The Sirens made two trades over the course of the draft, sending Ella Shelton to Toronto to for a 1st round and 4th round pick (#3 and #27 overall) and sending Abby Roque to Montréal in exchange for Kristin O'Neill and a 4th round pick (#28 overall). Those moves meant New York made nine total selection in the six rounds on Tuesday.
Draft Picks
Round #1: Kristýna Kaltounková (F), 2002, (#1 overall) – I'm not going to lie, I was kind of disappointed by this pick at the moment it happened. It's absolutely nothing against Kaltounková, I just was very convinced that O'Brien was the better fit for them. Obviously taking Kaltounková wasn't going to be a bad thing and the big, strong Czech from Colgate University is going to add another dimension to what ended up being a really dynamic offense by the time the draft was through.
Round #1: Casey O'Brien (F), 2001, (#3 overall - from Toronto) – The idea that NY would trade up to get another first round pick never even entered my mind, but at this point I have nothing but respect for how GM Pascal Daoust masterminds a draft and there's no way in hell I'd ever underestimate him. This move was a bombshell and I think both they and Toronto "won" as the Sceptres needed defense and with Haley Winn taken second, I'm not sure they'd have solved their problems via the draft. This was a massive coup from the Sirens and was honestly just the first domino to fall in what would shake out to be a top tier draft. O'Brien is a really versatile player and that gives New York so many options on how to make her fit, but she's also just a straightforward top-tier center that's elite in the face-off circle, super speedy and a proven leader.
Round #2: Anne Cherkowski (F), 2002, (#9 overall) – A strong two-way player that will reliably score goals and distribute the puck, she's a great addition to this roster that needs talented players to take minutes and defensive attention.
Round #3: Makenna Webster (F), 2002, (#17 overall) – For me, this is where my excitement really started to climb. Webster is a great pick up in the third round and, conveniently, she's best friends with O'Brien and the two played on the same line - very successfully - at Wisconsin. One interesting wrinkle with Webster is that I expect her to be a part of the US national field hockey team. I imagine this came up in pre-draft conversations and the Sirens know, but her elite skills in two sports really make her unlike any player we've seen before and there may be times she'll miss or need load management. That being said, she did it all at Ohio State and in the end, played through most of both field hockey and ice hockey seasons with compartment syndrome. She's as tough as they come and I really think the Sirens could find something magical with a line that pairs her with O'Brien.
Round #4: Dayle Ross (D), 2003, (#25 overall) – In order to pull off their first round magic, New York had to give up Ella Shelton. Ross obviously doesn't have the resume and experience Shelton did, but she projects to be a similar player and I think she'll become a fan favorite. She's going to be defense-first but I feel like there's room for her to grow in her offensive game. That's not what they needed from her at St. Cloud, but her calmness with the puck should translate to smart outlet passes that she'll get to do a bit more with a more balanced team that is less under constant attack.
Round #4: Maddi Wheeler (F), 2002, (#27 overall - from Toronto) – When a lot of discussion is about "winning now," selecting a number of players who are very familiar with each other and should have instant chemistry is definitely one way to help speed up the transition from college to pros. Wheeler spent her entire college career on a team with either O'Brien or Webster or both. She seems to have a higher scoring ceiling than she was able to show off in college playing behind higher profile players.
Round #4: Callie Shanahan (G), 2003, (#28 overall - from Montréal) – Well the goalie part of this draft still has me baffled a day later. That being said, I feel like this pick was about getting a goalie very similar to Corinne Schroeder. Schroeder served them well and I think with all the other changes and moving parts, they selected a netminder that provided that felt comfortable and not brand new. She's tall but still mobile
Round #5: Anna Bargman (F), 2002, (#33 overall) – Though she's someone that fewer fans may be familiar with, I think this is a really good late-round addition for New York. Bargman is a really technically sound player who I don't think has had the chance to really reach her potential yet. The ceiling is really high here and I feel like though she'd likely be a third or fourth liner because of the rest of the players on this roster, she could be really impactful and take valuable minutes.
Round #6: Kaley Doyle (G), 2001 (#41 overall) – Without giving you a too long explanation of how NCAA Goalie of the Year voting goes, I had Doyle first on my second to last ballot. Apparently no one else did because she didn't make the list when it was narrowed down from there, which is the only reason I didn't vote for her in the end. She did so much without a lot of help in her college career. She's just 5'5" and thus plays a very different style than Shanahan, but I like her movement and how she keeps calm while getting peppered and not getting a lot of scoring support.
