The stellar play of Hannah Murphy early has created the first goaltending controversy of the PWHL season as the Seattle Torrent have a rookie outperforming the veteran star they signed prior to the year.
Leading into the 2025-26 PWHL season, Corinne Schroeder was the unquestioned starter for the expansion Seattle Torrent. Schroeder was coming off a trio of stellar professional seasons and was one of Seattle's five inaugural signings in the exclusive expansion signing period.
Schroeder recorded four shutouts last season for the New York Sirens, more than any other goaltender in the PWHL, and was one of the key reasons the Sirens remained competitive. As Seattle general manager Meghan Turner said upon signing Schroeder, "she’s shown she can take over a game and deliver when it matters most. She brings poise, confidence, and the kind of elite goaltending every team needs to win, and we can’t wait to see her between the pipes for us.”
None of those expectations for Schroeder have changed despite her uncharacteristic slow start, but the door opened a crack for rookie goaltender Hannah Murphy to make her mark, and so far, Murphy has barged through the door with stellar play.
In fact, of the 15 goaltenders who have appeared in a PWHL game this season, only one, Boston's Aerin Frankel, statistically sits above Murphy who has posted a 1.00 GAA and .966 save percentage winning each of her first three starts.
It included a 38-save win, the most stops she's made this season, against the Montreal Victoire prior to the holiday break.
Conversely, Schroeder has yet to win in three starts of her own with the Torrent this season posting an unusually porous 3.30 GAA and .889 save percentage.
With the PWHL playing only a 30 game regular season, every win, and loss matters, and earning three-point regulation wins is even more crucial for teams hoping to earn one of four playoff spots.
Due largely to Murphy's early play, the Torrent sit in contention for one of those coveted spots.
The 5-foot-10, 22-year-old rookie was the first goaltender selected in the 2025 PWHL Draft when the Torrent grabbed her in the second round, 15th overall. She was coming off four spectacular seasons with Colgate University that saw Murphy post a 73-16-1 record, along with a 1.59 GAA, .937 save percentage, and 18 shutouts across her NCAA career.
In Seattle, there's no easy answer for who Seattle's starter is now. Both Murphy and Schroeder are signed through the 2026-27 season, but with more expansion looming, the league will almost certainly lose one of their netminders to a new franchise if the league increases by four teams.
Murphy, alongside Eve Gascon and Hailey MacLeod, was one of three goaltenders selected to represent Canada's 2024 national development team. Her play is not only enough to create the PWHL's first starting goaltender controversy of the season in Seattle, but it will certainly put her on the radar for Canada's senior national team if she can continue her strong start.