, and the entry draft. But Fillier's a key part of his pitch to new players: as he put it, "who in the world wouldn't like to play with Sarah Fillier in New York and to have time on ice available and opportunity on the offensive side?" Watch for the Sirens to try to seal the deal with her sooner rather than later.

When it comes to other players, "everything is open, any position is open," Daoust says. They'll look to the draft, free agency, trades, and camp invites to build up their squad for the 2025-26 season. Daoust said that the Sirens view the free agency period as critical — they'll use it to target specific roles and decide what they need as they approach the entry draft.

Keep an eye on Kayle Osborne. Daoust expressed that the Sirens haven't decided she's the number one goalie yet — they'll explore all their options at training camp — but if free agency and the draft go by without the Sirens picking up a clear starter, Osborne might end up with the nod.

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But there are larger issues here: the Sirens had a brutal end to the season, finishing in last place with only 37 points. (The fifth-place Boston Fleet earned 44.) Daoust seemed to argue that the Sirens' result was just because of a few games that went the wrong way in a competitive league. The team has all the right ingredients and the players and staff are very positive about the future, he argued.

What's notable from Daoust's comments, though, is what he didn't say. He painted the Sirens' strategy as flexible going into free agency and the draft, but didn't express a clear vision for the team for next season. And they need one, because last season simply wasn't anywhere close to what that talented squad had the potential to produce. It also seems that Daoust is entering free agency without a clear idea of what the team needs and how to get players to match those needs. It's not what we'd hope to hear from a team that has the plan to match the confidence.

But if there's one thing the Sirens can do, it's surprise us all. And with free agency now underway, Daoust's moves will be a key indicator of whether the Sirens are ready for another demanding season.