Now that hockey leagues across the world are starting up, it’s time to give a refresher on the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). How can the six clubs across the PWHL improve upon their last campaign?
Boston Fleet: Scoring Output
While the Boston Fleet made a surprise run to a do-or-die Game 5 of the PWHL Final (but ultimately lost), it wasn’t without struggle. They looked poised to miss the playoffs entirely for long portions of the season, and that was mostly due to their league-worst 50-goal output. Without a single point-scorer in the top-12, their offense taking a step could go a long way.
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The Fleet most certainly have weapons, boasting talent such as Alina Müller and Megan Keller, so there’s hope for this team. However, they’ll risk missing the playoffs if they post another minus-7 goal differential—improvement is a must.
The right things clicked for Boston when times got tough. Sometimes, that’s all that’s really necessary. But a more dominant regular season can inspire they’re a step ahead of the team that fell short at the final hour.
Minnesota Frost: Special Teams
The Minnesota Frost were the inaugural champions of the PWHL, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve. One area in particular with room for growth is their special teams—it was their kryptonite.
On the power play, Minnesota scored just five times on 61 attempts for an 8.2 percent conversion rate. To make matters worse, they struggled to kill off opposing man advantages, with 20 of 61 (32.8 percent) ending with a puck in the back of their net.
The Frost rode their even-strength dominance to a championship, but that won’t be a sustainable model. They’re talented enough to make the playoffs despite these struggles, but it would certainly go a long way if they could enter just league-average territory on both the power play and the penalty kill alike in terms of efficiency.
Montreal Victoire: Play for Poulin
This probably isn’t much of a hot take, but recently married Marie Philip-Poulin is the best player in the PWHL. Though she is 33 years old, making her one of the more seasoned veterans in women’s hockey, she is still atop her craft—that is unfathomable longevity. However, Poulin needs her Montreal Victoire squad to have her back.
With 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 21 contests, Poulin was the second-most productive scorer on a per-game basis in the PWHL. This allowed Montreal to finish second in the league’s standings (41 points) and a whole six points ahead of third and fourth place—they were one of the top clubs to beat for the entire season.
While Montreal was very good as a team, their playoff performance left a lot to be desired. Dropping three overtime games in a sweep courtesy of Boston, when Poulin didn’t come up clutch, nobody did. This kind of dependence isn’t ideal.
It wasn’t all bad for the Victoire, but Poulin wasn’t a standout points-wise and the postseason result reflected that. Poulin is enough to carry the workload, but she’ll need some help from her teammates.
New York Sirens: Lean on Schroeder
To put it bluntly, pretty much nothing went right for the New York Sirens last season. However, there was one person in particular who provided some optimism: Corinne Schroeder.
Among the six netminders who faced at least 300 shots, Schroeder was atop them all with a .930 save percentage (SV%). Her 2.40 goals-against average (GAA) was the highest of the sample size, but she undoubtedly had a positive impact on her club.
On the contrary, Abigail Levy appeared in eight contests for New York and had a league-worst .906 SV% among the nine goaltenders with at least 200 shots against. Seeing as none of the other eight had a SV% below .915, this juxtaposition of between-the-pipes play made a bad team even worse—the Sirens finished with the worst record in the PWHL, a whole nine points out of a playoff spot.
While New York has a long way to go to compete, all it’ll take is for them to not be one of the bottom two teams in the PWHL to make the postseason. The rest of the roster has to improve, but Schoeder is the X-factor who could make the biggest difference—getting more starts could be the Sirens’ ticket to their first playoff appearance in franchise history.
Ottawa Charge: Goaltending
More than anything, what held the Ottawa Charge back last season was their play between the pipes. In an environment where every single goal matters (the PWHL hosts tight and low-scoring affairs), having a league-worst .915 team SV% probably didn’t help matters.
Getting nearly every start was Emerance Maschmeyer, who played an almost unhealthy 23 of 24 contests for Ottawa. It’s important to note that she found her mojo as time passed, making the Charge one of the more improvement-bound teams in the PWHL. In the offseason, they signed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) netminder Logan Angers, who put up an impressive 24-11-1 record with a .934 SV% and 1.88 GAA. Perhaps she can take some of the workload off of Maschmeyer this upcoming season and flip the script by making goaltending a strength.
Ottawa finished second in scoring output in 2023-24, so a bolstered duo between the pipes could do wonders for them. They only missed the playoffs by three points (in other words, a regulation win), so this team is a sleeper to do some damage once the new season starts up.
Toronto Sceptres: Getting a Healthy Spooner
The Toronto Sceptres boasted the best record in the PWHL, sitting comfortably atop the league with 47 points. From scoring to their play in the net, everything went well for them. So, what’s the catch?
In the playoffs, Toronto saw their superstar, 33-year-old Natalie Spooner, go down in Game 3 of their first-round series versus Minnesota. Suffering a season-ending injury, Toronto had to manage without their best player. Despite being just one win away from the PWHL Final, the Sceptres were unable to notch a single victory in her absence—they were reverse-swept, dropping three straight contests.
Remember how Poulin was second in points per game in the PWHL? The first-place finisher was none other than Spooner—she put up a whopping 20 goals and seven assists for 27 points in 24 contests. The Sceptres weren’t just aided by her presence, they depended on her. They cannot afford to lose their top player in the postseason again, otherwise they risk elimination. The good news here is that Toronto had the eventual champions on their heels—if both sides are at full health, we could see a different result this season if they meet up again.
There’s a very minor talent gap between clubs in the PWHL. It’s truly anyone’s game, and that’s the beauty of the league—it’s up to these teams to improve some of their biggest holes from their debut campaigns.
