The Toronto Sceptres look hapless offensively on paper. But a renaissance season from veterans Natalie Spooner and Jamie Lee Rattray could be exactly what the Sceptres need to surprise people.
In the PWHL's inaugural season, no team could stop Natalie Spooner. She seemingly stepped onto the ice and asserted her driving force that left defenders on their heels, and goaltenders pulling pucks from the back of their net almost nightly.
Then, it all stopped. Facing the Minnesota Frost in the opening round of playoffs, Spooner took a hit that look innocuous at the time, but ended in a near year-long absence from the player who would be named league MVP and leading scorer, and who seasons later still holds the league's single-season goal scoring mark despite the inaugural campaign being six games shorter.
When Spooner returned, there was clearly rust. Last season, her first full season since her injury, Spooner managed only eight points in 30 games. But she played all 30 games, remaining healthy. This season, a renaissance from Spooner is not simply something Toronto is hoping for, it's something the desperately need.
Toronto lost the bulk of their scoring in the offseason watching Daryl Watts, Jesse Compher, and Maggie Connors leave in expansion, Emma Maltais sign with Montreal in free agency, and captain Blayre Turnbull announce her pregnancy. In total, Toronto only has 21 goals returning to their lineup, tying Spooner's three from last season as the most of any returning Toronto player.
But Spooner scored 20 in her inaugural season. She was in a rhythm, and no other team could catch the beat. Last year, Spooner fell to 15:33 minutes per game, and she looked like she wasn't able to hit her stride. This year, Toronto will need to lean more heavily on Spooner, which should mean a healthy boost in ice time, and could result in Spooner finding that rhythm again.
But she isn't the only Toronto forward the Sceptres will hope and need a renaissance season from. They'll also be looking at their major offseason signing, Jamie Lee Rattray.
Last season Rattray had career highs in Boston scoring four goals and 12 points. Both totals are more than any other returning Sceptres player managed last season, but neither are what Toronto needs. In Boston, Rattray was deployed in third and sometimes fourth line minutes and roles. In Toronto, she could enter this season as the Sceptres' number one centre. Rattray is a proven scorer, but just hasn't been used in that role often in recent seasons. In 2022-23, the season prior to the PWHL, Rattray had 16 points in 20 games for the PWHPA champion Team Harvey's. In 2022, she also put up nine points in seven games for Canada at the Olympics. It was a welcomed stretch as Rattray had also been predominantly used for her two-way checking skills with Canada as well.
Going back further, Rattray was a star, including being voted league MVP by the players, in the CWHL scoring more than a point per game across her four seasons, and NCAA superstar, finishing her senior season as the Patty Kazmaier Award winner after scoring 66 points in 41 games for Clarkson. She's a player who has done is at every level, and given a role that doesn't simply involve penalty killing and shutting down top lines, Rattray could do it again.
Couple the desired boost from Rattray and Spooner up front with a healthy sophomore season from their 2025 Draft class, and a bounce back season on both sides of the puck from Renata Fast and Ella Shelton, and the Toronto Sceptres could be one of the league's surprise teams.
Right now, the Sceptres are being picked to finish near the PWHL's basement. Will those expectations ring true, or can a pair of veteran forwards help carry Toronto to a surprise season.
