PWHL Power Rankings: Minnesota Frost flexing their muscle heading in the holidays
After a week’s worth of games following the first international break of the 2024-25 season, we’re starting to get a feel for which teams are going to be favorites come springtime.
Hunter Crowther and Tyler Kuehl outline where each team stands after the second full week of action in the PWHL.
1. Minnesota Frost
Record: 3-1-1-0, +7
Last Week: 1st
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 1st
Tyler: I’m trying to keep my expectations moderate for this team, especially since we saw Minnesota start off strong last season. However, I’m going to argue that this team’s first five games to the season are better than last year’s (not to mention they have an identical record at this point as they did in 2024).
Sure, blowing a three-goal lead to the Sirens isn’t ideal. However, when you acknowledge the fact that Frost played much more convincing hockey, seemingly controlling the play for most of the season thus far, you can see what makes the defending Walter Cup champions more dangerous. They have a solid defensive structure and effective scoring that comes throughout the lineup.
Hunter: I don’t know how else to say it: the Frost are the cream of the crop of the PWHL. Four players are averaging a point per game or more, and first-year defender Claire Thompson is tied for the league lead in points with seven. It’s rare that championship teams get better the following year, but that may be what we have in Minnesota.
The focus is now on how the Frost handle not having defender Sophie Jaques, who was placed on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Natalie Buchbinder and Melissa Channell-Watkins will be asked to take on a bigger role, but expect Thompson and Lee Stecklein, who are already No. 1 and 2 in total ice time, to play even more in Jaques’ absence.
The Frost are back in action next Saturday when they take on the Montreal Victoire for the first time.
2. New York Sirens
Record: 2-1-1-1, +3
Last Week: 2nd
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler: There has been something exciting about this year’s Sirens team. Though they have been playing well early on as they did last year, the confidence in Greg Fargo’s squad is noticeable. Even when the team was down 3-0 to the defending champions, New York didn’t seem to fret, continuing to plug away to at least salvage a point in a shootout loss.
The confidence clearly starts with their top line, as Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter and Jesse Eldridge set the pace. Yet, we’re starting to see production from the like of Elle Hartje, Noora Tulus and Elizabeth Giguère, all of which will be needed if the Sirens want to be a playoff team.
Hunter: Carpenter has continued her dominance of the PWHL and will likely finish the 2024-25 campaign with a higher points-per-game (PPG) than her 0.96 last season. Playing on a line with the No. 1 overall pick Fillier, Carpenter seems to be generating even more shot attempts than last year while at the same time setting up Fillier nearly just as much. Sunday’s loss to Minnesota was Fillier’s first pointless game, but she still generated six shots at the Frost net.
Speaking of Sunday’s game, Minnesota came out on top in a shootout, but the Sirens outplayed the Frost for chunks of the game and made Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley earn the victory with 33 saves on 36 shots. New York is legit and is quickly becoming must-see TV.
The Sirens are off until next Sunday when they host the Ottawa Charge for the first time this season.
3. Montreal Victoire
Record: 1-2-0-1, 0
Last Week: 3rd
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler: It’s hard to move the Victoire up or down after last week, especially since they played just once between the international break and the holidays. That said, they looked like the far superior team against the Sceptres last Saturday, despite falling behind by two in the opening 20 minutes. Starting off with Abby Boreen’s highlight-reel goal, Montreal controlled the pace of play, and ended up coming out on top in overtime.
I would like to see better play out of the goaltenders, as Ann-Renée Desbiens and Elaine Chuli have been good, but not great. Then again, with how well the team has played in front of them, maybe that’s all the Victoire needs.
Hunter: Just one game for the Victoire in Week 2, a 4-3 overtime win over the Sceptres in Toronto, but they looked dominant in their Saturday performance. Outshooting the Sceptres 39-22, Montreal shook off a 2-0 deficit and basically held on to the puck for most of the game. If it wasn’t for a rookie Toronto netminder in Raygan Kirk going beast mode in their first-career start, the Victoire would have won easily. ‘
Boreen joined Montreal after winning a Walter Cup with the Frost last season and currently leads the club with four points through four games. One thing that hurt the Victoire was a lack of depth up front, so having players like Boreen step up will be a major key to long-term success.
The Victoire come out of the holiday break next Saturday against the Frost.
