Sceptres’ Defense Has Surprising Depth

The selection of Northeastern graduate, and Milton, Ontario native, Megan Carter by Toronto in the second round of the 2024 PWHL draft was seen as a near-perfect fit. Not only is she from the area, but Carter was a long-time attendee of hockey camps run by two Team Canada defender alumnae, Cheryl Pounder and Becky Kellar.

She also filled a need that was evident at times in the first season of the league: with the top pair of Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque playing heavy minutes, there wasn’t another rock-solid reliable blueliner aside from Kali Flanagan on the roster. The Sceptres’ second and third pairs were occasionally over-matched, or not entrusted with dangerous situations consistently.

In fact, coach Troy Ryan allowed that at times, he knew that he was relying on “an 80% Renata Fast” in some situations, knowing that was still his best option. He trusts that his leaders know when this is the case and are willing to be enlisted to perform under those conditions.

With Carter’s arrival, there was relief knowing that she could step up to the first pair and had the experience to play big situations. At Northeastern, Carter served as captain of the Huskies as a graduate student and was named Hockey East Best Defender in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

She’s well-known to hockey observers in the Toronto area, having attended hockey schools with Team Canada alumnae Cheryl Pounder and Becky Kellar.

Carter also won gold with Canada in 2019 at the U18 Women’s World Championship.

So when it was announced that Carter would be out for the start of the season, a small sense of panic ensued. The Sceptres would have to go back to last season’s pairings for the most part, with Kali Flanagan and Allie Munroe and probably returning invitee Olivia Knowles lining up with a rookie like Lauren Bernard or Rylind MacKinnon.

After watching the first few days of training camp, however, it looks like the team might have found capable defenders in both rookies. MacKinnon has already been a standout showing her willingness to play a physical game.

“She's going to be like the hardest player to play against in this league,” said Renata Fast of MacKinnon.

“But there's no doubt about it. Her size, she's so physical – like you can't move her. I remember a couple of years ago, I was battling against her at a national team practice and I literally could not move her. And then I when I got the puck and she just bounced me off the puck and took it.”

Jocelyne Larocque added, “She's big, she's strong. I think she plays the right way, is very defensively sound.”

MacKinnon said that to make the team she plans on “just staying calm and playing my game and not trying to do too much or be a player that I'm not.

“I think if I just stick to my game and chip away and look to continue improving that, that'll help me a lot.”

Bernard has also not shied away from any challenge, physical or tactical. The Sceptres knew they were getting a smart, well-trained athlete like all players from Ohio State coach Nadine Muzzerall’s program. But they might not have anticipated the superior skating and high compete level that has been displayed already in the otherwise reserved player’s on-ice personality.

Bernard said she feels confident.

“I trust in my training and I was in very good hands in Columbus, and I think that's where a lot of confidence comes from is your training and knowing that you're ready and just believing that, so that's what I'm going to stick to, what I know, what I'm comfortable with, my strengths, kind of take those and run with it a little bit.”

The two were each paired separately with veterans Larocque and Fast during an early practice.

MacKinnon and Munroe also teamed up for a few reps, and Larocque observed, “[Those two] are like the bash sisters. So if they're out together, watch out. I noticed they gravitated towards each other a lot. So that would be like a wicked pair that I think the other team would not want to go on the ice against.”

The ‘lack of depth’ on Toronto’s back end might turn out to be a story that was created early before the on-ice narrative showed that it needn’t have been raised at all. If MacKinnon and Bernard continue to perform, the story will have a surprising turn that bodes well for the Sceptres’ early-season performance.