Ottawa Charge has big skates to fill as PWHL draft looms
Come Wednesday morning, the Ottawa Charge's roster will look vastly different following the PWHL draft.
In the month since falling to the Minnesota Frost in the PWHL Championships, the Charge have lost nine players in the expansion draft and to free agency.
Tuesday night's draft, which will be hosted at Ottawa's new Hard Rock Casino, will be the answer to filling some of those gaps.
Each of the league's eight teams will add six new players to their roster Tuesday night. Altogether, 199 prospects are up for grabs and 48 will be selected.
Who has Ottawa lost?
At the end of the PWHL season, the league announced it's adding teams in Vancouver and Seattle for the 2025-2026 season. Those new teams now need to fill their rosters.
Off the hop in early June, each of the six original teams lost four players to the expansion teams.
But before the new teams could get their pick of the crop, the Charge protected Emily Clark, Gwyneth Philips, Ronja Savolainen and soon after, Gabbie Hughes.
The Charge lost goalie Emerance Maschmeyer and defender Ashton Bell to Vancouver, and forward Danielle Serdachny and defender Aneta Tejralová to Seattle.
Shortly after, when the free agency period opened up, these players also left the team:
Tereza Vanišová, F: PWHL Vancouver.
Shiann Darkangelo, F: Montréal Victoire.
Zoe Boyd, D: Boston Fleet.
Jincy Roese, D: New York Sirens.
Natalie Snodgrass, F: PWHL Seattle.
In total, the Charge have lost four defenders, four forwards and one goalie in the post-season — many of them key players.
"There's a little bit of disappointment obviously when you lose players ... through expansion draft, particularly players that have been with us since Day 1. But also, [there's] a ton of excitement for the growth of women's hockey in this league," said Mike Hirshfeld, general manager of the Ottawa Charge.
Hirshfeld said he "made very compelling offers to some of the players that left," but noted that some decided to move on based on their personal and family situations.
What talent is Ottawa looking for?
The Charge will get the fifth overall pick Tuesday night.
"We're looking at all options, to be honest. We have a lot of spots still to fill, just because expansion really thinned us out," Hirshfeld said.
Forwards and strong defenders are on their radar, but the team is not looking for a goalie, he said.
"Size and physicality is important to us, but at the same time we need to improve our power play next year, and so puck-moving offensive defenders are also of interest," Hirshfeld noted.
The Ottawa Charge have recently re-signed forwards Taylor House and Rebecca Leslie.
Other recent additions include forward Élizabeth Giguère and defender Brooke Hobson from the New York Sirens, who have each signed for one year. The Charge have also signed defender Emma Bergesen for one year — the first player from Norway to sign with the league.
Even after Tuesday's draft, Hirshfeld said the team "is talking to, and there's some trade discussions going on" with some free agents.
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