The final player selected in the 2024 PWHL Draft has gone from fighting for opportunities to becoming one of the league’s top goaltenders — and one of the Toronto Sceptres’ foundational players.
Two years ago, Raygan Kirk waited longer than anyone else to hear her name called at the PWHL Draft.
Forty-one players were selected before the Toronto Sceptres took the Ohio State goaltender with the sixth pick of the seventh round — the final selection of the 2024 draft.
Two years later, Toronto wasn't willing to risk losing her. During the 2026 expansion process, the Sceptres signed Kirk to a three-year contract and used one of their three initial protection slots on her, alongside defenders Renata Fast and Ella Shelton.
In between, Kirk did something few would have predicted from the last player off the draft board: she became one of the best goaltenders in the PWHL.
Kirk finished the 2025-26 season with a .934 save percentage and 1.87 goals-against average in 23 appearances. Both marks ranked third in the league, trailing only Montreal's Ann-Renée Desbiens and Boston's Aerin Frankel. Kirk stopped 599 of the 641 shots she faced, recorded three shutouts and set a PWHL record with 17 games of 25 or more saves.
For Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury, though, Kirk's rise is about more than the numbers.
“I've always admired her approach,” Kingsbury said. “I think she's one of those athletes in general that is grateful for the opportunities that she gets, and is hungry to get more. She's bought into the process, and she's just willing to do what it takes to be the best she can be.”
Waiting For The Opportunity
Kirk arrived at Ohio State in 2021-22, where one of the goaltenders already in place was Swiss legend Andrea Brändli, then in her senior season.
Brändli (now with PWHL Detroit) remembers a young goaltender who didn't allow her role or a difficult day at the rink to dictate her attitude.
“She was always so happy no matter what happened, no matter how good or bad practices were, no matter how much she played or didn't,” Brändli said. “She was always so grateful to be there, so happy to be there. She really put in the work ethic as well.”
Kirk remained at Ohio State through 2023-24, finishing her collegiate career as an NCAA champion with the Buckeyes.
Despite that championship pedigree, Kirk sat through six complete rounds at the PWHL Draft and almost all of the seventh before Toronto finally called her name.
Her professional career began much as her college career had: without a guarantee that the net would be hers.
Toronto already had Kristen Campbell as its established starter. Kirk would have to earn whatever came next. And she did just that.
The Switch
By her second PWHL season, the balance in Toronto's crease had changed. Campbell was traded to Vancouver and the Sceptres signed veteran Elaine Chuli to make a possible tandem in net.
Kirk described her evolution during last season as a change in how she approached the mental side of her position.
“I just kind of turned this switch,” she said. “Not in a selfish way — obviously being a team player — but just worrying about what I can control and playing with that edge. Whatever the score was, I knew what I was doing and what I could handle.”
For a goaltender whose career had included uncertainty over playing time, that meant removing the uncertainty from her own preparation.
“A lot of it is out of my control,” Kirk said of sharing the crease. “I just always have the mindset that I'm playing.”
And when she did play, she looked like someone who expected to be there.
“Having the experience from last year, you just have to play with that mindset and swagger almost, I guess is what I try, even though I'm not really that person off the ice,” Kirk said. “You really just have to play like that. That's how I felt has helped me.”
The swagger didn't show up as flash, but more as calm.
“Relaxed,” Kirk said when asked to describe her ideal mental state. “When I get too up, I play really tense. So I just tell myself to relax and let my hands do the work.”
“One thing that's been really impressive about Kirky this season is how calm she is back there,” Fast said during the season. “As a D-core, we're constantly talking about how nice it is to have a goalie who's that steady.”
Turning A Reset Into A Breakout
Kirk's rise wasn't without setbacks. She allowed six goals in a Jan. 20 loss in Seattle, her toughest outing of the season, before using the Olympic break to work on the details of her game.
“Not being happy with my performance last time we were out west,” Kirk said, “getting to work on little things and then getting basically a whole month to prepare for these two games — I think that really helped me build.”
It did. Kirk returned to Seattle and Vancouver after the break and stopped 54 of 57 shots in back-to-back wins.
And the improvement lasted. Through her first 13 appearances, Kirk had a .920 save percentage and 2.25 GAA. By season's end, those numbers had climbed to .934 and 1.87 over 23 appearances, cementing her place as Toronto's No. 1.
From Last Pick To Building Block
Kirk's final record — 8-8-3-3 — didn't necessarily illustrate how good her season had been. Her underlying goaltending numbers did.
Only Desbiens (.955) and Frankel (.953) finished ahead of Kirk's .934 save percentage. The same two goaltenders were the only ones ahead of her 1.87 GAA.
For a player who had entered the league as the final selection in the draft, Kirk has become one of its top-performing starters.
“Even though she's fairly young and new to the league, she's proven that she actually is a number one goalie and has a bright, bright future,” Kingsbury said. In The Hockey News' redraft of the 2024 class, Kirk was chosen 6th overall and 10th overall, a remarkable jump.
“If you can have a good goalie in this league, we've seen it throughout, you're typically in a good position,” Kingsbury said. “Holding on to Kirk was really important for us.”
Perhaps the clearest indication of how Kirk had approached her rise came during expansion discussions.
Kingsbury said Kirk was willing to be left exposed if doing so could help Toronto protect another teammate. Kirk told the organization she would refuse another deal and return to Toronto unless she received an offer she couldn't turn down.
“Put me through,” Kingsbury recalled Kirk telling her. “I will come back to you. I promise I will not take a deal anywhere unless I get an EFO. Don't sacrifice anyone else.”
Toronto didn't take the chance. Instead, the Sceptres protected Kirk and committed to her for three more seasons.
The goaltender who once waited until the final pick of the draft had become a player Toronto wouldn't risk leaving available.
And the qualities Brändli remembered from Kirk's first season at Ohio State — gratitude regardless of how much she played and a willingness to put in the work — were the same ones Kingsbury saw years later.
“Those are the people we want to build our organization around,” Kingsbury said.
