The New York Sirens finished last overall in the PWHL's first two seasons. While some teams are scrambling to salvage what they can of their rosters before retooling, the Sirens took another approach, they embraced the process as an opportunity to hit the reset button.
Many New York Sirens fans were confused and upset over the team's decision to expose several of their top on-ice producers including Alex Carpenter and Corinne Schroeder who signed with PWHL Seattle, and others like Abby Roque, Jessie Eldridge, and Jaime Bourbonnais. Ultimately, New York couldn't continue on the same path and expect a different outcome.
It was a painful move for many New York supporters, but it was a necessary reset.
New York Needed To Free Up Salary
To build a better future in New York, the Sirens needed to free up salary, now. The only way to do that was to dangle several of their biggest contracts in expansion. While New York fans might believe in the value of some of their players, it's those players who have not been able to get this team over the hump. While losing Alex Carpenter, and perhaps more importantly Corinne Schroeder hurts, it also opens upwards of $140,000 in salary moving forward. It guarantees at the end of the process the Sirens will have at least $200,000, and potentially upwards of $250,000 to work with. This money will be invaluable to not only re-sign Sarah Fillier, but also their first round pick this year, and to chase other free agents. No one player will fix New York's roster, so having the flexibility to target specific needs and character with contract offers near or above league average is more important than most think.
Skill Alone Doesn't Win Games Or Championships
New York's coaching and management have been the target of unrest following the selection of Carpenter and Schroeder, and even on the protection of Maja Nylen Persson. But there's an understanding behind the scenes in New York and in the league, one that's been tying to surface since last season — the New York Sirens don't have the right mix of people in their locker room. Howie Draper fell on the sword last season for being unable to rein in this group. As unkempt as things got under Draper, to his defence, it would have taken divine intervention to shift New York's locker room culture. To a point, many members coming to the PWHL hadn't had consistent coaching for several seasons, but across the league there were players calling lines and refusing to play with others. A prime example was in New York. Some Sirens players described the situation as unlike anything they'd seen in their hockey careers. That's not a recipe for success. So instead of running it back for a third try, Pascal Daoust is breaking up the group, painfully, but also out of necessity. Certainly even the players who weren't buying in will fit better with other combinations and in other cities and find great success, and New York will sadly lose some innocent bystanders from their roster in the process. Whether fans know it or not, however, New York needed a reset, and Daoust saw expansion as the earliest opportunity to hit that button.
What about the protections?
If you're confused about why the New York Sirens protected who they did, it's simple. Maja Nylen Persson would have been gone. She was sought after and on a friendly contract. New York's best chance to keep their captain, a British Columbia native, was to protect her, and Micah Zandee-Hart led New York in time on ice. There is value that goes beyond points. The only number New York wants to see rise is in the win column, not individual stats. Losing Corinne Schroeder was an unfortunate byproduct of the situation New York was in, and it had nothing to do with Schroeder being part of the problem. She certainly wasn't and she's one of the best in the league and New York knows it. They also believe in Kayle Osborne's ability, and have her under a team friendly contract for two more seasons. If Schroeder was protected, it's highly probable Osborne would have been picked. When you looked at New York's roster, they had one of the best top line's in the league to open the season, and their blueline depth is on par or better than most teams in the league, as was their goaltending. But when 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 instead of 3, things aren't adding up as they're supposed to and it's time to change the reactants in your equation.
The Makeover Won't End At Expansion
When the final picks are in, it might not be the final moves that are made to reshape New York's roster. New York is believed to have been actively looking to move players at the trade deadline in conversations with other teams looking to add. The problem was, teams didn't know how they could possibly fit some of the bigger contracts into their future plans. It was another imposed disadvantage imposed by the league on teams looking to improve. Had the PWHL told teams they'd only be able to protect three players, the 2024 trade deadline might have been filled with deals. Teams would have started to prepare for the expansion process, and would have known they'd have money to play with. It's almost a certainty New York will try again as soon as the league gives a go ahead to trades again, looking to move a few more pieces to finish their shuffle. With that, expect the Sirens to swing hard at locking in Fillier long term, and doing the same with the 2025 first overall pick. Simultaneously, whether they can lure players or not, the opportunity to play elevated minutes in New York and earn a liveable wage will be enticing to some of the free agents on the market.
It Started Early And Will End Late
The problems in New York started before any member of their organization was even a member of their organization, and they won't end this season. Upon founding, five of the league's six teams had general managers hired and behind the scenes, those GMs were already laying the groundwork not only for their staff, but for their foundational signings. By the time the PWHL settled on a general manager for New York, the other teams were two steps ahead. When you consider the fact that Pascal Daoust had three weeks from the time he was hired to not only sign three players and hire a coach along with other key staff, but to also prepare for the inaugural draft, it was a Herculean task. Every minute, hour, and day at that point in the process mattered. New York also faced logistical concerns that no other team did, many of which consumed the hockey operations department with everything from hooking up laundry, to wondering where the team will play on any given night, to traveling up to two hours between venues for "home" games in not one, not two, but three different states. The PWHL didn't stack the deck against New York, but the Sirens pulled the short straw in the league's team building process.
The result was a team that finished last two straight years, and now needs to take a more tactical approach than any other team to pull out of that nose dive. Certainly the PWHL's excessive expansion rules stomped on the fingers of a franchise attempting to claw their way out of a hole. So instead of trying to climb up just to be stomped back down when the league expands again as soon as next season, Daoust and the New York Sirens are tunnelling out instead. It means they may remain at or near the bottom of the league for another season or two, but it also means when they reach daylight, they'll be miles away from the situation they were in.