Sarah Fillier’s 29 points, 13 goals and 16 assists for the New York Sirens all set PWHL rookie records during the 2024-25 season; she will be joined this season by 2025 PWHL Draft top picks Kristýna Kaltounková (No. 1) and Casey O'Brien (No. 3).
The Sirens’ roadmap is clear and their future is bright with one of the PWHL’s superstars and two of the league’s top prospects at the forefront.
Fillier’s introduction to professional hockey started as the first overall pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft and morphed into Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team honors, a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team, recognition as a finalist for Forward of the Year, and a share of the league’s scoring lead.
Consecutive multi-point performances in her first two career games set the stage for one of the most productive offensive seasons leaguewide. Fillier’s 29 points tied MVP Finalist Hilary Knight and even exceeded MVP winner Marie-Philip Poulin. Nobody scored more than Fillier’s five power play goals or matched her five-game goal streak, and no skater surpassed her 16 assists either, counting 12 at even strength to cement her historic rookie season. The production and accolades led the Sirens to lock up their star to a two-year extension this offseason.
The Sirens held the No. 1 pick again in 2025 and made an even bigger splash on draft day by acquiring the third overall selection in a deal with Toronto for defender Ella Shelton. The Sirens brought in Kristýna Kaltounková and Casey O’Brien to quickly inject even more elite young talent to the roster.
Kaltounková, a forward out of Colgate University, became the first international player to be selected first overall after finishing her NCAA tenure as the Raiders’ all-time leading goal scorer and a Tournament All-Star appearance at her first Women’s Worlds for host Czechia. Praised by scouts and coaches for her intelligence, physical strength and 200-foot game, ‘Kalty’ will begin her PWHL journey with an important familiar face behind the bench: Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo, who was her coach at Colgate for four years.
O’Brien, a forward out of Wisconsin, is coming off of an elite college hockey career culminating in the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award and her third National Championship. Her 88 points in 41 games played led the NCAA, while also becoming the Badgers all-time leading scorer with 274 points in 182 games, a record previously held by Knight.
“They're not only great women, but great players also that we've brought in,” said Sirens GM Pascal Doust after the Draft. “These women are amazing leaders. They're coming out of college with a mindset, a leadership knowledge, a way to be. It's not just what they are, it's how they are. We're very, very happy with our picks."
Though the departures of players like Shelton, Jessie Eldridge and Alex Carpenter will present a new-look Sirens this coming season, the influx of young talent and the confidence the team’s front office has in their players and the development process should give fans an exciting, competitive year ahead.
