Keys To Success: New York Sirens

The New York Sirens have continued to be one of the PWHL's pinballs being bounced around year after year by rule changes, league decisions, and impacted more than any other original six team by league planning and expansion.

From changing rules to shift the Sirens down, watching their roster pillaged by expansion teams, and bouncing the Sirens between venues early on, the league has done New York no favours. Ultimately, New York has weathered that the best they could through strong drafting, and a willingness to make difficult decisions and trades to fill needs.

This season, New York sees some runway in front of them as the league has stated they plan to pause expansion...at least for a season.

But with a roster so heavily impacted by changes outside their control, New York still has work to do this season to get into the PWHL playoffs for the first time. New York has several keys to success that they'll need to break their postseason drought, and they'll need to do it against still competition in the highly competitive Eastern Conference.

No one doubts Elaine Chuli is a good goaltender, and a PWHL calibre goaltender at that. But Chuli has never been a starter in the league. She's started in the NCAA, CWHL, and PHF. And she's played more than any netminder who has not been a starter in PWHL history. Chuli however, sits sixth all-time in career save percentage averaging .919. Last season however, Chuli struggled in Toronto. It seemed like a doomed relationship from the start as Toronto used Chuli's signing as part of their plan to get rid of Kristen Campbell, and then put forward the idea that Toronto would play as a tandem. That quickly ended however, as Raygan Kirk took over as starter and did not look back. In the end, Chuli looked for a new opportunity again this offseason, and found an open crease in New York after the Sirens lost starter Kayle Osborne to Hamilton in expansion. Chuli now has the chance to prove she can be a starter. New York needs her to be consistent, and at times, better than that. To make the playoffs, Chuli will need to be back to her .919 range, not the .893 she managed last season in eight appearances with Toronto.

There will be no more conversation of Sarah Fillier, Kristyna Kaltounkova, and Casey O'Brien as young players. They're now veterans, and New York needs them to play like veterans, consistently producing, and consistently being offensive threats. The Sirens lack a little in top six talent to surround this group, unless a rookie can step in. The team will also look for Paetyn Levis to take another step as her numbers have improved each season, and for Denisa Krizova to produce at a higher rate. New York's strength is on their veteran blueline in players like Jaime Bourbonnais, Micah Zandee-Hart, and Maja Nylen Persson, and finding more production from their blueline will help New York's hopes as well. Overall, the Sirens need their veterans to step up, and assert themselves. New York's playoff hopes can't be tied each season to a strong draft class. The PWHL has ensured that's been the case dispersing New York's picks and developed players, but this season, no matter how valid the excuse, it must end.

No one has ever doubted Elisa Holopainen's skill set. The Finnish national team player is dazzling on her feet, and with the puck on her stick. What Holopainen has not consistently faced in her career however, is the physical punishing and tight spaces she'll see in the PWHL. Holopainen's main knock prior to last season was her inability to handle physicality. She's shown growth in that regard in the SDHL, but it's still come on larger international ice against slower players, and she's still slight. In her opening game of the season in the SDHL, Holopainen looked like she'd be the most dominant player in the circuit. Since then however, she's nearly disappeared with Frolunda going from a player who has scored well over a point per game, recording 87 points in 72 games over the last two seasons, to one with two assists through five games. Using the World Championships to move in the right direction, and then to fearlessly hit the ice in New York and seize a top six role is a must. New York needs Holopainen in a scoring role, and they need her to grow throughout the season.

On paper, the New York Sirens have one of the better top four defensive groups in the PWHL, and they also have some of the best blueline depth in the PWHL. In fact, they could arguably have the best top to bottom blueline in the PWHL. At the draft, New York grabbed Emma Peschel at seventh overall. She could turn out to be the best defender in the class when it's all said and done, and joins Bourbonnais, Zandee-Hart, and Nylen Persson in New York's top four. The Sirens then have a group of PWHL experienced blueliners in Nicole Vallario, Lauren Bernard, and Dayle Ross filling out their bottom pair. Bernard has the most experience, while Vallario continues to grow on the ice, and Ross enters her first full PWHL season after injuries delayed her rookie season. New York's blueline will be a major asset, and it needs to be consistently the stable foundation of this team. With their depth, they should have no problems defending most nights.

New York allowed more power play goals against last season than any other PWHL team and killed at only a 78.9% rate. The first two teams to clinch their playoff spots last year in Montreal and Boston both killed at nearly 92%. New York needs more discipline to begin with, facing the second most power play opportunities against in the league. When they go on the kill, however, this team needs to be more effective. Similarly, their power play was a flop last season as well functioning at only 12.7%. The only two teams worse in the PWHL were also non-playoff teams in Vancouver and Toronto. Considering New York drew more penalties, earning significantly more power play opportunities for than any other team, they need to convert more often. Power play conversion was low across the PWHL last season, but in most leagues, the best power plays operate at above 20%. That's a major gap that New York needs to find a way to partially close. This one equally on Greg Fargo and his staff, and New York's top players to execute.