Focus for the Toronto Sceptres is on Natalie Spooner's health...while they're also looking forward at what's next without Spooner. Here's an update.

As PWHL training camps opened on Tuesday, one of the biggest stories was that despite reigning league MVP Natalie Spooner’s goal of making it back, she won’t be with her team in Toronto, nor will she start the season.

According to Sceptres’ GM Gina Kingsbury, “She will not start the season, unfortunately. We will work with her throughout this recovery process on getting her healthy and back on the ice. We'll make sure she's at 100% when she comes back, considering her career and her health, and to be able to chase her child for many years to come.

“We want to make sure that we do it right. And she does as well. She's doing really well, as you can imagine. Her positivity, her approach, and her work ethic all help her heal much faster than most people, I would say. But we will be very careful on making sure she's ready to go at 100% and not putting her at more risk.”

Spooner herself had announced that she had “circled” opening day as her target to resume play, but the team is taking a cautious approach. To open training camp, the Sceptres placed Spooner on long-term injury reserve.

“I think you know Natalie,” said Kingsbury. “She's eager. She'll always have lofty goals. And like I said, we are going to take the advice of the surgeons and everyone, the medical staff on when she'll be ready to play. And she's doing really well – probably surpassing anyone that would be in that situation. But we want to make sure that she's at 100% when she touches that ice and we protect her at all costs.

“She's an incredible athlete who has a lot more to give in this great sport. And we want to make sure that we're putting her in a position to succeed when she's ready to go.”

Coach Troy Ryan said the team will miss their leading scorer and one of the brightest lights from the league’s inaugural season.

“I think any team that gets to start a season without an MVP and a top scorer and just her presence in general – and although she'll be around her group all the time, it’s very difficult. It's a lot of offense that we're going to look to manufacture it elsewhere, but we're not going to get that offense from any one particular player. It's going to be a shared responsibility for sure. But it's good that she's going to be around and back before we know it.”

KIngsbury agreed: “I don't know if there's anyone that can take the load off of Natalie Spooner. I think she showed what she can bring to a team and to an offense. I think you're going to see a more collective approach from a team perspective. We're expecting everyone to somewhat contribute a little bit more offensively and it's not a one-fit where one person comes in and replaces Natalie. It's more of a mindset and a bit of a shift in how we approach the game and concepts that we bring in to ensure we're getting offense from the collective versus 30% from one athlete that we saw last year.”

Spooner indeed scored almost a third of the Sceptres’ goals last season, so when it was time to bring in free agents and make selections at the draft, offense was top of mind for the team.

“I think we always planned that she wouldn't be back for the start,” Kingsbury noted. “And I’d think, if she's back, then great, that's a surprise and we just got better, but I think you always have to look at it as worst-case scenario of how long it could potentially take and making sure that you've got the right pieces to ride the wave until you get her back.

“So I think that's that was always in the back of our mind: ‘Okay, if Natalie's not starting, what does that look like? How do we build our team to make sure that we've got the right pieces in place to start the season off well, and then just get better when she gets back in the lineup?’”

Ryan said he is impressed with how far Spooner has come and eagerly looks forward to her return.

“She's a machine, with the work that she'll do off the ice to get ready and on ice to get ready. Very optimistic that she'll get back at the earliest and safest opportunity for her. Circling that date on the calendar, I think any good athlete would do that. It's just something to strive towards. It doesn't mean it's realistic, but we're very optimistic in her recovery, we know she'll put in the work for sure.”