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When the dust finally settled on the PWHL’s expansion draft this week, Sirens general manager Pascal Daoust took a step back to assess the damage.
While many teams saw their defensive corps attacked by Vancouver and Seattle, New York suffered hits mostly on the front end.
The Sirens lost two of their top forwards, Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge, along with their No. 1 goalie Corinne Schroeder to Seattle. And Vancouver took rookie forward Gabby Rosenthal.
Daoust knew it was inevitable the Sirens would lose Carpenter and Schroeder after leaving them unprotected.
But after spending the first two seasons in the PWHL cellar, change was inevitable — and the expansion draft was the first step in what should be yet another active offseason for the Sirens.
Daoust believes the Sirens are in a great spot heading into free agency, which starts Monday.
“Who in the world wouldn’t like to play with Sarah Fillier in New York and to have time on ice available and the opportunity on the offensive side?” Daoust said Tuesday in a post-expansion draft news conference. “From [free agency], from draft, from trades, everything is open — any position is open.”
The next week is a time for Daoust and coach Greg Fargo to regroup and evaluate what’s next for the Sirens, who finished 8-4-5-13 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Daoust believes the Sirens have a strong pool of defenders, anchored by Micah Zandee-Hart and Ella Shelton, who — along with 2024 No. 1 pick Fillier — were the three players the Sirens chose to protect.
“We do have a squad on the back end, we feel confident, we feel happy with it,” Daoust. “It doesn’t mean that it will stay as is because a lot of things will have to change.”
Daoust wasn’t happy with the way the first two years went.
Last season was supposed to be different. The Sirens hired Fargo and added Fillier. The Sirens also welcomed the return of leading goal scorers Carpenter and Jade Downie-Landry.
But a strong start by the Sirens was spoiled by a midseason skid, during which New York went more than a month without a regulation win.
Some of that misfortune was a result of bad puck luck, Daoust said. But lapses on both ends of the ice also contributed to the growing disappointment.
“This is not something that we’ve planned, that we expect and even talking with players or talking with colleagues … no one was expecting us to end there with the roster we had on paper,” Daoust said.
It wasn’t easy for Daoust to leave Carpenter — or any other player for that matter — vulnerable in the expansion draft.
“We go back to the process, saying, ‘How can we choose?’ ” he said. “We knew it was a tough call to make.”
While Carpenter is still one of the best forwards in the league, the 31-year-old is on the back end of her playing career, and Daoust prioritized protecting defensive assets.
“Sometimes you make a call for something, which was the case,” Daoust said. “It was not a call against anything.”
The Sirens appear to be building around Fillier, who’s not yet formally under contract with the Sirens for next season.
Fillier tied for the league lead in assists (16) and points (29.) She’s also a finalist for PWHL Rookie of the Year and Forward of the Year.
She’s the present and future of the Sirens in Daoust’s eyes.
Daoust said he hasn’t had much time to negotiate Fillier’s next contract after she signed a one-year deal out of the draft.
“We have time,” he said. “But our intent is the same from the very beginning. We have someone that we believe in that has great skills, that we’re looking to have in the market for years and years.”
Daoust said Fillier is part of the “leadership group” who he’s tapped to help find a solution to the Sirens’ issues.
“We feel confident that we’re going to find our place,” he said. “We’re going to find solutions. We’re still cooking. The whole staff is very positive. The players were positive. Everybody had disappointment on the result, but we’re going to still aim on the process, building with great people, great teammates, great culture and we’re going to move in the right direction.”
