Five takeaways from Week 11 of the PWHL: Montreal bounces back, Ottawa Charge(s) on, quiet trade talk

In a week that saw some entertaining action as the race for the playoffs heat up, the PWHL is gearing up for an exciting final two months of the regular season.

Also, there is a lot of speculation on what is going on behind the scenes with the trade deadline on the horizon and what (or if) teams will take any big swings soon.

Here are the notable takeaways from the past week.

Victorious at the top

After a tough week, many wondered if the Montreal Victoire would find a way to slip out of first place, just as they did a season ago.

However, this year’s team is different, and they showed over the past couple of games that they’ve learned from mistakes they made during the inaugural season.

Losing to the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost was concerning, especially since Montreal was outscored 7-1 over that span. However, Kori Chevrie’s team managed to wipe the slate clean and use home to their advantage. Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey were a big reason why the Victoire took down the Toronto Sceptres last Tuesday in Laval in a battle for first place.

Then, in front of a raucous crowd at Centre Bell this past Saturday, Montreal found itself in a hard-fought battle with the Boston Fleet. Defender Kati Tabin helped contribute offensively, while Stacey’s efforts led to an overtime goal to give the Victoire a 3-2 lead.

The atmosphere in the second “Duel at the Top” was outstanding once again, as the two two rivals ground out an instant classic, similar to what we saw during last year’s playoffs. However, this time, Montreal’s big guns didn’t go missing when it mattered most. Victories like that are what prove this Victoire team has a little more emotional depth to it than last year, and that is the reason they are the odds-on favorites to win the Walter Cup.

Charging Ottawa

Montreal’s border rivals might not be favorites, but they are starting to turn skeptics’ minds around.

After sitting at the bottom of the standings for a few weeks, the Ottawa Charge are living up to their namesake at the right time. After an eventful week that saw them overcome travel mayhem to pick up four of a possible six points against the Fleet and Victoire, the Charge found themselves in a wild clash with the New York Sirens last week.

Ottawa, still tied for the fewest goals scored in the league, powered up for five goals, led by Gabbie Hughes, whose second goal of the game gave the franchise its first-ever overtime victory.

For Hughes, it was her fifth goal of the season, all of which came in the month of February. For the Charge, the 5-4 victory extended the team’s point streak to five games, putting them within two points of the Minnesota Frost for the last playoff spot in the PWHL.

There is a lot to be excited about when watching Ottawa play. They are skating with more confidence and playing a little more loosely, and it is showing shades of the team that was competing with desperation late last season. However, unlike the 2024 campaign, the Charge have six more games to complete their comeback. With 10 games remaining in its season, Ottawa has plenty of time to sneak into a playoff spot.

Boston continues to bloom

While some are watching what Montreal and Ottawa have been doing and noticing how the Sceptres have steamrolled their way to the top of the standings, the Fleet are showing they have a good chance to snag home-ice advantage in playoffs.

The loss to the Victoire might not look good on paper, as the team was outplayed for the most part in Montreal. Yet, how Boston handled the hostile crowd after falling behind proves this team has a certain depth to it. Sure, Aerin Frankel continues to play out her mind on her path to winning Goaltender of the Year, but the team in front of her is finding ways to step up as well.

Even without someone like Hannah Bilka, the Fleet’s offense is chugging along. While Susanna Tapni is quietly one of the more clutch players in the league, players like Amanda Pelkey and Sidney Morin are making impacts to support the likes of Hilary Knight and Alina Müller.

Boston sits third in the PWHL, but is only a point behind Toronto for second. With only a handful of games remaining, including two against the Sceptres, there’s no reason why people should be surprised if the Fleet slides their way a little further up the standings.

A quiet trade front

We are now just 10 days away from the trade deadline. While trade talks have been reaching a fever pitch on the NHL side, with some big moves already happening, there hasn’t been a lot of chatter around the P-Dub.

Sure, we had one blockbuster trade already this season, with the Charge and Sceptres swapping notable names in late December. However, that’s really been it this season.

While I’m sure some teams have expressed interest in players from elsewhere, there is speculation that general managers are nervous about pulling the trigger on deals in fear of what the future roster configuration will look like with the potential expansion labeled for next season. Teams are seemingly unwilling to go after a player with term that might end up being no more than a rental if they get selected in an expansion draft.

Now, nothing is set in stone, with the league currently looking at its options for growing its footprint- something we might hear more about later this month. If GMs have an idea of how things will be laid out in the offseason soon, we might see more trade discussions start to circulate.

It’s worth remembering several deals came out right before the final bell rang last season, so maybe business will pick up in the next week or so.

Draft declaration period is open

On top of trade deadline season, the window for prospective PWHLers is now open, as players can now declare for this year’s PWHL Draft.

As it stands, with the unknown number of teams that will be in the league next year, the PWHL has yet to announce the format for this year’s draft. However, that won’t deter players from the collegiate ranks and Europe from throwing their hat in the ring to join the biggest pro women’s league in the sport.

There are a lot of big names in the NCAA that are projected to be entering this year’s draft. Wisconsin forward Casey O’Brien, who’s already a mainstay on the Team USA roster, is going to be a sought-after player. Clarkson stars Hayley Winn and Nicole Gosling are also expected to declare. Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy could be on the draft board this summer if she chooses to, though she does have one more year of eligibility.

While there are notable Europeans that could move over to North America, including Sweden star Sara Hjalmarsson, it’s too early to tell who from across the Atlantic might be interested in joining the PWHL, especially with how tough it’s been for some former SDHL stars in their transition to the league this season.

Last year, 167 players declared for the draft. However, with just seven rounds, only 42 were selected.

The declaration period closes May 8.

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