Ottawa Charge optimistic heading into an ambiguous offseason

The Ottawa Charge are looking ahead to another offseason full of uncertainty after another loss in the league final.

Yet, the team remains confident that their formula for success will help them endure the potential rebuild as four new teams enter the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).

After falling to the Montreal Victoire in the Walter Cup final, Ottawa will now turn their attention to maintaining their no-quit culture as they brace for a lengthy expansion process. 

“There’s been a great common thread through all three seasons,” head coach Carla MacLeod told reporters during the team’s end-of-season news conference on Friday. 

“It’s the fourth time to start something new,” she added, noting that every year the team gets to experiment with a new crop of players.

The term “expansion draft” haunts many Charge fans after the team lost key defenders Ashton Bell and Aneta Tejralová in the first two rounds of last year’s expansion draft.

Luckily for the Charge, the process of arming the league’s four new expansion teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose will look a lot different. 

With many players in need of a new contract, the PWHL’s newest teams will build their rosters through a multi-phase process, according to a memo from the league’s players association. 

The first phase kicks off shortly after the post-season ends, with each team able to instantly protect three players, different from last year's initial two-player protection rule. 

During this phase, players on expiring contracts can freely negotiate with any team, but can only sign with their current team.

June will mark the start of the second phase, allowing any player not protected or signed to sign with an expansion team.

Ottawa Charge GM