Ottawa Charge protects three more forwards from PWHL expansion process

Forward Gabbie Hughes (17) is one of two players who have been with Ottawa since the PWHL's first season in 2023-24. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

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Ottawa was able to make a critical move to solidify its core on Friday by protecting Gabbie Hughes, Fanuza Kadirova and Sarah Wozniewicz from the four new expansion franchises. That announcement surely produced a sigh of relief from Charge staff, players and fans.

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Lists were due Friday at 5 p.m., and each existing PWHL team was given the opportunity to protect three more players, meaning they can’t be selected by expansion teams in future stages.

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Ottawa’s list of protected players now has six names. Rebecca Leslie, Ronja Savolainen and Gwyneth Philips were protected in an earlier phase.

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Looking at the list of players the Charge could have protected, opting for Hughes, Kadirova and Wozniewicz would have been a relatively straightforward decision for general manager Mike Hirshfeld. After losing solid forwards Brianne Jenner and Emily Clark to PWHL Hamilton, opting to protect three forwards who had proven they could score goals was definitely the best course of action.

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Let’s take a closer look at what each of these three new protected players brings to the team.

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Gabbie Hughes

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It can’t be overstated how critical it was for Ottawa to lock down Gabbie Hughes after seeing the majority of its leadership core go out the door in the past week.

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On the ice, Hughes is one of the PWHL’s best two-way forward, and she finished third in regular-season scoring on the Charge roster with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. She anchored Ottawa’s shutdown second line for most of the season, frequently finding herself the league’s best players on the other side.

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As one of two players who has been with Ottawa since the inaugural puck drop (the other is forward Kateřina Mrázová), Hughes has developed into a leader for the organization and is a prime candidate to wear one of the leadership letters on her jersey next season.

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Ottawa Charge player Gabbie Hughes tries to tip the puck past Ann-Renée Desbiens of the Montréal Victoire during the first period of a playoff game at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Fanuza Kadirova

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After such a strong debut showing in the PWHL, it was a bit shocking that Fanuza Kadirova wasn’t plucked by an expansion team before now, but Charge fans certainly won’t be complaining.

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Seeing Kadirova in different PWHL colours definitely would have been a bit heartbreaking. It was Ottawa, after all, that took a chance on her as a bit of a wildcard in the final round of last season’s draft. She exceeded expectations and finished her debut season with 12 goals and five assists for 17 points, showing she had all the ingredients to be one of Ottawa’s best goal scorers for years to come.

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Now, after Ottawa lost one of its best goal scorers, Jenner, there’s no doubt that the Charge will continue to look to Kadirova to infuse more scoring. And, if last season was just her first year in North American hockey, it’s exciting to think about what she’ll be able to do in future seasons now.