PWHL Power Rankings: Fleet continue to rack up wins heading into holidays
With Christmas just a couple of days away, a couple of teams in the PWHL are feeling pretty merry this time of year, while others might be hollering humbug by the lumps of coal they’ve been receiving so far.
As we close in on the New Year, Ben Steiner, Scott Maxwell and Tyler Kuehl break down where the teams lie and who’s trending in the right direction.
1. Boston Fleet
Record: 5-0-0-1, +9
Last Week: 1st
Ben’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Ben: The Boston Fleet are simply the best team in the PWHL right now at doing what matters — winning games — but they lost their perfect record this week with a 5-2 defeat against the Minnesota Frost. While that game saw a slight blip from the otherwise stellar form of Aerin Frankel, they rebounded nicely and picked up a 3-1 win against the Seattle Torrent, led by their former captain, Hilary Knight.
Boston has a league-high 18 goals, and 17 different skaters have at least one point, including every player from their 2025 PWHL Draft class. They may have lost, but they remain the best team in the league.
Tyler: With every passing game, I’m more impressed by what the Fleet can do. Sure, they finally lost, but it came against the defending champions. Boston only followed it up with a dominant effort against the Torrent. At first, it seemed like Aerin Frankel would be the only reason the team would succeed. However, as we saw on Sunday in Seattle, it’s a full team effort. Not only did Abbey Levy play well in her first start of the season, but the special teams stepped up. The Fleet lead the PWHL in power-play percentage (27.8) and penalty-kill efficiency, operating at 100%.
The Fleet are off until next Saturday, when they go up against the Ottawa Charge.
2. Montreal Victoire
Record: 3-1-0-1, +7
Last Week: 3rd (+1)
Ben’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Ben: The Montréal Victoire picked up two wins this week despite the most brutal possible travel schedule. First, they secured the first-ever PWHL win in Nova Scotia, beating the Toronto Sceptres in a shootout and securing a home-province victory for head coach Kori Cheverie, before moving on to beat the Vancouver Goldeneyes 4-2 in Vancouver.
Cheverie used both Sandra Abstreiter and Ann-Reneé Desbiens in the wins, and both impressed, while Dara Greig had her first PWHL goal in a multipoint performance against the Goldeneyes.
Tyler: Had Renata Fast not made that blunder in overtime last Wednesday in Halifax, we might be looking at Montreal in a slightly different light. The error by the Team Canada regular gave the Victoire new life, leading to a shootout win. What stood out most about the team’s week was how traveling across the country to Vancouver seemingly didn’t affect them. They got after the Goldeneyes early and beat a team that hadn’t lost at home yet this year. Not quite calling them a wagon, but Montreal is looking like that efficient group that finished first in the PWHL last season.
The Victoire has a couple of big games this week. After visiting the Torrent on Tuesday, they returned to Montreal for the third-annual Duel at the Top against the Sceptres.
3. Minnesota Frost
Record: 3-0-1-2, +5
Last Week: 2nd (-1)
Ben’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Ben: The saying might go “to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” for the Minnesota Frost, they were out proving their class once again this week, crushing the previously undefeated Fleet 5-2, before claiming a point in an OT loss to the Ottawa Charge at the Takeover Tour game in Chicago.
While two wins would’ve vaulted them higher, they still had a four-point week and beat the top team. Kelly Pannek and Britta Curl-Salemme are both tied for the league scoring lead as well, with eight points in six games.
Tyler: Four points in two games this past weekend isn’t too shabby, but after the win over the Fleet, six points seemed like a cakewalk, given that they looked like a way better team than the Charge on Sunday. I will say, how Minnesota rose to the occasion last Friday, ending Boston’s undefeated start, showing this group has expertise in big games that is well beyond the reach of the rest of the league.
The Frost begin a four-game road trip coming out of the holiday, beginning with a meeting against the Goldeneyes on Saturday afternoon.
4. Toronto Sceptres
Record: 3-0-1-2, -1
Last Week: 5th (+1)
Ben’s Rank: 4th
Tyler’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Tyler: I was pretty hesitant about trying to move the Sceptres up. In a game they should’ve won against the Victoire last week, they lost (granted, they can thank Fast for that). Then, against a very beatable New York Sirens team, Toronto just let its opponent take the game to them for long stretches. Yet, Elaine Chuli came up with some big saves, and the Sceptres managed to grab a regulation win. The Sceptres are doing their job in making them look like a playoff team, but consistency is my biggest concern for this group.
Ben: The Toronto Sceptres had a four-point week, but they can probably be unhappy that it wasn’t a five-point showing, after Emma Maltias’ OT-winning breakaway goal in Halifax against Montréal was taken off the board for a penalty away from the puck.
They bounced back quickly from that slight setback, though, beating the New York Sirens 4-3 with Jesse Compher scoring her first two goals of the season. The resilience was critical, as was the offensive outburst after previously scoring just eight goals in five games.