Takeaways
At this point last year I was thrilled with New York's draft and felt like they easily won the day. I find myself feeling the same way this year, but with the added complication of knowing that having a great draft didn't mean much for the Sirens in the end. So I find myself feeling like I should temper my excitement. The responsible journalist in me says to tread carefully here and be cautiously optimistic. But I will admit the crazy fan in me feels like this was a masterful draft and can't help but be thrilled for the possibilities.
On the plus side for believing in the power of this draft for New York, they've all but started from scratch. They had a strong roster the first year that didn't gel well with their coach, so they made a change. They got the #1 pick last season and on paper had a great team and it didn't matter. So they've basically flipped that roster, choosing to focus on Sarah Fillier. Expansion was tough on the NY roster and it feels like Daoust really leaned into that and took the opportunity to fully rebuild.
I respect that Daoust is being proactive and looking for changes. In some ways, I think the expansion process forced him into it, but kudos to the whole Sirens staff for embracing the opportunity that brough and really trying to find an answer to why things haven't worked for them the past two seasons.
With a mostly full roster (barring free agent signings) the biggest questions for the Sirens are in net. First of all, their three goalies are Kayle, Callie and Kaley and there's no way absolutely everyone doesn't mix and mess that up several times this season. But Osborne has only about 500 minutes played as a pro, with a 2.22 goals against, 0.916 save percentage and a 2-4 record. This is a young and only lightly tested goalie group and it will be interesting to see who comes out of camp as the starter or if they go with a tandem.
It's understandable if Sirens fans are wary to buy in after two very disappointing seasons. But give credit where it's due. Two weeks ago all the choices the front office had made had most everyone scratching their heads. But in retrospect, it appears there was a method to that approach that put New York in the position it needed to pull off a pretty masterful draft day. I'd imagine by the end of Tuesday, Daoust was thinking the french equivalent of "I love it when a plan comes together."
(If we don't at least get a line that's Wheeler, O'Brien, Webster in preseason at the very least I will personally be very upset. Give the people [me!] what they want, New York)
Quotables
"What a great night for New York. It was definitely an opportunity that we had to play with the cards and find solutions, find a new angle that we hadn't evaluated, and now we're very, very happy that we had the opportunity to come here with six rounds but nine picks and adding as well a player coming from a trade." - Sirens GM Pascal Daoust
"Only stupid goes back to the same solution for the same problem." - Daoust
"All the way through the process I was really really open to everything and anything. I was not having funnel vision. I was open minded. I have the privilege to say that this is not my very first draft. I feel that the important thing when you go to a draft is to have a lot of options to play with and then you balance. It was a work in progress." - Daoust
"I'm just really so excited and honored to be picked to such a great organization at number one as the first European and first Czech. What a great honor representing not just myself, but my country and and my teammates." - Kristýna Kaltounková
"It's so special, and the fact that they traded up for me means even more. I grew up in New York City, and so it's a little bit like coming home." - Casey O'Brien
"I take a lot of pride in my D zone and just my contribution to being a 200 foot center. I put a lot of emphasis on the D zone, whether it's winning a defensive zone face off or making sure I'm picking up bodies in front of the net. I put a lot of time and effort into that, and so I'm excited to bring that aspect of my game to the PWHL." - O'Brien
"I'm a 200-foot player through and through. I'm a spark plug if you need energy at any point in the game. I'm somebody who can bring it." - Maddi Wheeler
"The speed that I can read plays. I feel like my reaction to how I can read plays has really increased a lot throughout my college career. My rebound control is another huge asset of my game that's really improved." - Callie Shanahan
Current Roster
(listed with the amount of years remaining on their current contract)
Forwards:
Kristin O'Neill - 1
Paetyn Levis - 2
Elle Hartje - 2
Emmy Fecteau - 2
Noora Tulus - 1
Taylor Girard - 1
Kayla Vespa - 1
Savannah Norcross - 1
*Sarah Fillier is a currently unsigned restricted free agent
Defenders:
Maja Nylen Persson - 2
Micah Zandee Hart - 1
Jamie Bourbonnais - 1
Jincy Roese - 1
Lauren Bernard - 1
*Allyson Simpson is a currently unsigned restrcted free agent
Goalies:
Kayle Osborne - 2
(Photo: PWHL)
