What Do the Toronto Sceptres Need in Free Agency & the Draft?

For the Toronto Sceptres, the PWHL Expansion Draft likely went as well as it could. Like the other teams in the league, the Sceptres lost four players, but on the plus side, they were able to hold onto some of their core.

Forwards Sarah Nurse and Izzy Daniel are headed way out west to Vancouver, while forward Julia Gosling and defender Megan Carter are going to Seattle.

Every team has been impacted by expansion, and with a number of pending free agents and the regular draft in the weeks to come, there's plenty of room to retool the roster and add more depth.

Who’s Still Around?

After losing three forwards and a defender in the expansion draft, including two of their top six forwards, Toronto will need to boost the front of its lineup. Up front, the Sceptres have Daryl Watts, Blayre Turnbull, and Emma Maltais under contract, as well as Emma Woods. They also hold the rights to Noemi Neubauerová and Anneke Rankila.

On the blueline, the Sceptres have three players under contract: Renata Fast, Savannah Harmon and Allie Munroe. They also hold Anna Kjellbin's rights.

Finally, in net, the Sceptres still have Kristen Campbell and Raygan Kirk, though The Hockey News' Ian Kennedy reports that the Sceptres may be interested in trading Campbell, and that the Sceptres may be looking to sign Montréal's Elaine Chuli.

Needs in Free Agency

If I'm Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury, my first priority is to lock up some of my pending free agents. Toronto has a lot of solid players who could walk this offseason, and it'll be critical to bring at least a few of them back.

My first target is, naturally, Natalie Spooner. It's a no-brainer that the Sceptres should re-sign her, and preferably to a multi-year deal. She's arguably one of the team's biggest offensive threats, and as long as she wants to keep playing (she's 34 and recently returned from her knee injury), I would want her on my team.

Other priority free agent signings for Toronto may include Hannah Miller and Jesse Compher. Miller is another of the Sceptres' top scorers and has been a consistent offensive presence, while Compher is a solid piece to take into the future. Miller had 24 points, including 10 goals, this season.

If the Sceptres do indeed bring in Elaine Chuli from Montréal - a Toronto reunion for the former Six netminder - she could instantly vie to be the starting goaltender. I don't see a way that the team would have Chuli, Campbell, and Kirk, so we'll have to keep an eye on how things play out there.

I'll talk more about defense in a minute, but if the Sceptres want to use free agency, they could look to Boston's Jessica Digirolamo or Montréal's Kati Tabin. Either would be great on that second pairing.

Needs for the Draft

An immediate priority here would be to bolster the defense. With only three players under contract on the blueline for next season, and plenty of good options available in the draft, the Sceptres could look to add someone like Rory Guilday, Haley Winn or Nina Jobst-Smith. Toronto just lost Julia Gosling, but they could easily add her sister, Nicole, too.

The Sceptres also need to replace some offense, as Nurse was one of their top five scorers despite missing nine games. She, Gosling, and Daniel combined accounted for 31 points last season and all three were top 10 on the team in scoring. I'd love to see Toronto add a big offensive threat in the draft, and there are a handful of them: Wisconsin's Casey O'Brien, Colgate's Kristýna Kaltounková or Minnesota's Natálie Mlýnková would be fantastic additions to Troy Ryan's squad.

Depending on how the aforementioned goaltending situation shakes out, I'd also expect the Sceptres to add a third netminder via the draft. It would be the most cost-effective for them as opposed to signing a free agent (though I have a feeling many would love to see them re-sign Carly Jackson).

Specific details about free agency periods have not been released, but a signing window for players on expiring contracts opens on Monday, June 16 at 9 AM EST. The PWHL Draft will be held on Tuesday, June 24 at 7 AM EST in Ottawa, Ontario.