Wednesday set a new milestone in the PWHL. For the first time in League history, all eight teams were in action — an appropriate first-half finale ahead of an extended pause from Jan. 29 to Feb. 25 for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Six of the eight squads already reached the midpoint of their 30-game 2025-26 schedule; the Boston Fleet and Seattle Torrent aren’t far behind with 14 games played apiece.
Before attention turns to the international stage, let’s dive into another edition of power rankings after an eventful first half.
1. Boston Fleet (30 points, 8-2-2-2)
Previous Ranking: 1 (–)
The Fleet haven’t budged from the top spot in our power rankings — and for good reason.
Despite being tied for the fewest games played in the League, the Fleet still hold a two-point edge on first place in the PWHL standings. They’ve won 10 of their 14 games, and own a League-best .714 points percentage. The Fleet ride a three-game winning streak (1-2-0-0) and five-game point streak (2-2-1-0) into the break, with help from a pair of gutsy shootout victories over the Torrent and New York Sirens.
Balance is the name of the game. Only one Fleet skater posted double-figure scoring at the break. That honor goes to captain Megan Keller, who paces all PWHL defenders with five goals and 11 points. Boston’s offensive attack is a collaborative effort, with major contributions from established pro scorers like Alina Müller and Susana Tapanai, as well as rookies Haley Winn, Olivia Mobley, and Abby Newhook.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better group at special teams. The Fleet boast the League’s top penalty kill (94.3 percent), and are tied for the second-best power play with a 20.5 percent conversion rate.
The true star of the squad is goalie Aerin Frankel, who’s been nothing short of brilliant (9-2-2, 1.35 goals against average, .946 save percentage), starting 13 of 14 games.
Simply put, it’s a team that can dominate in every facet of the game, and they’ve done just that for much of 2025-26.
2. Minnesota Frost (28 points, 7-2-3-3)
Previous Ranking: 2 (–)
Boston is a tough act to follow, but the Minnesota Frost stack up pretty well in their own right.
You have to score goals to win games, and no one does it better than the Frost. In fact, Minnesota’s offense is on a completely different planet than any other team in the PWHL. The Frost scored 48 goals in 15 games — good for an average of 3.2 per game. The next-closest squad is the Ottawa Charge, with nearly a full goal per game less at 2.38.
Minnesota’s scoring depth is simply unrivaled. There’s a three-way tie at 16 points for the PWHL scoring lead, and all three players — Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, and Taylor Heise — play for the Frost. Five different Frost skaters have at least 10 points at the break; no other team has more than three. Minnesota has at least one five-goal scorer on each of its top three lines, and three of the top six scorers in the League overall.
After scoring at least twice in all but one January game — including two six-goal outings — the Frost enter the Olympic break having won four of their past five (3-1-1-0) and within striking distance of first place.
A goalie platoon of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney continues to get the job done in net. Minnesota allowed 2.07 goals per game, third-fewest in the PWHL.
The Fleet pose a legitimate threat, but it won’t be easy to keep the Frost from a third straight Walter Cup championship.
3. Montréal Victoire (27 points, 7-3-0-5)
Previous Ranking: 3 (–)
The Montreal Victoire showcased everything they’ve been doing well in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Sceptres on Wednesday. Ann-Renée Desbiens posted a 22-save shutout, and Montreal got multiple goals outside of its potent top line.
Victoire coach Kori Cheverie’s bold decision to break up the dominant line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Abby Roque paid off. But it’s also a testament to solid secondary scoring; Montreal got offensive contributions up and down the lineup in January, a pleasant change of pace from a typically top-heavy attack.
Maureen Murphy, Hayley Scamurra, and Natalie Mlynkova are among those who enjoyed a boost in production. It translated to a 4-2-0-2 month of January, with the Victoire winning six of their past seven games.
It doesn’t hurt to have one of the best goalies in the world, though. At the midway point of 2025-26, Desbiens is well-positioned to repeat as PWHL Goaltender of the Year. Montreal’s netminder leads the League with a 1.15 GAA and .954 save percentage, and is tied with Frankel for the most wins (nine) and shutouts (three).
That’s quite the safety blanket if the Victoire’s depth scoring dries up again. Poulin, Stacey, Roque, and Desbiens will keep this team in playoff contention, but it’s the ancillary contributors that could determine how far this squad goes.
4. Ottawa Charge (22 points, 4-5-0-7)
Previous Ranking: 5 (+1)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Ottawa is finding ways to win despite its defensive deficiencies.
The Charge surrendered upwards of 30 shots per game to go with a League-worst expected-goals-allowed rate of 3.01, per PWHL Analytics. But that didn’t stop Ottawa from winning five of seven games in January (3-2-0-2) as they continue their gradual climb up the PWHL standings.
