Elaine Chuli was the perfect fit for the New York Sirens. Not only because she's the only remaining goalie with significant PWHL experience, but also because choose a goalie at the draft would have cost New York significantly in others.
When the 2026 PWHL Draft opened, many expected the New York Sirens to select a goaltender. When he PWHL shoved the Sirens deeper into the draft order in favour of the league's four expansion teams, the decision to select a netminder went from simple, to nearly unreleastic.
Of course New York could have selected a goaltender at seventh overall, but it would have been a complete forfeiture of the talent on the board at that stage in the draft, a pool the Sirens couldn't afford to overlook. Once Andrea Brandli was off the board in round two, the Sirens weren't ready to reach again, instead continuing to take the best available player.
In the end, New York watched all six rounds pass without selecting a goaltender.
Enter Elaine Chuli.
As the draft trudged on, it became more evident that the New York Sirens wouldn't pick a goalie. Those with the potential to start games this season were off the board, and it felt like the Sirens had something else planned.
That feeling turned out to be true as New York grabbed 32-year-old Elaine Chuli, a veteran of nine seasons as a professional hockey player. Chuli has played 27 PWHL games. In the now 12 team PWHL, only 10 goaltenders have played more games than Chuli, and two of those play for the same team in Vancouver.
Seattle and Detroit will both enter with less experienced creases no matter who rounds out their trios.
When you look at the goaltenders set to enter the PWHL this season as starters Chuli has the sixth best career save percentage, better than Emerance Maschmeyer, Maddie Rooney, Kayle Osborne, Nicole Hensley, and Hannah Murphy, and of course Brandli doesn't have a save percentage to compare it to. Her backup this season, Callie Shanahan, was a rookie last season only appeared in four games, starting three. She's still going to enter this season as one of the league's more experience back ups.
Chuli isn't a long toiling backup herself. She's a netminder who has served as a starter everywhere she's been. In minor hockey, Chuli started with the Stoney Creek Sabres, and earned herself a U-18 World Championship gold medal with Canada. She started in all four years of NCAA hockey with UConn. Then she took on a starting role in the CWHL. Then she joined the NWHL and PHF starting for multiple seasons for the Toronto Six where she was named the PHF Goaltender of the Year in 2022, and backstopped the Six to an Isobel Cup title in 2023, a Six team that featured 10 current PHWL players and two now former PWHL players.
It's a resume that made Chuli the most experienced goaltender on the market.
Andrea Brändli has the chops as well, which New York knew. She's a former NCAA national champion with Ohio State, she was an SDHL Goaltender of the Year in 2025, and topped the league again this year in save percentage and GAA. She was also named the Best Goaltender at the 2026 Olympics en route to bronze with Switzerland.
But selecting Brändli would have come with a cost too.
It wasn't just about Andrea Brändli, it was about what New York would need to give up to get Brändli.
Selecting Brändli seventh overall in the draft meant there would be no Emma Peschel. In essence, it was a decision of, what is more beneficial to the Sirnes - Andrea Brändli alone, or the combination of Elaine Chuli and Emma Peschel. The same could be said for their decision to pass on Tia Chan in round two. What combination would New York prefer to have, Emma Peschel and Tia Chan, or Peshcel, Elisa Holopainen, and Chuli?
It seems like an obvious decision in both scenarios. Even if Brändli turns out to be an upgrade over Chuli, is she more impactful than Chuli and a top four defender? And most don't project Chan as a starter this season, making the decision to pick her over signing Chuli and drafting a top six forward in Holopainen clear.
New York also has a formidable blueline. Certainly there are teams with a better top pairing, whether it's Boston or Vancouver, but there aren't many teams with a top four that matches New York. And they run seven deep with PWHL experience. It's a good position for the team, and Chuli.
While Chuli has been a starter everywhere she's been, she's yet to be a starter in the PWHL. She took over for stints rom an injured Ann-Renee Desbiens in Montreal, and at times in the inaugural season, was actually outplaying Desbiens.
Now, it's Elaine Chuli's turn to prove she can be a starter in the PWHL with the New York Sirens.
