The Ottawa Charge rallied in 2024-2025 to improve over their inaugural campaign, increasing their points percentage from 44.4% to 48.9% and qualifying for the Walter Cup Playoffs for the first time. Making the most of this opportunity, they upset the top-seeded Montréal Victoire in the first round before falling in the Walter Cup final to Minnesota in four games. Carla MacLeod deserves more praise than she received behind the bench for how her team bought into her system with the fewest number of Star+ level producers and losing their entrenched starter, Emerance Maschmeyer, heading into the most critical juncture of their season.

The expansion draft was tough for the Charge as they lost Maschmeyer, Danielle Serdachny, Ashton Bell, and Aneta Tejralová. The rise of playoff MVP, Gwyneth Philips, lightens the loss of Maschmeyer’s on ice impact, but her experience and vibe in the room will be severely missed. Serdachny played a strong two-way game in MacLeod’s system, but her scoring touch never came to fruition in Ottawa, where her 1.03 P/60 relegated her to a third-line role. Losing last year’s second overall pick feels bad, but retaining Emily Clark over Serdachny should help Charge fans sleep at night. Bell is a tough loss for a team that prides itself on defensive depth, as she was great all season, and a key player in their first round upset of the Victoire. Tejralová’s departure also stings the Charge’s depth and versatility, as her 1.03 P/60, while playing twenty minutes a night in their top-4 is a heavy blow.

Free Agency was far less kind to the Charge as Tereza Vanišová, Shiann Darkangelo, Jincy Roese, and Zoe Boyd all notably moved onto new teams. The Charge only had 4 Star+ level producers in 2024-25, and the only one staying for 2025-26 is Clark. Vanišová’s 2.73 P/60 was fourth best in the PWHL last season and will be difficult to replace. Darkangelo’s 2.33 P/60 was just as impressive, as she was one of the most effective middle-six forwards in the PWHL last season, especially during the back half of the season. Roese took a big step forward on the blue line with a P/60 of 1.43 (6^th in the league) that made Savannah Harmon expendable. Replacing these three will need to be done internally. Boyd’s departure stings in conjunction with Bell, as her ability to play heavy minutes and tough assignments in the bottom four just leaves a massive hole as two-thirds of their blue line has moved on.

In free agency, the Charge only made two additions: Élizabeth Giguère and Brooke Hobson. Giguère is a fascinating player, as her P/60 of 0.85 is high for a player who only recorded 4 points in 2024-25. With the state of the Charge’s forward group, she stands to benefit from more ice time than she received in New York, which she’ll receive as MacLeod loves strong defensive forwards. Hobson had almost identical efficiency stats from the blueline for the Sirens, which bodes well for her as her three years of professional experience (2 years of PWHL and 1 SDHL) will immediately place her in Ottawa’s top four.

The Charge used their first round pick in this year’s draft on Rory Guilday from Cornell. She did not do well in our model due to her low offensive output, but her defensive ability was among the best in the NCAA last season, and with the departures they experienced, she is a tremendous addition. Anna Shokhina is a wild card of a 2^nd round pick. Her talent is undeniable from her time in the Russian Women’s league and international competitions; however, we don’t have a precedent for players coming over from Russia to the PWHL to benchmark her against. Their third-round selection, Sarah Wozniewicz was effective in a bottom six role for Wisconsin and will likely be deployed in a similar role this season. Peyton Hemp, who they took in the fourth round played more scoring minutes for Minnesota but could also be seen as more of a depth piece to start her career with the Charge. Sixth round pick Sanni Ahola should be a respectable backup to Philips this season. Ahola had strong campaigns for St. Cloud State in 2023-24 and 2024-25, while also playing well at the last three world championships for Finland. Their final selection, Fanuza Kadirova, is in the same boat as Shokhina, as her career has been largely impression (57 points in 42 games as a defender last season) but we just don’t have a comparable Russian pro transfer yet.

Overall, the Ottawa Charge’s 2025-26 outlook is murky. Realistically, they have the foundational pieces to be a playoff team, but it is going to take a large input from their draft class to close the gaps of what was lost. MacLeod’s system should accommodate that well, as the Charge typically don’t try to play hero hockey, and by the ten-game mark on the year, their rookies should be comfortable in their system. With the 2024-25 Boston Fleet as reference, an elite goalie can do a lot for a team that isn’t comfortable or playing well within their system for long stretches of time, and knowing that MacLeod is a far superior coach to Courtney Kessel, the Charge are capable of having a playoff caliber season with this group if things break in their direction.