Team USA Olympic goalie Gwyneth Philips is the perfect safety net for everything Ottawa lacks defensively. The 25-year-old logged 842:07 in net this season, second to only New York’s Kayle Osborne.
The true shift, however, stems from a revitalized Charge offense. A red-hot Rebecca Leslie already set new career-highs with eight goals and 14 points, tying Brianne Jenner for the team lead in the former. Ottawa is one of just two PWHL teams with 40 or more goals this season, aided by an 8.9 shooting percentage that ranks second overall.
In all likelihood, they must maintain that scoring rate to overcome their problems on defense — but Ottawa is in the fight for now.
5. New York Sirens (24 points, 7-0-3-6)
Previous Ranking: 4 (-1)
The Sirens enter the Olympic break with one win in their past five games (1-0-3-1). And yet, it doesn’t feel like the sky is falling.
In fact, outside of a lopsided 6-2 loss to the Frost on Sunday, the Sirens played some of their best hockey in January. New York took three good teams — Minnesota, Ottawa, and Boston — to overtime, and handed Montreal its only two regulation losses this month.
The Sirens still hold a playoff spot, sitting fourth overall with 24 points, and that alone is noteworthy progress for a team that finished dead last in back-to-back seasons.
Rookie phenom Kristyna Kaltounkova generated nearly a third of New York’s offense in 2025-26. Thanks to a two-goal effort in a 4-3 shootout loss to Boston on Wednesday, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick overtook Coyne Schofield for the PWHL lead in goals (11). Kaltounkova has 10 goals in her past 10 games and ranks eighth in scoring overall (12 points).
Special-teams struggles and the League’s youngest roster makes consistency a challenge, but it’s hard to count out this spirited Sirens squad. If they proved anything in the first half, they’ll fight until the end.
6. Vancouver Goldeneyes (19 points, 5-1-2-8)
Previous Ranking: 8 (+2)
The Vancouver Goldeneyes likely wish to forget much of their first half, but Sarah Nurse’s return provides real reason to feel hopeful moving forward.
Nurse missed 11 games from Nov. 26 to Jan. 11 with an upper-body injury. During that span, Vancouver was 3-0-1-7, earning 10 out of a possible 33 points.
Nurse returned on Jan. 17, and didn’t skip a beat. The 30-year-old Olympian has six points (four goals, two assists) in five games this season; she recorded a point in all five and leads the PWHL with 1.20 points per game.
Vancouver is 2-1-1-1 with Nurse in the lineup, and her presence helps elevate a squad that ranks dead last with a 1.66 expected-goals-for rate, per PWHL Analytics.
But if the loss Wednesday to the Frost is any indication, the Goldeneyes aren’t fully out of the woods yet. The Frost scored three unanswered goals in the first period en route to a decisive 4-1 win. It’ll take more than a couple promising outings to get Vancouver back in the playoff conversation.
7. Seattle Torrent (16 points, 4-1-2-7)
Previous Ranking: 6 (-1)
Seattle showed a glimpse of its potential last week, erasing a two-goal deficit to defeat the Toronto Sceptres 6-4 on Jan. 20. Unfortunately, it was little more than a glimpse.
The Torrent have one win and four points in their past six games (1-0-1-4). They had a chance to end the first half on a high note Wednesday after Jessie Eldridge gave Seattle a 2-1 lead midway through the third period. Instead, Ottawa stormed back with three goals in the final 5:14 to cement a 4-2 Charge victory.
The offense has come from the likes of Eldridge, Julia Gosling, Hillary Knight, and Alex Carpenter, but it hasn’t translated to a winning product. Seattle sits dead last at 16 points, although they’re ahead of Toronto in points percentage.
Unlike Vancouver, the Torrent don’t have an injured star they can inject into this lineup. The answer must come from the current roster.
8. Toronto Sceptres (17 points, 4-1-3-8)
Previous Ranking: 6 (-2)
The sky is falling in Toronto.
The Sceptres haven’t won a game in regulation since Dec. 27 (0-1-1-6). They were shut out in back-to-back games to close out the first half, plummeting their goal differential to a League-worst minus-18.
It’s hard to find positives. Toronto ranks dead last in goals-for per game (1.69) and save percentage (.904). Daryl Watts is the only skater with at least five goals or 10 points.
The brunt of the blame falls on an offense that’s scored one goal or less in five of the team’s past six games. Toronto has a month to regroup before PWHL action resumes, but unless a turnaround happens quickly, this won’t be a season to remember.
