The New York Sirens have officially failed to qualify for the PWHL playoffs for the second straight year.

New York hasn’t played since April 1 — before the league took its international break for the women’s world championship in Czechia — but was on the brink of elimination with the league’s first games back Saturday afternoon. Regulation wins by Boston and Ottawa on Saturday afternoon officially eliminated New York from playoff contention.

It’s another disappointing early end to a season that began with promise. The Sirens drafted star forward Sarah Fillier first in the 2024 PWHL Draft, a significant addition to a forward group that already included elite talent in forward Alex Carpenter, defender Ella Shelton and goalie Corinne Schroeder. A new coach in Greg Fargo brought experience and a fresh perspective to a team that struggled mightily during the PWHL’s inaugural season under Howie Draper, who left the team after just one season.

At first, New York looked poised to have a strong Year 2, winning three of its first four games with strong performances by Fillier, Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge on the top line. But, the Sirens quickly started to look like a one-line club with Carpenter and Fillier scoring one-third of the team’s goals to this point in the season. With Eldridge, who has moved off the top line at times, the Sirens’ top trio represented 47 percent of the team’s offense.

Heading into the 2024-25 season, the hope was that New York’s depth players who might have underperformed in Year 1 would improve in Year 2. But, just like last year, several players failed to meet expectations. Élizabeth Giguère, a prolific NCAA player, has only scored two goals and has 4 points. So has Chloé Aurard. Abby Roque, one of New York’s top-three signings, only has six goals in 27 games.

The Sirens’ 2024 Draft class — which was supposed to add to the team’s depth of talent — has also struggled this season. New York’s top five picks after selecting Fillier — Maja Nylén Persson, Noora Tulus, Allyson Simpson, Gabby Rosenthal and Elle Hartje — have only scored five goals and 21 points combined over 27 games. That’s less than Fillier’s production (27 points) in her rookie season.

More than anything, though, it was a nine-game losing streak from January to March that sunk New York’s season. During that stretch, Schroeder struggled, Carpenter got injured, and Filler only scored three goals. The Sirens were outscored 36-15 over the nine games.

New York won four of six games in regulation after the losing streak to keep its season alive. But, ultimately, ran out of runway.

The Sirens drafted star forward Sarah Fillier first in the 2024 PWHL Draft. (David Berding / Getty Images)What comes next?

Now that New York is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Gold Plan — the PWHL’s method of determining the draft order — will officially go into effect. According to the plan, once a team is eliminated from the playoffs, it begins earning “draft order points” using the league’s standard points system. The team with the most points at the end of the regular season will be awarded the first pick in the draft.

New York has three games remaining — against Minnesota, Toronto and Montreal — which means it has three chances to collect as many points as possible to win the first pick. New York will likely have a significant head start in accumulating points after elimination with fifth-place Minnesota only 2 points behind Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot. It remains unclear how PWHL Vancouver, the league’s first expansion franchise, will be integrated and potentially impact the draft order.

U.S. forward Abbey Murphy could be the consensus No. 1 pick should she declare for this year’s draft. But she still has the option to return to the University of Minnesota for one final season. If Murphy returns to the NCAA, Casey O’Brien could be the top prospect available for New York to select.

She’s an all-situations center with vision and a solid shot, and was among the best players in the faceoff dot last season. She finished her college career as the all-time points leader in Wisconsin hockey history with 274 points in 183 career games.

There’s also a case to be made for Haley Winn in the No. 1 spot. She is an offensively gifted right-shot defender who could upgrade any team’s blue line and top power play. She’s also played against top competition for years as a member of Team USA and just won a gold medal at women’s worlds in Czechia.

Looking ahead to the offseason

It’s shaping up to be a busy offseason for general manager Pascal Daoust.

With PWHL Vancouver entering the league in 2025-26, New York could lose a regular player (or two if the PWHL adds an eighth franchise) to an expansion draft. Then, there’s the entry draft on June 24 in Ottawa.

Nothing will be bigger than free agency, though, with Fillier on an expiring contract.

After a months-long negotiation between Fillier’s camp and the organization, she signed a one-year deal in November. The Sirens still own Fillier’s rights for one more year, per the league’s rookie rules, but this next set of negotiations will be critical for New York’s future. Fillier could sign another one-year contract and walk in free agency after next season, or sign long-term in New York. Either option, but especially the former, would change the course of the franchise.

There are other free agents to consider, too.

Forwards Jade Downie-Landry, Giguère and Aurard are all in the final year of their two-year contracts, as is defender Brooke Hobson. Daoust will need to decide if he wants to bring any of his free agents back before they hit the open market. Or if he’s going to look to upgrade his depth via free agency (or the draft) after another disappointing season.

(Top photo: Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)