Here we go again.
With PWHL Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose set to enter the league, existing teams now need to deliberate over which players to prevent from being poached in the expansion process. Last season, the New York Sirens provided one of the biggest shocks of the initial round of protections, leaving star forward Alex Carpenter exposed in favour of a more defensive outlook. This time around their choices are a little more straight-forward — but is there still room for surprises?
The Slam Dunks
F Sarah Fillier
Fillier overcame a snakebitten first half to nearly singlehandedly drag the Sirens to a playoff berth in the second. She’s led the team in scoring in consecutive seasons, has a scoring title and Rookie of the Year win under her belt, and can play center or either wing without skipping a beat. An easy choice.
F Kristýna Kaltounková
Kaltounková’s lack of Rookie of the Year nomination was almost entirely due to missing the final third of the season, but it still does a disservice to how uniquely effective she was in her first year. She’s in the company of Marie-Philip Poulin, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Sarah Nurse in terms of goals per game, and her shot rate is without compare. Kaltounková is a nightmare for opponents to deal with both on and off the puck, and New York absolutely shouldn’t let themselves become her opponent by letting her go.
The Toss-ups
F Casey O’Brien
Trading Ella Shelton for a package of picks headlined by the one used to select O’Brien shows how highly the Sirens organization thinks of her, and for good reason. The 2025 Patty Kaz winner was named a finalist for Rookie of the Year after leading all first-year players in scoring with 7 goals and 15 assists for 22 points. O’Brien would require a qualifying offer in order to protect in Phase 1, but if that’s the route New York chooses to go down, that’s the least of their worries.
D Micah Zandee-Hart
The captain since the inaugural season, Zandee-Hart is an ever-reliable presence on the blueline with some power play upside shown prior to this year. She also led the league in penalty minutes thanks to two ejections and a misconduct from the Sirens’ post-game shenanigans in D.C. New York certainly values her presence nonetheless, protecting her over the likes of Alex Carpenter and Corinne Schroeder in the previous expansion, and extending her contract this offseason.
D Maja Nylén Persson
Nylén Persson quietly led New York in ice time in her sophomore season, finishing fourth in team scoring thanks to accruing points on nearly half the team’s power play goals. She became the first player in PWHL history to sign a contract extension with more than a single season remaining on her existing deal. Plus, she was the Sirens’ final protection in last year’s expansion process.
G Kayle Osborne
Osborne was among the busiest goaltenders in the PWHL last season, setting the league record for most consecutive starts to begin a season. Her numbers ended up suffering for the workload, especially approaching the home stretch. However, the flashes of brilliance that landed her an Olympic roster spot and her favourable contract status make Osborne an intriguing option.
The Choice
D Maja Nylén Persson
When I said “here we go again,” I meant it.
As alluded to before, Nylén Persson was the fourth player protected by New York in last year’s expansion. This left players like Jessie Eldridge and Abby Roque open for selection. The response was … mixed. They’d already lost Carpenter, and Eldridge and Roque are incredible flashy players — Nylén Persson is anything but.
Now, O’Brien is the flashy option, as is Zandee-Hart (not necessarily in playstyle, but in role with the team), and I’m calling for the Swede to outlast them once more.
There were three teams in the PWHL to allow fewer than 800 shots on goal in the regular season. The usual suspects, Montréal and Boston, led the way with 759 and 784, respectively, but New York was right there with them. Quite literally, in fact, as they equalled the Fleet’s shots against total to tie them for second. Defence was a surprising strength of the Sirens given their team composition. Nylén Persson played the biggest part in that of anyone.
This also depends on where the expansion teams are placed in the entry draft order, which will decide where New York selects. This will almost certainly be at either third or seventh overall, and that’s a big deal in this rookie class. At third, they’ll likely get their pick of Tessa Janecke, Lacey Eden, Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, or even Abbey Murphy. At seventh, they’ll have just missed the boat on all of them. That’s where defenders like Nelli Laitinen and Emma Peschel enter the conversation for best player available.
The options at third overall easily mitigate the potential loss of O’Brien, making Nylén Persson the obvious choice were their draft position known. Seventh overall is a different story, though, leaving the forward lines sans O’Brien in a top-heavy state that fans of New York’s last-place teams will undoubtedly dread. However, like I said in my power play analysis, the best offences cannot function without their defence. Nylén Persson’s ability to facilitate her forwards’ efforts along with her reliability breaks the tie for me, leaving her as the Sirens’ third and final protection in my eyes.
Phase 1 of the PWHL’s expansion process, Existing Team Signings and Protections, runs from June 2-3.
