PWHL Power Rankings: Sirens, Goldeneyes stand out after opening weekend
With every team in the PWHL having a game under their belt, it’s time to take a look at who’s the best in the early days of the 2025-26 season.
The opening weekend of play had some thrilling battles and surprising finishes, setting the stage for what should be an exciting campaign in the league’s third season. Ben Steiner, Tyler Kuehl and Scott Maxwell give their rankings on who the best teams were after Week 1 of the new year.
1. New York Sirens
Record: 1-0-0-0, +4
Ben’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Ben: The one-game sample size is always a fun one, but I really liked what we saw from the New York Sirens in their beatdown against the Ottawa Charge to open the season – especially since they pulled it off away from home as well. Taylor Girard’s natural hat-trick became the latest “first-ever” milestone in the league, and that trade that sent Jill Saulnier to the Boston Fleet in January is looking pretty good at this point.
Tyler: I know, I know – “but Tyler, you said you had your doubts about the Sirens, and that they were going to struggle.” I know what I said, little critic inside my head, but the fact of the matter is that the Sirens dominated in their season opener against the Ottawa Charge. They bombarded the reigning runners-up, exposing the Charge’s restructured roster. Sure, players like Sarah Fillier and Casey O’Brien were held off the scoresheet, but they were heavily involved throughout the win.
I know we always get high on New York early when the team has these strong starts, but maybe it’s different this time around?
The Sirens are back in action on Tuesday night against the Montreal Victoire.
2. Vancouver Goldeneyes
Record: 0-1-0-0, +1
Ben’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Tyler: PLAN THE PARADE! A sold-out crowd. Overtime win. Passionate fans. Stacked roster. The Goldeneyes will never lose a game.
Okay, that might be a little overzealous, but I think it’s hard to pass up what this team in Vancouver could be at year’s end. They got the first-game jitters out of the way, rallying back against the Seattle Torrent on Friday night with Tereza Vanišová and Abby Boreen hooking up for the game-winner, capping off a thrilling win. Emerance Maschmeyer looked really good once she got settled in, and Claire Thompson is going to do Claire Thompson things with Brian Idalski in charge. Got to like the start for the Goldeneyes.
Ben: The Vancouver Goldeneyes might have left it late, but in front of the stage and the power of the home-and-franchise opener, they gave their fans a lifelong memory. Four goals in a first-ever game are admirable too, especially with Thompson and Boreen finding a goal and an assist each.
The Goldeneyes hit the road for the first time in franchise history, facing the Ottawa Charge on Wednesday.
3. Boston Fleet
Record: 1-0-0-0, +2
Ben’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Ben: The post-Hilary Knight era in Boston got off to as good a start as possible, and Susanna Tappani had a night to remember with a goal and an assist to open the season. Aerin Frankel always has the potential to steal a game, too, and when she does, she’s among the best goalies in the world.
Tyler: I don’t know if it’s just me, but maybe the Fleet are actually going to be a playoff team this year? Granted, they’ll need Frankel only to stand on her head each and every night if they want to win (but what else is new?). Susanna Tapani was exceptional in the win over Montreal, and the team used the home ice to their advantage, something that has been a sore spot for Boston. The fact that the power play only scored once in six tries might raise some eyebrows, but it’s only one game.
The Fleet are off until the weekend, when they visit the Toronto Sceptres.
4. Toronto Sceptres
Record: 1-0-0-0, +1
Ben’s Rank: 4th
Tyler’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Ben: Allowing the first goal of the season might not have been the plan, but fighting back to win 2-1 and beating the two-time defending Walter Cup champions is a pretty darn good way to open the season. Natalie Spooner had two assists and looks back to full strength, too, after her injury-hampered 2024-25 season.
Tyler: How can I rank a team that won so low? I don’t know, maybe it’s because they had to rely on Raygan Kirk to save their bacon?
Even on a banner-raising night for the Minnesota Frost, Toronto barely took advantage of the pagentry-laden evening on Friday. Kirk’s brilliance between the pipes gave her team a chance to win, and Kiara Zanon’s first PWHL goal was the difference. Again, it’s the opening week of the season, and I think many of us are allotting the Sceptres time to work out the kinks with a revamped core. However, like the Fleet, you can’t solely rely on goaltending to win each and every night.