The Sceptres get set for the second Battle of Ontario this season, hosting the Charge on Tuesday night.
5. Seattle Torrent
Record: 2-0-1-2, -1
Last Week: 7th (+2)
Ben’s Rank: 5th
Tyler’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Ben: Despite a 3-1 loss to the Boston Fleet, the Seattle Torrent should be pleased with how their week went, picking up a confidence-boosting 4-1 win over the Ottawa Charge. The victory saw a starring two-goal, one-assist performance from Alex Carpenter, who moved to five points on the season, with the line of her, Knight, and Julia Gosling continuing to impress in the top six.
Tyler: I’m still not sure what to think of the Torrent. Granted, when you’ve played the fewest games of any team in the league, and you’re one of the newest teams in general, it can be tough to get a pulse on what a team is capable of. Seattle showed a little bit of grit against the Charge on Wednesday, riding a strong performance from Carpenter to get a win. The team was then pushed around by the Fleet, but Corinne Schroeder kept things reasonable. The Torrent has plenty of room to grow, but it is showing glimpses of being a playoff team.
The Torrent hosts the Victoire on Tuesday before traveling down to Dallas to face the Sirens in the third Takeover Tour game of the season.
6. New York Sirens
Record: 2-0-0-5, -4
Last Week: 4th (-4)
Ben’s Rank: 6th
Tyler’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Ben: Kristýna Kaltounková continues to impress in her rookie season after the New York Sirens picked her first overall in the 2025 PWHL Draft. Although they lost 4-3 to Toronto, Kaltounková scored twice to bring her to three goals on the season and looked threatening in her 24 minutes of ice time.
Yet, despite her impressive performance, it was still a two-loss week for the Sirens, with that result and a 2-0 defeat against the Minnesota Frost. Is the regression starting for this group? I hope not, they’ve been fun.
Tyler: Not again.
I’m just getting ahead of the curve and putting the Sirens at the bottom, cause that’s where the team has been heading for the past couple of weeks. This team went from looking like they might be able to turn things around after a solid start, but New York has gone on to lose four straight games, all in regulation. Sure, they played well against the Sceptres, but not even first-overall pick Kaltounková could save the day.
This is the same story the Sirens have had since their inception. They will play hard, keep things close against even the best teams in the PWHL, but still end up on the losing side of things. If New York doesn’t turn things around soon, it’s going to be another long year in New Jersey.
The Sirens are off until next Sunday, when they face the Torrent in Dallas.
7. Vancouver Goldeneyes
Record: 2-1-0-4, -6
Last Week: 6th
Ben’s Rank: 7th
Tyler’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Tyler: The Goldeneyes’ shield of being invincible on home ice was dented last Saturday, losing to a surging Victoire. However, the cracks that have been exposed on the road were apparent at the Pacific Coliseum last week. Vancouver certainly didn’t look like the better team against Ottawa on Tuesday, but Kristen Campbell dragged the team to victory. I know some think Sarah Nurse’s absence is hurting the Goldeneyes, but this Vancouver team needs more than one player to step up if they want to be thought of as contenders.
Ben: Remember when everyone thought the Vancouver Goldeneyes were going to steamroll the rest of the PWHL with the roster they built through a relatively friendly expansion process? Are those still concerns after seven games, as they sit seventh in my power rankings and fifth in the standings with eight points?
The absence of Sarah Nurse has hampered Vancouver’s transitional play and this week was a challenging one. They couldn’t push Montréal in a 4-2 loss and their 2-1 win over Ottawa, while promising with good performances from Jenn Gardiner and Katie Chan, left plenty to be desired.
The Goldeneyes have just one game this week, that coming on Saturday on home ice against the Frost.
8. Ottawa Charge
Record: 1-1-0-5, -9
Last Week: 8th (+1)
Ben’s Rank: 8th
Tyler’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Tyler: The Charge was certainly on a downward trend. Their five-game road trip started off with three losses in a row, all of which saw the team scoring one goal each. However, that win over the Frost in the Takeover Tour game in Chicago on Sunday might give Ottawa some confidence heading into a tough part of its schedule. I will say, the reliance this team has on Gwyneth Philips could lead to its downfall if it’s not careful.
Ben: It’s been a rough start to 2025-26 for the Ottawa Charge, who fell 4-1 to the Seattle Torrent to start the week, but pulled off a 2-1 overtime win over the red-hot Minnesota Frost to end the week.
Breaking the four-game losing streak and beating the two-time defending Walter Cup champions is significant, as was scoring twice on three power-play opportunities, but its pertinence can only be measured in their next few games and if they can channel some momentum into being a more competitive team.
The Charge heads to Toronto to face the Sceptres on Tuesday for the final game of their trip before welcoming the Fleet to the nation’s capital on Saturday.