Seattle Torrent fared far better off the ice than on it in debut season

In their debut season, the Seattle Torrent fit right into the short, modern-day tradition of the city's professional hockey teams. The off-ice work is commendable; the on-ice results lackluster.

They do play in one of the bigger barns, but Seattle led the Professional Women's Hockey League in average attendance at their home venue this season (12,875). The Torrent became the first PWHL team to exceed 150,000 fans in attendance in a single season in their home market. They sold out 17,151-seat Climate Pledge Arena twice, in the first game after the Olympics and in the season finale, which doubled as Pride Night.

The PWHL's first two expansion teams, Seattle and Vancouver generated the highest first-year merchandise sales of any teams in the league to date. Early in the season, lines for merchandise wrapped around the corner of the lower concourse of CPA and the Torrent gear in team stores flew off shelves.

The branding clearly hit and interest level was high, fueled by savvy social media posts and clever promotions. From the very beginning the Torrent had something their Climate Pledge Arena roommates, the NHL's Seattle Kraken, have always lacked - stars.

Team USA and Torrent captain Hilary Knight became more of a household name midseason, after sending the gold-medal game against Canada into overtime in her fifth and final Olympics. While rehabbing a torn MCL, Knight made stops on late-night shows, Saturday Night Live and the Oscars, and was later named to Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2026.

The Torrent had buzz, even if the team itself wasn't buzzing. Talks of a playoff push never went anywhere. The Torrent won three of 17 games between Jan. 7 and April 7 and finished last in the PWHL, 9-16-5 overall.

During a locker clean-out day tinged with sadness and uncertainty, Knight said a bigger on-ice presence - one that matches their off-ice successes - is a priority.

"Because we have a phenomenal roster," Knight said. "It just didn't transpire, I think, the way that we all thought it was going to."

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The rosters built by Seattle general manager Meghan Turner and Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey, largely through an exclusive free-agent window and an expansion draft, were so formidable that they looked like instant title contenders. Vancouver appeared to be built on defense; Seattle, offense.

It wasn't like one of the expansion-team GMs blew it. Both teams struggled out the gate, and they were the first two squads eliminated from the playoffs.

There's no single, neat reason for Seattle's on-ice struggles. Knight's injury played a part, as did Team USA teammate Hannah Bilka's. She never returned after the Olympic break.

Seattle's first-ever first-round draft pick, Jenna Buglioni, was present for jersey reveals and splashed across advertisements, but her role shrank as the season went on. The forward appeared in 18 of 30 games, but didn't register a single point. She averaged 6:05 of ice time, lowest among Torrent regulars.

She was injured early in the season and coach Steve O'Rourke suspects she never carved out an identity during her rookie campaign.

"It was a bit of a perfect storm for her," Turner said. "So we're just trying to help her get back on her feet, and know that we're committed to her and making sure that she has a place to develop here."

The Olympics didn't just mess with the flow of the season, but with playing styles. Some players - O'Rourke volunteered defender Anna Wilgren for inclusion, and forward Danielle Serdachny volunteered herself - suspected they were on the cusp of making their respective national teams. They tried to be what their countries wanted, or rather what would help their case for making the Olympic roster. That led to some mixed results for the Torrent.

Others reworked their roles for the better. O'Rourke mentioned that Mikyla Grant-Mentis initially declined his offer to join the power play, even though that's a perk most forwards are actively chasing. That no thank you was a first for her coach.

"Even if you are pretty intimidated, you wouldn't say no," he said at the time.

Grant-Mentis wasn't confident enough to accept, he said, and worried about messing up. She relented and worked with both special-teams units. She tied her career high of three goals, including a short-handed, or "jailbreak," goal.

"To see her just growing into the player she's supposed to be … is really cool," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke also mentioned forward Natalie Snodgrass, who was considering retirement but came to Seattle for one more go-round. She appeared in all but one game.

