Check out part one to know which teams will be taking care of internal business in Phase One and which teams are looking to add from outside their team.
The Toronto Sceptres
In Toronto, the team is looking at a pivotal point in its franchise history—and yes, I know it’s only been three seasons. The last two seasons, they’ve finished last in even-strength goals-for. That stat flies under the radar because Toronto still had a chance at making the playoffs on the last day. However, they also posted the second lowest win percentage (0.367) in league history. This has felt like a long time coming, as Toronto always looked to be in big trouble and they’d get a miracle either by Spooner going superhuman or their power play hitting 40% for a long stretch. The miracle didn’t happen this year and the spiral continued into no playoffs.
What also makes this a pivotal moment for Toronto is that they have 16 players as unrestricted free agents. (It would have been 17 if Savannah Harmon hadn’t retired.) If Gina Kingsbury wants a make a franchise change, now is the time to do it. They need to start with bringing back their best offensive player in Daryl Watts, though. She alone sits second all-time in PWHL goals with 32 goals. Losing her would be like losing Sarah Nurse, only they don’t have a Watts to handle that offensive workload.
After Watts, it gets convoluted. You have Renata Fast, Ella Shelton, Blayre Turnbull, and Raygan Kirk all vying for the last two protection spots. Shelton or Fast should be for one of the spots. I know Toronto fans aren’t happy with Shelton’s results this season, but I think that she’s clearly been misused. A coach willing to use Shelton as Shelton, and not Larocque, is going to reap rewards. Maybe it’s an easy decision for some people to go with Fast, who has a great reputation. It wouldn’t shock me, though, to see Shelton kept over Fast.
That leaves the last spot between Turnbull and Kirk. I can see the justification for both. Turnbull had a good offensive season with nine goals. She also hit the +15-point mark in a season for the first time. There’s also Turnbull being the captain for three years and her gritty, defensive game always being present. With Kirk, she broke out this season and found a lot of success as Toronto’s number one goalie. I can see them wanting to hold onto her after she’s already been so good for your team.
With all these talented players as potential protections, why is Toronto among the teams who can take full advantage of Phase One? To right a wrong and bring back Sarah Nurse. From a purely on-ice standpoint, Toronto needs a first-line center and Nurse is that player. Nurse finished with a goal per game (0.47) on par with Marie-Philip Poulin and Jessie Eldridge. There was also a noticeable difference between how Vancouver played while Nurse was injured versus when she was in the line-up. She’s a game-changing center, and while she’s not among the elite, she’s close enough that Toronto can fix many issues with her on the team.
The Vancouver Goldeneyes
While Toronto might be trying to steal Nurse back from Vancouver, the Vancouver Goldeneyes are trying to plan for their future, a future that I think they thought was a lot brighter than it looks like right now. They join the majority of the hockey world who thought we’d be watching a Walter Cup parade happening in Vancouver right now. Let’s be clear, we’re not going to accept revisionist history in this piece. Vancouver fell well short of expectations this year, and if you were saying they weren’t going to make playoffs before the season started, you were in a tiny minority.
Vancouver did win the Gold Plan and that helps their future look brighter. If they want to take full advantage of getting the first overall pick and get back to being the threat everyone thought they’d be, they also need to take advantage of Phase One. First, of course, they need to protect the talent that will help them vault to the top of the league.
Is there any easier pick for Vancouver than Sophie Jaques? While Vancouver as a team disappointed, Jaques certainly didn’t. She tied for the team lead in goals with nine and led the team in points (21). No blueliner drove the play like Jaques did, and what little offence Vancouver managed to conjure up was often created by Jaques, who had a 9.05 SOG/60. Here’s a fun comparison for y’all. Jaques was on the ice for 50% of Vancouver’s even-strength goals for (27/54) and on for 40.5% of their even-strength goals against (22/53). In Boston, Megan Keller was on for 50.5% of their EVGF (27/53) and on for 50% of their EVGA (14/28).
Next on the protection list for Vancouver has to be Sarah Nurse. The difference between Nurse in the line-up versus out of the line-up is the Atlantic Ocean. Just on the statistical surface, it’s clear as Nurse finished first on the team in goals per game (0.474) and points per game (0.789), while also tying for the team lead in goals, with nine. With Nurse in the line-up, they averaged 2.15 EVGF and 1.58 EVGA with a 49.9 SF%. Out of the line-up, the Goldeneyes averaged 1.18 EVGF and 2.09 EVGA with a 44.9 SF% over 11 games. Between Nurse and Jaques, the impact those two brought to the Goldeneyes makes it clear they’re going to be difference makers in the future.
Where it gets tricky for Vancouver is they have a lot of good players who had good seasons. Jennifer Gardiner finished second on the team in points (19), while tying for the team lead in goals with nine. As a plus, most of her production coming at even strength. Hannah Miller got off to a slow start, but when Nurse came back, we saw Miller’s offensive results start to shine through. Claire Thompson lived up to the hype, though we don’t know if she’s going back to medical school. It’s hard to forget Emerance Maschmeyer stealing games for Vancouver, especially when they were struggling.
Lots of good options for the third protection spot, but that’s where Vancouver ran into trouble this year. They had a lot of good players, but not enough great ones, which was painfully obvious when Nurse went down. Just like how Toronto should be looking to right a wrong of letting Nurse go off to Vancouver, the Goldeneyes should be looking to right the wrong of not grabbing one extra elite player, especially on offence from the expansion draft.
The Ottawa Charge
On June 1st at 12:00PM EST, Jessie Eldridge and Grace Zumwinkle should be receiving emails from Cara Morey Gardner. Attached: just a picture of a vault full of money. First player to sign gets the money and is Vancouver’s new goal-scoring winger. The case for Eldridge I laid out as one of Ottawa’s primary targets. The results back her up in that she’s just consistently one of the best goal scorers and overall offensive players in the PWHL. Put her anywhere in the top six and on the power play and watch goals happen.
If you want Eldridge’s younger clone, you make Zumwinkle the priority. Even with her injury in the 2024-25 season resulting in some disruptions to her production, Zumwinkle has prevailed. In all-time PWHL goals, Zumwinkle is tied for sixth place with 28-career goals in 75 games. She hasn’t been too shabby either with her primary point production. Coming into the season, Zumwinkle had 25 primary points and added another 21 primary points this season. She’s also a massive shot generator with a career +10 SOG/60 and can be counted on to shoot at around 10%. Two big, goal-scoring wingers. If possible, Cara Morey Gardner has presented with an amazing chance to improve the roster. She can potentially get the team looking closer to the monster that was promised last year.
