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NEW YORK — There were several players the New York Sirens would have been happy to draft with the No. 7 overall pick this summer. For general manager Pascal Daoust, though, Emma Peschel was the clear choice.
New York selected the Ohio State defender with its lone first-round pick, adding one of the top defensive prospects in the 2026 PWHL Draft to its blue line.
“She’s gonna fit and fill a role that’s pretty rare,” Daoust explained last Tuesday at Peschel’s introductory press conference. “A D that we feel can become a QB in this league, a D that can become a No. 1 D in this league. When you have this, you can’t wait.”
Choosing Peschel meant passing on a couple of high-ceiling forwards — namely Wisconsin star and United States Olympian Kirsten Simms.
“There were still a couple of good forwards [on the board],” Daoust acknowledged. “But when comes the time that you can call in Emma Peschel’s name, you know that she wouldn’t be there a bit later.”
Many PWHL pundits viewed Simms as a top-five talent in the draft, praising her elite playmaking ability and proven scoring touch. She finished her NCAA career with 100 goals and 238 points in 152 games, graduating as Wisconsin’s fourth all-time leader in points per game. Few expected her to still be on the board when New York picked at No. 7.
Yet the Sirens stayed the course and selected Peschel. The Toronto Sceptres happily scooped up Simms one pick later at No. 8. Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury admitted she was surprised the 2024 WCHA Player of the Year was still available late in the first round.
“You can’t really predict what people are going to go for,” Kingsbury said. “When it happened, we were like, ‘can’t pass that up.'”
At first glance, Simms seemed like a potential target for a New York club that suffered major losses at the forward position. Daoust protected his top three scorers — Sarah Fillier, Casey O’Brien, and Kristyna Kaltounkova — in Phase 1, but Kristin O’Neill, Anne Cherkowski, Maddi Wheeler, and Taylor Girard all departed during the expansion process, vacating a total of 16 goals and 32 points.
A pre-established connection with O’Brien made the fit all the more intriguing. Simms and O’Brien worked seamlessly as linemates at Wisconsin for the better part of two seasons, with O’Brien going as far as to say the pair “share a brain.” Together, they helped lift the Badgers to a pair of national championships, both at the expense of Peschel’s Buckeyes. Simms won her third title in March as Wisconsin edged Ohio State 3-2.
Ultimately, Daoust wasn’t swayed.
“A lot of love for a lot of players [we] would have liked to draft. We just couldn’t at that time,” Daoust said. “We also have good skills with a bunch of forwards, so having the opportunity to call [Peschel’s] name was something that we couldn’t pass.”
New York entered the draft with remarkable depth on the blue line. The Sirens will return four defenders with multiple PWHL seasons under their belts. Daoust also re-signed Dayle Ross and Nicole Vallario this offseason, both of whom eclipsed 10 games as rookies in 2025-26.
Still, New York’s defensive corps lacks the high-end talent that anchors its forward group. Peschel could change that if she develops into the cornerstone piece that Daoust envisions.
The Sirens’ uncertain goaltending situation may have also influenced the decision. Daoust bypassed the draft’s largely inexperienced goalie class, opting instead to sign veteran backup Elaine Chuli in free agency. Chuli brings far more PWHL experience than Callie Shanahan and Kaley Doyle, but replacing Kayle Osborne’s impact will be a tall order for New York’s reimagined goalie room. Bolstering the group in front of the net could help ease that burden.
Peschel poised for big impact as rookie in 2026-27
Allyson Simpson’s departure leaves an opening in the Sirens’ top four — one that Peschel could fill as soon as November. Daoust stopped short of making any guarantees last Tuesday, though he didn’t dismiss the possibility of the Ohio State graduate breaking camp in a top-four role.
“The chair will be available for all D to come and fight for it. There’s definitely an opportunity for her.”
The Sirens aren’t interested in rushing their 2026 first-rounder. In fact, Daoust believes New York’s packed blue line will only help Peschel’s transition to the PWHL.
“Every year, players going from college to pro need some time to adjust. She’s going to need her own time, and we’ll see how fast it goes. But she’s joining a D-corps that will give her this flexibility,” Daoust said. “We have a couple of vets that will not only give her the opportunity to shine and to be herself, but also take away the pressure of a first-rounder thinking that she needs to take the whole thing herself.”
Still, there’s reason to believe the 22-year-old Peschel will take on a significant role in 2026-27. Coach Greg Fargo has repeatedly shown a willingness to lean on rookies during his two seasons in New York. Maja Nylen Persson (No. 10 overall 2024) and Simpson (No. 16 overall 2024) both worked their way into top-four minutes as rookie defenders in Fargo’s first season behind the bench. O’Brien was the only rookie forward to average over 20 minutes of ice time in 2025-26. Three other Sirens rookies — Kaltounkova, Cherkowski, and Maddi Wheeler — ranked among the top five first-year forwards in average ice time.
That playing time extended to the power play as well, where Peschel is expected to contribute next season. In 2025-26, she quarterbacked an Ohio State unit that finished seventh nationally in power-play efficiency, converting on 26.7 percent of its opportunities. She could provide a more powerful alternative to the deceptive but undersized Nylen Persson.
Peschel, for her part, appears more than capable of seizing an all-around role from the jump.
“She is someone who is pro-ready, definitely, to our eyes,” Daoust said. “Physicality is not something that she’s going to need to adjust for a very long time. She skates well, she plays well. She will take care of the play, the puck, the teammate.
Peschel has all the physical tools to succeed in the PWHL, boasting a 5-foot-10 frame — and a willingness to use it. She’s also shown she can play a physical style without sacrificing discipline.
Penalties plagued Peschel in 2024-25, when the junior racked up 21 in 40 games, tied for seventh-most in the nation. That offseason, she trained with former NHL defenseman James Wisniewski — Ohio State’s associate head coach — in an effort to fine-tune her hitting and reduce her time in the penalty box. The work paid off. Peschel cut her penalties in half as a senior in 2025-26, serving just 10 across 34 games.
But the scouting process extends well beyond on-ice ability. New York placed a heavy emphasis on culture last offseason, parting with multiple key veterans in a surprising roster overhaul. Whether that approach yielded improved results is debatable. The Sirens avoided a last-place finish for the first time in franchise history, yet finished with one fewer point than their League-worst total of 37 from 2024-25. The result was the same: another missed postseason.
Nonetheless, leadership remains a central focus of Daoust’s vision. Peschel has already earned plenty of praise in that department, including recently from Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall.
“She is so reliable,” Muzerall said in an interview with Jocks Next Gen. “People follow her. She’s very contagious, and people want to be around her.”
Daoust acknowledged last week that Peschel’s leadership qualities made her profile even more appealing.
“It’s hard to teach leadership. There’s a natural side of it,” Daoust said. “You never have too much leadership. The leadership that she’ll bring — it’s not something that we can order on Amazon or eBay.”
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