The Ottawa Charge saw their inaugural season playoff chances fade as their offense slowed down the stretch and the defense struggled. Ottawa scored the 2nd most goals in the regular season but also allowed the 2nd most finishing with a negative one goal differential. Ottawa saw their leading goal scorer Daryl Watts leave in free agency to sign with the Toronto Scepters. The Charge maximized the second overall pick of the draft by selecting and signing Colgate Raiders superstar forward Danielle Serdachny to a three year contract. She grew up in Edmonton, her father Steven Serdachny was a skills and skating coach for the Oilers, as well as a coach for several teams in the AHL and Liiga in Finland. She played in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) for Pursuit of Excellence and excelled, winning back-to-back CSSHL female prep division championships. Her first season was impressive, tallying 46 points in 21 games but her game elevated to another level in her second year, posting 58 points in twenty eight games. 

2019-2020 was the first season at Colgate University for Serdachny and dominated out of the gates. She was voted to the ECAC all rookie team off of her first season tallying ten goals and twenty two assists in thirty eight games averaging a .84 PPG. The following season saw more individual success, Serdachny led Colgate with 21 points (9 goals and 12 assists) before the season was cut short due to COVID. Serdachny earned ECAC Player and Forward of the Year, as well as being voted to the First Team All ECAC, First-Team All-USCHO and CCM/AHCA First-Team All-American. After her incredible season, Serdachny was appointed captain. In her junior year, she was voted second team all ECAC while she produced .91 PPG through 39 games and tied teammate Kristyna Kaltounkova for most points on the team. Senior year was sheer dominance. Serdachny finished the season with an insane 1.78 PPG, finishing first in D1 women’s hockey. She registered 71 points through 40 games, more than future PWHL superstars Taylor Heise (67), Grace Zumwinkle (61), and Alina Muller (60). It was the 2nd season wherein she received best ECAC player and forward of the year and was voted CCM/AHCA First Team All-American. The Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award was given to Serdachny (the college hockey equivalent to the Lady Byng in the NHL), and was also a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, the trophy given to the best female college hockey player. In her final collegiate season, she finished with 61 points in 40 games, scoring 22 goals and 39 assists. Serdachny finished 4th in points in NCAA D1 women’s hockey. While she was at Colgate, the Raiders won the ECAC tournament championship for the first time in 2020-2021 defeating St.Lawrence 3-2. Colgate would proceed to win the ECAC championship the following three years defeating Yale 2-1OT (2021-2022), Clarkson 8-2 (’22-23), and Cornell 5-1 (’23-24). Serdachny shined in those games, having the assist on the tying goal against Yale, tallying two goals and an assist against Clarkson, and a goal and two assists against Cornell.

In international play, she scored three goals and an assist for Canada in the 2019 IIHF Women’s World U18 Hockey Championship in five games and won. In the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship, she represented Canada again, this time tallying an assist in 7 games and came away with the silver medal losing to the US in the finals. In 2024, she represented Canada again at the IIHF championship, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games, including the game-winning goal in the gold medal game against the US. Danielle Serdachny has an excellent résumé and she brings an incredible skill set to the Ottawa Charge. Growth and development have been evident in every league Serdachny has played in. Her leadership will be a valuable asset as well as her ability to show up and score goals in significant games. She is an elite goal scorer and playmaker, she possesses great vision, high hockey IQ, and strength on the puck. According to our production model, Serdachny posted five consecutive super star seasons averaging over .83 PPG every year. Serdachny is joining a dynamic offensive forward group featuring Brianne Jenner, Gabbie Hughes, Katerina Mrazova, and Tereza Vanisova and complemented by a very skilled defender in Savannah Harmon. The offense will be firing on all cylinders and it wouldn’t be surprising if Danielle Serdachny finishes her rookie season near the top of the league in points.