Ottawa Charge 2025-26 Season Preview

The Ottawa Charge’s 2025 playoff run was the stuff of storybooks and can serve as an encouraging launch pad for the upcoming season.

The underdog group clinched its postseason berth on the final day of the season, then put the league on notice when they eliminated the top-ranked Montréal Victoire, a team that chose to face Ottawa, in four games. The Charge advanced to the PWHL Finals against the defending champion Minnesota Frost and displayed resiliency and a great work ethic while electrifying the hometown fans. All four Walter Cup Final games went to overtime, and all four games ended in 2-1 scorelines.

“It’s why championships are so fun and so hard,” head coach Carla MacLeod said to thepwhl.com in a recent interview.

Going into the 2025-26 season, Ottawa will carry that process forward and try to build on its 2025 playoff run.

Coaching/leadership

MacLeod is back for her third season behind the Charge bench. She’s repeatedly said that her goal is to make Ottawa a very difficult team to play against. Her efforts yielded impressive results in the playoffs last year. The team averaged 1.71 goals against throughout the postseason, by far the lowest of any team.

Reinforcing MacLeod’s approach is a strong team of leaders, including captain Brianne Jenner and alternate Emily Clark, who signed a two-year extension this offseason. Defender Jocelyne Larocque, one of the world’s most reliable blue liners, was also recently appointed an alternate captain to solidify the leadership trio.

“Our returning core is invaluable to us,” said MacLeod. “You need the core to be able to bring everyone that’s new up to speed, and our core group is all in. They’re so competitive. They had the taste of the Walter Cup final too, and they’re chomping at the bit to get going.”

Rookie to watch: Rory Guilday

Ottawa used the fifth-overall pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft to select defender Guilday, who scored five goals and nine points in 30 games with Cornell University last year while earning first team All-Ivy honors.

The Charge’s D-corps lost stalwarts Ashton Bell, Jincy Roese and Aneta Tejralová last summer so Guilday will have ample opportunity to play big minutes. As discussed in a recent Jocks in Jills episode with hosts Tessa Bonhomme and Julia Tocheri, Guilday is a natural leader with great size and family history.

Guilday will be joined on the blueline by fellow rookie Emma Bergesen (the first Norwegian to sign with the PWHL) and returnees including Stephanie Markowski and Ronja Savolainen.

Intriguing non-rookies: Élizabeth Giguère and Mannon McMahon

Being hard to play against is great, but Ottawa is a team that needs scoring. The Charge scored 71 goals in 30 regular-season games last year, tied for the fewest goals in the league with New York. Giguère is a player with a track record of scoring who hasn’t been able to find her touch in the PWHL.

The 2020 Patty Kazmaier Award winner, Giguère scored 295 points in 177 games during her NCAA career at Clarkson and Minnesota-Duluth. However, in two PWHL seasons with the Sirens, she had just eight points. If the Charge can unlock her potential, it could be one of the savviest signings of the offseason.

As for a returnee ready to take another step forward, McMahon, who made the team as a fifth-round pick, recorded four goals and eight points in 30 games and became a locker-room favorite along the way. She followed all that up by scoring a thrilling game-winner in Game 3 of the Victoire series.

McMahon consistently improved her scoring over the five seasons she played for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. That kind of steady year-over-year improvement is equally possible for McMahon moving from rookie to sophomore in the PWHL.

Between the pipes: Gwyneth Philips

Philips started the 2024-25 season in the backup position behind Emerance Maschmeyer. In March, Maschmeyer suffered a season-ending injury that opened the door for Philips to take the lead role in Ottawa—and she never looked back.

She finished the season with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in 15 games played. In the playoffs, Philips was even better, averaging 1.23 goals against while maintaining a stunning .952 save percentage and was never defeated in regulation. As a result, she was awarded the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award.

“She just loves her job,” said MacLeod. “Certainly, for us, we see her as a core member of our group … She’s well-versed in what this role is and what the opportunity is. So, we’re excited to build with her and around her.”

During the summer, Maschmeyer signed a two-year contract with Vancouver, meaning Philips is now the undisputed starter in Ottawa this season and beyond thanks to an extension she inked in July.

Season Outlook

Ottawa’s identity will remain the same going into the 2025-26 season: the team will work hard and be difficult to play against. With that kind of identity and a goaltender like Philips, there is very little doubt Ottawa will be competitive.

“The style of play will look very similar,” said MacLeod. “We’re a hard-working team, we’re a gritty team, we’re trying to be difficult to play against.”

The hope for Charge fans is that the team will have learned from its Walter Cup run and grown as a group. MacLeod believes that the team learned a lot from the last season and will be implementing that knowledge this season.

“Every player coming back is bringing a piece of experience from their perspective that’s going to help us,” said MacLeod. “We anticipate everyone getting on the same bus and helping drive our organization and our team.”

Ottawa lived the underdog story last season. Now, they want a chance to flip the script and come out on top.