4. Boston Fleet
Record: 2-0-0-2, 0
Last Week: 5th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Tyler’s Rank: 4th
Hunter: Even having played just four games, the Fleet’s 2-2-0 record would put them in a playoff spot, thanks in large part to
Aerin Frankel’s continued dominance in Boston’s crease. She stopped 24 of the Charge’s 26 shots in Boston’s 3-2 win last week and so far has a .934 save percentage (SV%) and 2.02 goals against average (GAA) through four starts.
The team starts a three-game road trip after Christmas and will need to find a way to generate offense if they want to keep winning games. Only two players – Hilary Knight and Megan Keller – have scored more than once, and those same two players are the only ones with more than two points.
Tyler: Like Montreal, the Fleet only had one game this past week. However, after I heavily doubted them after a sluggish start, Boston has bounced back with a couple of hard-fought wins. They beat up the Sirens before outlasting the Ottawa Charge to temporarily move into a playoff spot.
I was skeptical about the team’s goal-scoring prowess (again), but how the Fleet has had a whole cast of characters find the back of the net gives one to believe that their scoring-by-committee mentality might be what makes them successful. So far, the team has had seven different goal-scorers, with 14 players having registered a point.
The Fleet heads to Canada for a couple of games after the holidays, beginning with a clash against the Toronto Sceptres next Friday.
5. Ottawa Charge
Record: 1-0-1-3, -5
Last Week: 4th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Tyler’s Rank: 5th
Hunter: Fillier and Thompson have taken up most of the oxygen when it comes to the rookie discussion, but the Charge’s Danielle Serdachny, the No. 2 overall pick, is starting to find her game. She assisted both of Ottawa’s goals in their 3-2 loss to the Fleet, and there are shifts where she looks like she’s the smartest player on the ice.
However, the team gives up a lot of opportunities, averaging 32.4 shots against per game, including two contests that saw them allow more than 40 shots. Jincy Roese and Savannah Harmon are great defenders, but the Charge need to do a better job of keeping their opponents to the outside and not allowing them to generate quality scoring chances.
Tyler: Like the NHL team that plays down the road from them, I came into the season expecting the Charge to be a postseason contender. With a revamped roster and the necessary star power to improve upon year one. However, just like how the Ottawa Senators started, I’ve been disappointed early on.
Ottawa kept things close against the Fleet last Tuesday, but call it travel or call it playing against a better team – the Charge were outclassed by the Frost last Thursday. It was nice to see Gwyneth Philips get the start against the defending champs and hold her own, all things considered. However, the lack of depth from this group is showing holes that they had last year.
Ottawa is set to visit the Sirens in their first game out of the break next Sunday.
6. Toronto Sceptres
Record: 1-0-1-3, -5
Last Week: 6th
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Tyler’s Rank: 6th
Tyler: What’s hilarious is that I’m honestly sitting here waiting for the Sceptres to go on another ridiculous run that makes them the best team in the PWHL. On paper, this team is too good to be at the bottom of the standings, even though it’s been just a few games. However, even when they picked up a point in a loss against the Victoire, it was obvious that Toronto was the team playing catchup.
We’re at the point now where we cannot allow this team to make an excuse for not having Natalie Spooner. They have enough offensive talent in Sarah Nurse, Daryl Watts, and Hannah Miller to make up for the hole in the lineup and shouldn’t be getting pushed around, especially on home ice.
Hunter: I made this point in this week’s takeaways: the Sceptres are 1-1-3 in their first five games, but were only really beaten badly in their Dec. 7 game against the Frost. Look back to the team’s first season: they went 1-4-0 in their first five games and looked sluggish, with Kristen Campbell giving up bad goals and the offense unable to produce. Some worried that we overrated the team and that they would be a basement dweller in their first season. Instead, they won 11 straight and finished first in the league.
Sarah Nurse has hit the ground running with three goals and four points, and Kirk, also known as “Ms. Irrelevant,” the last player taken in the 2024 PWHL Draft, looked strong in her first professional start, giving up just three goals in shootout loss to Montreal. Toronto closes out 2024 with two home games against Boston and Ottawa, I’ll be curious to see if they get things back on track.
The Sceptres are at home after the holiday break, hosting the Fleet on Friday night.