Toronto is off until next Saturday for its home opener against the Fleet.
5. Seattle Torrent
Record: 0-0-1-0, -1
Ben’s Rank: 5th
Tyler’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Ben: Julia Gosling has her name as the answer to the question ‘who scored the first goal for a PWHL expansion team,’ on a night where she scored twice despite the Torrent being unable to see out the victory after holding a late lead. There’s a lot to like from this Seattle performance, and fans will certainly be excited from their first glimpse of the Torrent… even if they had to torrent a stream (okay, I’ll stop, that’s my one pun this season).
Tyler: I was back and forth on where I wanted to put the Torrent this week. For one, they had a great start against the Goldeneyes in the franchise’s first-ever game. But two, they allowed Vancouver to get back in the game, and in a league deep with talent, and a Goldeneyes’ team that’s one of the deepest, this group in Seattle has to know it cannot take its foot off the gas. Seeing Julia Gosling score the first two even-strength goals of her career is a huge plus, with that line of her, Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter looking like it’s going to be tough to stop.
The Torrent’s home opener is scheduled for Friday night against the Frost.
6. Minnesota Frost
Record: 0-0-0-1, -1
Ben’s Rank: 6th
Tyler’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Ben: Kendall Coyne-Schofield started the season well for the Frost with the first goal of the 2025-26 campaign, but questions remain about how this defense looks moving forward. They lost Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques to the Goldeneyes in expansion, and simply didn’t look as dominant below their own blueline. I wouldn’t worry too much, though, this is still a very good hockey team.
Tyler: This goes to show how tight most of the teams are this season. The two-time defending Walter Cup champions, who dominated in their first game but lost, are near the bottom of the rankings. This isn’t a recantation of Frost’s talent or ability, but more or less a foreshadowing of how good every team is going to be this season. Minnesota could’ve won last Friday, 4-2 or 5-2, but huge saves by Toronto’s Raygan Kirk ended up derailing the Frost. My lone concern with Minnesota, as it was over the first two seasons, will be whether the team remains consistent.
The Frost are back in action on Friday against the Torrent in the Emerald City.
7. Montreal Victoire
Record: 0-0-0-1, +2
Ben’s Rank: 7th
Tyler’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Ben: There aren’t many games where Marie-Philip Poulin and the Montréal Victoire don’t hit the scoresheet, but they couldn’t solve Aerin Frankel in their season opener. The biggest concern has to be their 14 minutes of penalties– while they killed off five of them, that’s a big chunk of the game where they’re not likely to score, even with the jailbreak rule.
Tyler: Getting shut out in your first game of the season sucks. However, when you get goose-egged by Aerin Frankel, you have to take the loss with a grain of salt. The thing that has annoyed me about this Victoire team is that you know they have another level to their game. Playing the same team three games in a row (including preseason) can be hard for some teams…and it’s clearly been tough for Montreal, given the team’s back-to-back semifinal exits. Yet, among the Original Six, the Victoire still have the firepower to be one of the best in the league, and I expect them to bounce back this week.
The Victoire seeks its first win of the season on Tuesday against the Sirens.
8. Ottawa Charge
Record: 0-0-0-1, -4
Ben’s Rank: 8th
Tyler’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Tyler: The only unanimous placement in the season-opening rankings is the Ottawa Charge. We knew they were going to be in tough this season, losing the majority of their roster that helped the team reach the PWHL Final. Yet, few could’ve expected them to be fed as badly as they were in their own barn. After that disallowed goal in the first period, and the inability to cash in on an extended power play shortly thereafter, Ottawa hardly looked like it could keep up with the Sirens. If that’s what we should expect from this team this year, the off-ice drama won’t be the only talking point in the nation’s capital.
Ben: So, uh, that was a way to start the season. The Ottawa Charge lost Emerance
Maschmeyer, Danielle Serdachny and several others in the offseason, and the late-season hero from 2024-25, Gwynyth Phillips, did not live up to the standard she set as a rookie. Do we have to mention the six power-play opportunities they didn’t score on? Yeah, it’s early, but it’s already time to worry for the Charge.
The Charge hope to find a win at home on Wednesday night against the Goldeneyes, which will see the return of Maschmeyer, Vanišová and Ashton Bell.