Daryl Watts is returning to play for her hometown of Toronto after signing with PWHL Toronto. According to Watts, "it's a dream" to be able to come home. Daryl Watts is a one-of-a-kind hockey player for more than just her skills. Her history of making unconventional decisions sets her apart. She showed that in her decision to retire early, to sign a groundbreaking contract, and to leave her PWHL team as a free agent Daryl Watts, the newest member of PWHL Toronto, is not just a good hockey player or a talented scoring forward. She is an individual playing a team sport. That is not to say she is selfish or plays for herself or isn’t a great teammate; instead, it is simply a function of her uniqueness and independence of thought, style, and outlook on the game. Watts has offensive skill and talent like few others but also has an unusual and somewhat awkward relationship with some of the powers that be in women’s hockey. This is the quality that makes her an individual — her unabashed determination toward a course that she charts for herself, and even to change course when it suits her. To speak out about what she wants, what she has going for her, why she has succeeded or not succeeded, and an almost gleeful attitude about not even knowing where she might be going next. For instance, in her first interview with the press after signing with PWHL Toronto as a free agent this summer (along with Emma Woods, she is the first player to switch teams) Watts summed up her reasons for joining the team: “Obviously I want to play for my hometown team, but then also my conversations with Gina and Troy were so positive and the hockey talk was incredibly positive too, so at the end of the day Toronto emerged as the clear best fit for me, not just as a city because obviously it’s an incredible city, but hockey-wise, it was the best fit. “I couldn’t be happier. It’s a dream, really.” Both Woods and Watts played for the champion Toronto Six in the PHF previously [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/toronto-six-honor-the-past-and-celebrate-the-future-at-ring-ceremony] and were gratified to return to the city where they won the Isobel Cup. “It felt a little bit different when we (Ottawa) played against Toronto,” said Watts. “It was just shift after shift, wave after wave, and then they’ve got such skilled players, Renata Fast, Jocelyne Larocque on the back end; they play a ton, they are so hard to play against, they’re incredible defenders. I’m so happy that I don’t have to go against them anymore.” Her candor and enthusiasm are refreshing and unique when often players will just give canned answers. She continued, “And then you know, Spooner, MVP, she’s just incredible. I could just go on and on, Sarah Nurse, Emma Maltais, I’m just so excited to join them and buy in with them and hopefully bring another women’s professional title to Toronto.” Watts chuckled at herself and again wasn’t afraid to give candid descriptions about the day free agency opened. “My dad was here supporting me, game planning with me between calls, pros/cons, talking it through and then by roughly 3 pm, Toronto emerged as the best fit for me and I was incredibly excited to call Gina back and tell her the exciting news.” “Playing Toronto last year, being from here, was always really exciting. Obviously they have an incredible team. And then the history of hockey with the city of Toronto, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the little girl in me couldn’t help but think of all these… you know… weird situations, like…whatever,”and laughed as she trailed off. The story attached to her signing in Toronto was that it furthered her intent and desire to play for Canada’s national team, of which Kingsbury and Ryan are in charge. But even though she made no secret of that aspiration, she insisted that “Hockey Canada is kind of a separate silo.” It’s still a murky situation, but it’s clear she belongs on Team Canada, as The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy has written [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/toronto-six-honor-the-past-and-celebrate-the-future-at-ring-ceremony]: “Canada is in need of elite skill and scoring for the future. Even more, Canada is in need of players like Watts to battle with Team USA, who is markedly the faster, and more skilled team at the moment.” Watts had previously scoffed at the idea that she was upset not to be included on the national team, a dicey choice for anyone. “Hockey Canada, as I got older, like the past four years, I'd say, it hasn't meant as much to me as it did when I was a kid. But I never would have said that because I would have been cut if I said that.” Her statement after the first season about being a free agent and exploring the market [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/unforgettable-first-season-for-ottawa-players-and-fans] also raised some eyebrows. "I'm a free agent now. That's the business of pro sports. I will negotiate with Ottawa and other teams, and test the markets to see what the best fit will be for next year.” Without delving into involved statistics, it’s enough to say that Daryl Watts’ NCAA career was incredible. She played five years (two at Boston College and three at Wisconsin), and led her teams in scoring five years straight and never dipped below a point-per-game pace. Her 297 career points placed her second on the all-time NCAA scoring list. She won the Patty Kazmeier Award as a rookie, and was a finalist in the other four years she played. But after her graduation , she simply decided to retire from hockey entirely. “At the time, I didn’t think that pursuing professional women’s hockey could set me down the path of, you know, achieving a really comfortable lifestyle and also creating wealth for my kids.” She mentioned commercial real estate as her probable career path. That is, until the PHF came calling later that same year. Her contract held an average annual value of $88,500 and was set to pay Watts a record $150,000 for 2023-24 — the highest salary ever announced for a professional women’s hockey player in North America. Previously, the $80,000 deal for Buffalo Beauts forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis had been the largest contract. In yet another twist in her journey, after the Six won the PHF championship in 2023, the league was purchased and contracts were voided. “Conversations with my family, at the very beginning it was like ‘Oh man, that’s a lot of money I’m going to miss out on.’ [https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2023/09/21/daryl-watts-reconciled-to-pay-cut-in-the-new-womens-pro-hockey-league/]But then it’s like ‘No, that’s self-centered thinking.’ This is so good for the women’s game. It’s going to push the women’s game in an incredible direction. “In 10 years, this league will have way more money than the PHF had.” She clearly succeeded in the PWHL, to no one’s surprise, finishing with 10 goals and seven assists, 12th overall in league scoring. And when her one-year contract expired, she was immediately (along with teammate Katerina Mrazova) one of the most coveted free agents. “I was restricted to only talking to Ottawa for a while. They wanted me back and I felt grateful for that opportunity but after the season I wanted to test the market, see what other fits were out there because I’m trying to find - and now I’m so lucky that I have found a permanent home for hopefully the rest of my hockey career which will hopefully be long. So it was a big decision and Mike understood that and he supported me in my journey to test the market. “Leaving a team is hard because you make really strong connections but I’m excited to make new connections in Toronto and obviously I know Emma and I know a few girls on the team so I’m just really excited.” So Daryl Watts makes another unconventional choice and continues down the path she has chosen, one unlike that of any other player in the PWHL.
