Charge aim for growth after missing playoffs
Published
The Ottawa Charge were one of two teams that missed the playoffs last season and are looking to change that in 2024-25.
While the Charge finished second in the league in goals with 62, the other side of the puck was where they struggled, allowing the second most goals with 63, behind only New York’s 67.
Ottawa had eight players who had 10 or more points last season, led by captain Brianne Jenner, who had nine goals and 20 points in 24 games.
They lost their leading goal-scorer, forward Daryl Watts, to free agency as she joins Toronto after scoring 10 goals with 17 points last season. The hope is Czech forward Tereza Vanisova will settle in after arriving in March via trade from Montreal. She had two assists in six games with Ottawa to end the season.
Forward Gabbie Hughes is another player primed to take a step forward after scoring nine goals as a rookie last season.
The Charge added a big piece at the draft, taking Danielle Serdachny second overall. The 23-year-old forward had 22 goals and 61 points in 40 games last season as a fifth-year player at Colgate University. She notably had the game-winning goal in overtime for Canada at the Women’s Worlds to secure gold.
On defence, Ashton Bell had two goals and seven points as a rookie defender and continued growth from her is needed as Ottawa needs all the help it can get to shore up their defensive issues. Bell is the only defender who ended the season with a positive plus-minus (+3).
Veteran defender Savannah Harmon will also continue to be relied upon heavily for Ottawa. The leading scorer on defence with 12 points in 24 games, the 29-year-old averaged over 22 minutes of ice time in 20 of 24 games she played.
Ottawa also drafted goaltender Gwyneth Phillips as the intended backup to take some of the load off of starter Emerance Maschmeyer. Phillips, who was the NCAA’s goalie of the year in 2023, went 23-11-3 with a .955 save percentage and 1.17 goals-against average for Northeastern.
Maschmeyer was the PWHL’s busiest goaltender last season, appearing in a league-high 23 games for a total of 1,332:07 minutes. She finished the season 9-9-4 with a .915 save percentage and 2.30 GAA and two shutouts.
On special teams, Ottawa had the league’s best power play at 25 per cent while their penalty kill was third at 85.9 per cent.
For the Charge to make strides next season, finding the balance between improving defensive play while still being to maintain the offensive pace they had last season will be the challenge.