The glaring Sirens hole left by expansion draft for GM to revamp in pivotal offseason
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 str...