Earlier this week, the Toronto Sceptres announced its three protected players in Phase I one of the league’s expansion process. The PWHL team chose to sign defender Renata Fast and goaltender Raygan Kirk, making those two of their protections. The team used the third protection slot on defender Ella Shelton.
If there’s one thing we can take away from the last few days with the Toronto Sceptres, it’s this: context matters.
Last month, I wrote about who I thought the Sceptres should protect, including Kirk and Shelton. With Daryl Watts as perhaps the most obvious pick for a slot, and assuming they’d protect their goaltender, in my view, it was a choice between Shelton and Fast. Imagine my surprise, then – and the surprise of many – when Watts wasn’t on their protected list at all. I think ‘stunned’ about covers it.
As Thursday’s media availability with Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury showed, there’s context here that matters. It wasn’t that the team didn’t want to keep Watts; it was her choice to seek opportunity elsewhere.
“We did really try hard to protect Daryl Watts,” Kingsbury said in media availability this week. “It was definitely a priority of ours, and we unfortunately weren’t able to. We went to the assets that we had. We felt strongly about the position that we are in right now and continuing to build from there.”
Kingsbury went on to confirm that Watts chose not to sign with the Sceptres.
“Leading up all the way into the last day, we were pretty confident that we were going to have an agreement with Daryl, and that changed,” Kingsbury said. “It’s profesional sports. Players have the opportunity to decide what’s best for them, and she felt that another market was better for her. From that moment, we had to change the strategy a bit. At that point, it’s definitely trying to protect what we felt were our best assets.”
Kingsbury said she was a little surprised at Watts’ decision, but fully undertstands and supports it. Watts would become the first member of PWHL Detroit, signing an expansional foundation offer (EFO) and becoming the first player in the league history to sign a four-year contract.
Watts’ situation is, of course, the double-edged sword that comes with professional sports. It may leave a sour taste in the mouth of Sceptres fans, who will have a hard time seeing Watts with a new team next season. But, it is what professional sports and player autonomy is about – being a free agent and having the freedom to choose your destination. It’s all part of the game.
That said, expansion certainly has its pros and cons, including for the league’s current teams and players. As Kingsbury said, it’s inevitable that expansion comes with changes.
“Expansion also brings a lot of opportunity,” Kingsbury said. “I think of the 100+ athletes that are going to come into this league next year that are going to be able to call themselves professional hockey players, the 100+ staff members that are also now going to be a part of this incredible league… new colleagues, new markets, new opportunities.”
“To think that the women’s game is growing its footprint in the landscape of professional sports in North America is really, really exciting,” she added. “We’re navigating the challenges, knowing that it’s about growth, it’s about women’s hockey. It’s pretty exciting, although it’s pretty challenging.”
What’s Next for the Sceptres?
As it stands right now, Watts is the only player the Toronto Sceptres have lost. Her signing with Detroit on an expansion franchise offer does not count as one of the maximum of three players under contract that Toronto could lose in phase two. Later this week when phase three gets underway, the Sceptres will be able to protect an additional three.
It’s all about taking it one step at a time, with a look toward the future.
“We’re going to continue to navigate this process with care and diligence,” Kingsbury said. “We ask everyone to understand the challenges that were all put in front of us. [We’re] certainly trying to make sure that we’re putting the best possible team on the ice and in the community, but… we’ll be excited when this is done, and we have our team, and we can start focusing on what this is all going to look like for season four.”
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