The Vancouver Goldeneyes were favored by many, on paper, ahead of their inaugural season to challenge for the PWHL's Walter Cup. Instead, they flopped. Are the Goldeneyes destined for a return to favorites in year two?
Heading into the 2025-26 PWHL season, few saw a scenario where the talent laden Vancouver Goldeneyes wouldn't be competing in the Walter Cup playoffs. Fast forward a few months, and the Goldeneyes were limping along near the bottom of the PWHL's standings, a spot they stayed until they were one of the first teams eliminated from playoff contention.
It was a massive failure for a team that was built with every advantage and opportunity to win immediately. The same type of reckoning occurred in Seattle, where for both, the challenges of chemistry, logistics, and learning the ins and outs of the PWHL were too much for even the best rosters on paper.
Heading into year two for the Vancouver Goldeneyes however, they managed to protect the bulk of their core from expansion, and look poised, with a season of lessons behind them, to enter 2026-27 as a team that will be considered a leading contender to claim a playoff spot.
At the moment, Vancouver's biggest loss is defender Claire Thompson, who is still considering what her future holds, whether it's a return to the PWHL, or a return to complete her medical degree and begin her career as a doctor.
Vancouver's other losses primarily impacted their defensive depth further with Nina Jobst-Smith, Mellissa Channell-Watkins, and Sydney Bard all joining PWHL Detroit. Vancouver also saw Anna Meixner sign in Sweden, and Anna Shokhina join Hamilton.
The blueline is Vancouver's biggest question mark, but they were certainly helped by the arrival of Caroline Harvey, who Vancouver will likely play heavily to the tune of what Boston accomplished by keeping Megan Keller and Haley Winn on the ice for nearly half the game all of last season. Alongside Ashton Bell and Sophie Jaques, Vancouver has a formidable top three, and one of the best top pairings in the league. From there however, there are question marks. Harvey will be an immediate force both defensively, physically, and in Vancouver's attack. Behind her, they drafted Jules Constantinople, a defender who may fill out the final spot in Vancouver's top four, as well as Ashley Messier. They also signed veteran Dominika Laskova, a member of Czechia's national team, who played last season in Sweden after spending her first two campaigns in the PWHL. Vancouver also has the versatility of Maddy Samoskevich available who can play both defence and forward.
Behind their blueline however, Vancouver will have one of the deepest creases in the PWHL. They aren't wielding Ann-Renee Desbiens, Aerin Frankel, or Gwyneth Philips, but they are walking out a pair of goaltenders in Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell who have both been starters on winning teams in the league, and who both have Canadian national team experience. Even if one of those goalies stumbles, or suffers an injury, Penn State grad Katie DeSa enters after winning back-to-back Atlantic Hockey America Goaltender of the Year honors. She's more than capable as a third, and could push some backups in the league.
Up front, Vancouver has a very similar look to last season, just with a year of chemistry, new systems under head coach Cara Gardner Morey who steps from her GM role in the press box, to the bench.
They'll also, with a little luck, have more options if the Goldeneyes can avoid injury. Last season Vancouver lost Sarah Nurse, who projects as their number one centre, in the first game of the season. She missed more than a third of the year playing only 19 games. When she returned she was Vancouver's most dangerous forward, and managed to tie for the team lead in goals with nine, despite missing 11 games.
With Nurse in the lineup, others like Jennifer Gardiner and Tereza Vanisova got better looks. The trio, along with Hannah Miller, Izzy Daniel, and Abby Boreen, have the potential to be one of the league's better top six units. Vancouver also drafted Swedish forward Thea Johansson, and have veterans such as Manon McMahon, Anna Segedi, Gabby Rosenthal, and Katie Chan who could all take steps forward, as well as signee Laura Fuoco who will be bullish in their bottom six. The result is a team with four legitimate PWHL lines up front, a luxury few will wield from day one, and a top six that has a stronger resume than most.
If Vancouver's blueline holds, or if they're gifted with a late offseason return from Claire Thompson, which would give them perhaps the PWHL's best top four, Vancouver should be in the playoff mix for the first time, and make fans forget the Goldeneyes' first year on-ice struggles.
