PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres hoping third time’s the charm

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Year 3 finds the Toronto Sceptres once again eying a Walter Cup and now leery and very much aware of the obstacles that kept them from getting there in the first two seasons.

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Could this be the year that it all pans out for the Sceptres? It’s definitely possible.

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But just as there were hurdles in those first two years — injuries an unpreventable one, an inconsistent goaltending situation the other — that kept them from success in the playoffs, there are bound to be new ones in Year 3.

The good news is this team, which returns its leadership group and the bulk of its core despite a talent-draining expansion draft and equally skill-sucking free-agency period, has learned how to adapt and roll with the punches that come in professional sports.

In fact, Day 1 this year of training camp had the group already addressing the elephant in the room — as some of them described it — talking openly about how poor starts in both the first two years hurt their chances for success by the time playoffs rolled around.

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The team rallied to overcome those starts on both occasions, finishing first overall in Year 1 and second in Year 2.

But both times the Sceptres came up against the eventual league champs in the playoffs, losing to the Minnesota Frost in the first round both times.

This core believes it’s better having gone through those tough times and believe, even in a year when many seem to be handing the title to one of the stacked newcomers in Vancouver and Seattle, that they can win a Walter Cup this season.

Below we’ll explain why this team feels it has that kind of potential.

DID THE SCEPTRES OFFSET THE LOSSES IN EXPANSION WITH SOME GAINS IN FREE AGENCY?

There’s no question the expansion process took a bite out of what had been the Toronto roster.

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Gone are Hannah Miller, Sarah Nurse and their first three picks in the 2025 draft — forward Julia Gosling, defender Megan Carter and forward and former Patty Kazmaier winner Izzy Daniel. The team also parted ways with starting netminder Kristen Campbell, sending her to Vancouver in a draft-night trade, and lost Hayley Scamurra to Montreal in free agency.

That’s a lot to overcome, but GM Gina Kingsbury rallied brilliantly, bringing in the ever-steady presence in the net in Elaine Chuli from Montreal, some veteran forward depth in Claire Dalton and Clair DeGeorge also from Montreal and, in her coup de grace of the off-season, lured all-world defender Ella Shelton from New York in another draft-night trade.

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If her roster is even half as adept at rolling with the punches as Kingsbury proved to be in the off-season, the Sceptres will be playing in that Walter Cup final.

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HOW WILL THIS TEAM MAKE UP FOR ALL THAT LOST OFFENCE?

No one or even two players are going to offset those offensive losses.

That said, Ella Shelton’s addition will be a big one in that regard. Renata Fast doesn’t have a lot of company when it comes to being the elite offensive defender in the league, but Shelton is right there.

In fact, Shelton actually has put up more points over the first two seasons than Fast, who is coming off a PWHL defender of the year season.

Between that pair, head coach Troy Ryan is counting on added input from his back end — not just in terms of providing points, but making the offence easier for all concerned with more consistently routine breakouts and simply getting the puck in the offensive end more regularly.

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But that’s not the only source of added offence Ryan is counting on to potentially lighten the load on returning offensive stars like Daryl Watts and Jesse Compher. The Sceptres head coach is being proactive, moving Emma Maltais to centre in hopes of sparking more offence from a Canadian national team veteran who is coming off a big off season and someone who had a good summer at the national team camps.

Ryan also is asking captain Blayre Turnbull to put some of her well-known defensive focus into her own offensive game this season.

And then, of course, there’s Season 1 PWHL MVP and leading scorer Natalie Spooner back and fully healthy with a productive off-season under her belt and ready to re-establish herself among the most dangerous players in the league.

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Between all that, Ryan — and Turnbull for that matter — are confident the offence will be there.

WHAT ABOUT THE GOALTENDING SITUATION?

As popular as she was with the fanbase, Kristen (Soupy) Campbell and the Sceptres had to part ways. She needed a new start and the Sceptres needed more consistency from its starting netminder. Campbell was just too streaky — sometimes outstanding but other times, like last year’s playoffs, just not reliable enough — for the Sceptres.

Ryan is content to let this one play out with the returning Raygan Kirk and Chuli both having the chance to earn the No. 1 in the Toronto net.

But Ryan equally is prepared to go with a tandem similar to what the two-time champion Minnesota Frost has done with Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley.

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Kirk proved herself more than capable in a rookie year cut short by injury while Chuli is a steady veteran capable of winning the net, sharing it or even backing Kirk up if it came to it as she did so successfully in Montreal behind Ann-Renee Desbiens.

WHAT KIND OF HELP DID THEY GET FROM THE DRAFT?

Even trading away their first-round pick (third overall) to New York in the Shelton deal, the draft appears to have brought in a bounty of talent for the Sceptres.

Granted, it’s still extremely early, but at least three of the picks from this year’s draft already are looking like players that will have an impact this season. That would be Emma Gentry out of St. Cloud State, Kiara Zanon from Ohio State and Clara Van Wieren from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

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Gentry is a prototypical power forward who is going to be the talk of this league very soon. A solid combination of physicality, competitiveness and sheer talent, She is the ticking time bomb waiting to go off on the rest of the league.

All Zanon did to grab the spotlight was score in both of the Sceptres’ exhibition games while Van Wieren is another big body who boasts a hard shot and the kind of skill level that should help her become an impact player sooner than later.

IS THERE A PLAYER TO WATCH WHO MIGHT SURPRISE THIS SEASON?

Why yes, there is and it’s a player going into her third year. Maggie Connors mostly has been a regular in Ryan’s rotation over two seasons, but she returns this year looking like a player determined to do more than just fill a role.

Connors, a native of St. John’s, NL, and a Princeton graduate opted to spend the bulk of her summer in Toronto training at Gary Roberts Performance, where good hockey players go to become great.

Connors basically lived at the Roberts’ gym this summer and it was obvious in training camp, where her speed and attacking nature both stood out.

It won’t be a surprise if Connors exceeds everyone’s expectations this season.

mganter@postmedia.com

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