Charge re-sign Stephanie Markowski to one-year contract

The Ottawa Charge continues to keep some of its depth players in the fold.

On Friday, the team announced that it has re-signed defender Stephanie Markowski to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season.

In a release, Markowski stated that she’s ready to help the team continue to move forward after an impressive 2024-25 campaign.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Ottawa and reuniting with my teammates to keep building on our accomplishments from last season,” Markowski said. “The league will have a different look with the expansion, so I will do everything I can to be ready to take on more responsibilities in my second season in the PWHL.”   

Markowski was originally taken by the Charge in the fourth round, 20th overall, of the 2024 PWHL Draft. She ended up signing a one-year deal for her rookie season, playing a secondary role on an Ottawa team that had important blueliners like Jincy Roese, Ronja Savolainen, Ashton Bell and Aneta Tejralova. The Edmonton native appeared in all but two games during the regular season, scoring a goal and four assists for five points, registering a plus/minus of -2. Her first PWHL goals came against the Montreal Victoire on Feb. 22.

In helping Ottawa advance to the playoffs for the first time, Markowski played in all eight games, as the Charge made it to the final, ultimately losing to the Minnesota Frost in four games. She didn’t score any points in the postseason, posting a -1 rating.

The 23-year-old entered the PWHL after having a successful end to her college career, winning an NCAA National Championship with Ohio State in 2024. That came after a fruitful four years at Clarkson, where Markowski was one of the top defenders in the ECAC.

The Charge re-signed a plethora of depth players on Thursday, including forward Anna Meixner. It’s needed for a team that has been decimated by free agency and the expansion draft. Leading scorer Tereza Vanisova is gone, as are Roese, Tejralova and Ashton Bell. The Charge tried to address their defensive holes in the draft, taking Cornell standout Rory Guilday in the first round.

Currently, Ottawa has 13 of a possible 23 players signed to standard contracts for next season.