Ottawa Charge lose 2 key defenders during PWHL expansion draft

Ottawa Charge's Ashton Bell (left) goes airborne after colliding with Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin (29) during first period PWHL playoff hockey action in Ottawa, on Friday, May 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

The Ottawa Charge lost two key players from the blue line during the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) expansion draft Monday night.

Vancouver and Seattle each selected seven players from the original six clubs to fill out a 12-player roster during the expansion draft. The draft was the second part of the expansion process after the two teams were allowed to sign up to five players each last week.

• Ottawa Charge set to lose 2 more players in PWHL expansion draft

PWHL Vancouver selected blueliner Ashton Bell from the Ottawa Charge with the first pick in the expansion draft. Bell played two seasons with the Charge, and had three goals and three assists last season.

With their first pick in the PWHL expansion draft, Seattle selected Aneta Tejralová from Ottawa. The blueliner had one goal and nine assists for the Charge last season.

Ottawa lost goalie Emerance Maschmeyer and forward Danielle Serdachny during the exclusive signing window last week.

Each PWHL original six team lost four players during the expansion process.

The Charge protected forwards Emily Clark and Gabbie Hughes, goalie Gwyneth Philips, and defender Ronja Savolainen during the expansion window.

Several Charge players went undrafted during the expansion process, including captain Brianne Jenner, forwards Mannon McMahon, Anna Meixner and Kateřina Mrázová, and defenders Jocelyne Larocque and Stephanie Markowski.