"If you ask her, I think she's had a really good experience," O'Rourke said. "And if this is her last season, I think … she's really in a happy, good space."

There were issues everyone in the league dealt with - an unforgiving road schedule, and international play pulling some of the Torrent's biggest stars away, multiple times. Then there were the expansion issues. The team was announced in April and started playing in November, and their facilities weren't finished. Neither the GM nor the head coach had been in that specific role before, and most of the players were getting to know each other.

"You're all coming from different teams, learning about each other, learning about each other's styles of play," Serdachny said. "Maybe could have been a little bit better. I know by the end, we were scoring a lot more."

They traded away one of their top scorers in Jessie Eldridge, who wound up tied for second in PWHL goals this season. A late-season surge made her the league's all-time leader in power-play goals (10) and the Boston Fleet's leading scorer with 23 points. It was a player-for-player, curious trade that, on its face, seemed to benefit playoff-bound Boston. Incoming player Theresa Schafzahl did chip in nine points in 11 Torrent games after the trade.

The scoring picked up, but the Torrent still averaged 2.1 goals per game, third-worst in the PWHL. Julia Gosling, who tied for the team points lead (20), scored six goals before Jan. 20, then never again.

The team had a bad habit of falling behind early, which created a need for dramatic comebacks. They scored first only eight times over the course of the season, and surrendered 11 goals within the first five minutes of the game.

According to QuantHockey, their penalty kill (83.9%) and power play (15.7%) were both fourth out of eight teams. Their trio of goalies made an average of 28.1 saves per game, which was the second highest, and the Torrent allowed a league-high 92 goals.

"The shortcomings - it's very clear. Our defending is (something) that we have to get much better on," O'Rourke said. "We know there's change coming."

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Another round of expansion this summer is almost guaranteed and set to be announced soon. Every exit interview at Kraken Community Iceplex felt like a tentative goodbye.

Expansion is good for the health of the league, but it's tough to plan ahead when the goal posts keep moving. During the expansion that launched the Vancouver and Seattle franchises, only a handful of stars on each team could be protected. Even players under contract could be signed away. Those parameters, whether similar or brand-new, will affect decision making.

A shootout loss in the season finale cost the Torrent the top overall pick in the draft under the "Gold Plan," which rewards post-elimination performance. But the Torrent are not even positive they'll get the second-best pick in the upcoming PWHL draft.

"It's a great draft class coming in, and there (are) a lot of really good hockey players in that class, so a lot of them would fit really well into this organization," Turner said. "So we'll take a look at those players, meet with them, make sure culturally they fit here as well, and that they fit the identity that we're trying to build and the motivation there.

"And then, obviously expansion. We'll see how that shakes out, and we'll have to adjust."

Knight, who calls Sun Valley, Idaho, her hometown, spent quite a lot of time talking about bringing a Walter Cup to Seattle for someone wanting to relocate again. She arrived on a one-year deal but expressed a desire to "find my way back" if allowed.

"I'm incredibly proud of the group, to be a part of the first," Knight, 36, said.

"Whenever you throw in expansion and newness, there's a lot of intangibles that are difficult to overcome. But I thought our group rose to every occasion, regardless of what kind of adversity that we faced, and was really excited to be representing Seattle and build something outstanding here."

For as long as she's here, Knight is one to build around.

"Day 1 starts, really, with Hilary," O'Rourke said. "As a person, she's so welcoming and generous. You look at the demands … since the Olympic break, it's crazy that's been asked of her. But she never forgets anybody."

They're aware of their record. Once they untangle their new, expansion-related constraints, it's back to the drawing board for Season 2.

"I think everyone on the team and staff knows that we need to give as much to this fanbase as they give to us," Turner said.

Speaking on behalf of the locker room, defender and alternate captain Emily Brown echoed those comments.

"It just means a lot to have that acceptance and that grace as we figure things out," Brown said.

"Bigger and better sights, going into this next year."

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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 6:43 AM.