Daryl Watts discusses her new role with the PWHL's Toronto Sceptres and the opportunity to make an immediate impact with her new team. After a long six months without the Toronto Sceptres, they finally make their return this Saturday. With the start of the season just around the corner it only seems fitting that we look at Toronto’s new roster heading into the 2024-2025 season. SCEPTRES GOALIES After being named goalie of the year last season Kristen Campbell will return to tend to blue crease again for the Sceptres. It’s not unreasonable to expect, similar to last season, that Campbell will get the majority of the starts this season. With a strong showing last season where she posted a 1.99 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in 22 regular season games, it’s hard to fault Troy Ryan for sticking to his guns. That said, it's unlikely Campbell will play all 30 games, especially with the addition of recent draft pick Raygan Kirk serving as a capable backup this year. Last season, with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Kirk helped her team win the national championship while posting a stellar 1.05 GAA and a .945 SV% in her 24 games. SCEPTRES DEFENCE One of the best blueline pairs in the world, Renata Fast and Jocelyn Larocque, is back and looking to continue to take on a large workload for the Spectres this season. The cast behind the two juggernauts has seen some changes this offseason that will add more depth to this group and allow Troy Ryan to rest the top pair a little more. Kali Flanagan and Allie Munroe will also be returning this season for the Sceptres as the pair proved very effective for the club with the combination of Flanagan’s speed and puck-moving ability, while Munroe will bring a physical grinding defensive game, something they have added more of this summer. Lauren Bernard will be a big part of that coming off of a national championship with the Buckeyes last season and looks to add a strong two-way game to the group. Joining her in the new and improved defensive group is UBC Thunderbird alumni Rylind MacKinnon [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/rylind-mackinnon-takes-control-on-and-off-the-ice] who at 5’10 will bring a physical shutdown pairing to the bottom pair. One player to look out for later in the season will be Megan Carter [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/on-and-off-the-ice-megan-carter-is-a-player-to-watch-in-toronto], who because of injury will not be starting the season in the lineup. She is also known for her defence-first mindset and love of throwing her body around. She is currently on the LTIR but has been skating. SCEPTRES FORWARDS Toronto has one of the deepest forward groups in the PWHL this season, which is bursting with talent. In the top six Toronto will hope star Sarah Nurse can get off to a hot start this season while veterans Blayre Turnbull, and Emma Maltais can continue bringing their world-class two-way play and physicality every night. The most notable change about the forward group is the loss of last season’s MVP Natalie Spooner to start the season who is expected to be out for an extended period of time. Despite this, Toronto will be fine. Why you might ask? It comes down to Toronto filling their biggest need after last season: depth scoring. The player leading that charge is free agent signing Daryl Watts who burst onto the scene last year with 10 goals, leading Ottawa in that category. Julia Gosling, this summer's first-round pick, will also play a major role in increasing scoring depth to the Sceptres as well Despite being only 23-years-old, Gosling has already proven herself at the highest level playing in her first World Championships last spring. At St. Lawrence University, Gosling dominated scoring 22 goals and 51 total points in just 37 games. Another player not to sleep on is recent third-round pick Izzy Daniels, who has turned some heads in camp with her exceptional passing skills and underrated shot. Daniel scored 59 points in 34 games at Cornell last season, good enough to win the Patty Kazmaier Award as the NCAA’s top player. This is not even mentioning Hannah Miller who has one of the best shots on the team and Noemi Neubauerová who in international competition has shown she can produce while also bringing a physical presence. These players will be critical to filling the void of Spooner's absence and will also help supply waves of scoring throughout the lineup, something they didn’t have last season.
