The Seattle Torrent were preseason favorites to challenge for a Walter Cup. Statistically speaking, from the surface level of goal scoring and goals against, to deeper numbers like expected goals and loose puck retrievals, to a lack of physicality, the team struggled.
Seattle entered their inaugural PWHL season as a favorite to win challenge for the Walter Cup. Things did not go as planned on the ice for the Torrent however, as they became the first team officially eliminated from the 2025-26 PWHL playoff race.
Seattle's roster looked poised to threaten offensively with an abundance of scoring from the 2024-25 season coming to the roster. The team brought in league co-leading scorer Hilary Knight, as well as Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge who both finished in the top 15 in league scoring. They also inked young talent like Danielle Serdachny, Julia Gosling, and Hannah Bilka. But the team struggled to score.
With three games remaining, the Torrent's 53 goals sit ahead of only the Toronto Sceptres. The four teams currently in playoff position however, averaged 70.5 goals for to this point. On the other side of the coin, Seattle allowed significantly more goals against than any other team in the PWHL sitting at 80 goals against through 27 games. Defense was supposed to be a strong point for the team who brought in blueline depth headlined by Cayla Barnes, Anna Wilgren, Aneta Tejralova, Emily Brown, Megan Carter, and Mariah Keopple, as well as a netminding duo of Corinne Schroeder and Hannah Murphy.
But statistically speaking, the Torrent struggled to get to dangerous areas on the ice, gain possession, and in their own zone, to defend the middle of the ice.
Seattle Played A Perimeter Game
Analytically, the Torrent's worst feature was their Net xG. Expected goals (xG) is an advanced statistic measuring the probability of a player and team scoring on any given shot attempt. It uses years of data to predict how probable a shot from a specific distance and angle are of scoring, combined with the type of shot, whether it's a wrist shot, slap shot, or deflection. xG then accumulates all of those attempts to state how likely a player and team are of scoring, and how many goals they are likely to score. Looking at Net xG, it compares the Torrent's attempts, and ability to get to dangerous scoring areas on the ice, with those of their opponents. The Torrent have posted an average Net xG of -0.71 per game, meaning they were predicted to be outscored by an average of 0.71 goals across all games. While the Ottawa Charge also had a significant negative Net xG of -0.52, the next lowest was Vancouver jumping up to -0.11, while thee league leading Montreal Victoire sit at +0.56. It means Seattle took more attempts from low danger, perimeter areas of the ice, while allowing their opponents more high probability scoring chances.
Seattle also spent the least amount of time playing on the attack offensively, averaging 25:15 per game of offensive play. It means Seattle also spent the most time per game of any PWHL team playing defensively at 27:27 per game.
Starting Without The Puck
You can't go on the attack unless you have the puck. For Seattle, that was the case more often than not. While they sat fifth in the league in face-offs, winning 50.3% of their draws, Seattle was a step behind when it came to finding pucks elsewhere on the ice.
Whether it was a lack of team speed, or lack of compete level, the Torrent were near the bottom of the pack when it came to loose puck recoveries in the league, meaning they were losing races to 50/50 pucks in the neutral zone, off shots, dump ins, and elsewhere on the ice.
In their own zone, Seattle also topped the PWHL in puck losses, or giveaways. Their 345 puck losses in the defensive zone were the most of any PWHL team.
Soft Hockey, But Hard Injuries
The stat that Seattle trailed in the most in the PWHL was hits. Montreal, who sit first in the PWHL have 207 hits, while Seattle, who sits last in the league had 98, the fewest in the league by a landslide. The second lowest team in the league in hits was the Vancouver Goldeneyes, who perhaps not surprisingly, sit second last in the PWHL, a league that has become known for its physicality. Vancouver however, has 138 hits, leaving last place Seattle in the dust.
Despite playing a softer game, the Torrent were hit hard this season by injuries as well.
If there was a point of critique for their roster composition, it was the lack of scoring depth, which is why the losses of Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka for significant stretches, as well as Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Jenna Buglioni, and Aneta Tejralova at points hurt.
**All stats compiled using InStat