Keys To Success: Ottawa Charge

The Ottawa Charge are back-to-back Walter Cup runners up. It's consistent success buoyed in part by the stellar goaltending of Gwyneth Philips, and Ottawa's ability to not only retool, but to foster growth and opportunities for new contributors to emerge.

With their success across past seasons, there is no option for Ottawa that does not include a postseason appearance. Making the playoffs is not their baseline of success, but the Charge fans want more, and so does the organization. 

While Ottawa lost captain Brianne Jenner and assistant captain Emily Clark, as well as Peyton Hemp, Rory Guilday, Stephanie Markowski, and Alexa Vasko to expansion teams, most heading to Hamilton, they still have better depth than most teams in the league, and enter with the off-ice stability of GM Mike Hirshfeld, and head coach Carla MacLeod and her staff back. They'll also benefit from unique experience in the postseason that few can boast.

With those losses however, Ottawa will be looking to growth from within, consistency from returning performers, and more from some veterans as their keys to success this season.

Ottawa has a group of players that last season lost their magic. Jenna Buglioni, Michela Cava, Brooke McQuigge; they each had a season they'd like to forget professionally. This season, that trio needs to turn the corner back toward the level of success they were anticipated to have. Seattle is largely to blame for Buglioni, rushing her back from a concussion and then burying her deep in their lineup with limited minutes and opportunities to develop. It was a masterclass is destroying a first round pick. Now it's up to Carla MacLeod to infuse her trademark confidence into Buglioni. McQuigge and Cava suffered the same fate many in Vancouver did as their entire roster struggled to hit their stride. With the losses Ottawa suffered in expansion, this group stepping up their production will go a long way to closing the gap. What these players lost last year, needs to be found again.

Rebecca Leslie showed flashes of offensive ability from the day she stepped on the ice in the PWHL. A high end scorer in the NCAA and previous professional iterations, Leslie finally got the opportunity to show that in the PWHL last season, and she ran with it. Leslie jumped from one goal and three points in 2024-25, to 14 goals and 23 points in 2025-26, climbing among league leaders and earning herself a spot at Canada's national team camp. Leslie's performance can't be a one-off, and this season she'll have to do it without Brianne Jenner, who spent 29 games centering Leslie last season. Sarah Wozniewicz, who played the opposite wing on Leslie's line is still with the Charge, but they'll need a new pivot, whether that ends up being Gabbie Hughes, Katerina Mrazova, or Jordan Ray. Leslie has the tools to turn this from a one season aberration into a year that cements her as one of the best in the world.

Gwyneth Philips is one of the best goaltenders in the world. At this point, it's just not an assertion that can be argued. The American national team netminder remains the backbone of Ottawa's success, weathering the storm when Ottawa struggled, and making game saving stops when needed. Former NCAA Goaltender of the Year, Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, and former Ilona Kloss PWHL playoff MVP. Philips has done it all outside of winning PWHL Goaltender of the Year, and being able to get her team to a Walter Cup win. But it's not for Philips' lack, it's simply because no matter how otherworldly she's been, the Charge have not been able to keep the other end of the bargain. Expect Philips, an unflappable model of consistency, to do it again. Sanni Ahola had strong preseason starts for Finland as well, and should be able to spell off Philips more often this season if needed.

Fanuza Kadirova surprised many last season. Most expected Anna Shokhina to be the scoring Russian winger in Ottawa's lineup, but instead it was late round flier Kadirova who stepped in and stole a top six role in Ottawa. Kadirova came at it like a pro, studying the PWHL and preparing specifically for the different style, including how to manage less time, space, and the added physicality. The exciting part is, she may get better again as Kadirova continued to improve as the season went on last year, finishing as one of only three Charge players to hit double digits in goals. Ottawa will look for a lot more out of veteran Katerina Mrazova this season. After scoring 18 points in 23 games in the league's inaugural season, Mrazova missed most of season two with injuries, and last year scored only nine points in 30 games. Ottawa needs Mrazova to produce more to help carry the load. Finally, a name to watch this season will be rookie Tereza Pistekova, who will be the youngest player in the league. The Czech national team member has a lot of potential, but Ottawa will need to develop her on the fly.

Forget upward mobility, Ottawa needs backward mobility. Last season, one issue on Ottawa's blueline that became more apparent against teams with deeper offensive attacks, was their blueline mobility. Rather, it was a lack of blueline mobility. Brooke Hobson was a major boost for this, and Ottawa will look to rookie Vivian Jungels, and free agent signing Vita Ponietovskaia to see if they can help in this. It's not that defenders like Jocelyn Larocque, Kate Reilly, and Emma Greco aren't capable of valuable contributions, but they also aren't players erasing gaps or winning races in open ice. Losing Rory Guilday didn't help either. Still Ottawa is looking to reshuffle the deck with players like Ronja Savolainen, Hobson, and Jungels providing more mobility on the blueline. The speed in the league might be down a fraction this season due to the dispersal of talent across the board, which should benefit Ottawa, but this team will also remain on the lookout for potential trade pieces as they've got enough depth up and down their lineup to make a move if needed.