What lies ahead for the Toronto Sceptres and the PWHL?

The Sceptres’ started poorly, improved after the Olympic break, but then came up short

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Published Apr 28, 2026  •  Last updated 25 minutes ago  •  5 minute read

Troy Ryan (left) and Gina Kingsbury are head coach and general manager of both the PWHL's Toronto Sceptres and Canada's national women's hockey team. Photo by Darren Makowichuk /Postmedia Network

Failing to make the playoffs does not sit easily with the likes of lifelong hockey people such as Gina Kingsbury and Troy Ryan, to say nothing of a Toronto Sceptres leadership team that is still licking its wounds, having failed to qualify for post-season play for the first time in three years.

Kingsbury, the Sceptres’ GM, and Ryan, its head coach, spent the better part of Monday conducting exit interviews with the players, breaking down a season that started poorly, improved drastically after the Olympic break, but then came up short over the final few games of booking its ticket to the playoffs.

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Like every team in professional sports, Toronto dealt with its share of injuries in the season, but no one was pointing to that as the reason for team’s first non-playoff year.

Statistically, one doesn’t have to go much beyond the 1.7 goals a game the team averaged this season for the key on-ice letdown.

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But looking ahead, there are plenty of opportunities for change, if that is the path the Sceptres choose. Some of the that will come in the unwanted variety that will be forced upon the Sceptres and the other seven existing teams in the league.

Like last year, there is expansion to deal with in the off-season. Between two and four new teams are expected to be added to the league before next season begins.

The league cautioned last year that just because it went at the expansion process one way, does not necessarily mean the same format or procedure will be followed this time.

Even the amateur draft, which contains a wealth of franchise-altering talents this season, remains a question mark. Toronto, based on its fifth-place finish could be picking anywhere from fourth to eighth in the first round depending on where the league chooses to slot in the newest teams joining the league.

There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding how all this will unfold. Here are Kingsbury’s thoughts on what is ahead for the league and for her team in particular.

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Having been through expansion once, can you be better prepared a second time?

“I don’t know if you can be better prepared because we are still trying to figure out what the rules will be this time around so I do think the preparation is probably the same,” she said.

“I think you can be just maybe mentally better prepared in some ways. I think it was more of an emotional thing where now you’ve been through it, you felt the pain of seeing athletes leave your market and now know what to anticipate in that sense, so you’re probably more prepared from an emotional perspective. I don’t know if strategically you are more prepared or can be. I think you just know a little bit more of what to expect.”

How will the abundance of expiring player contracts in the league affect the process?

The vast majority of the league’s foundational players received three-year deals when the PWHL debuted, and for the most part, those deals are now about to finish. A few players have had their deals extended. In Toronto’s case, both Blayre Turnbull and Renata Fast, two mainstays on the roster since Day 1 of the league, are currently on expiring deals and would have to be re-signed. Among the core on the team on expiring deals are also Daryl Watts and Emma Maltais.

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“We have a substantial number of players that are on expiring contracts and the league will address to us and publicly how that will be managed here ensuring that we have balanced groups throughout the league and for the expansion clubs as well,” Kingsbury said.

With a signing freeze currently in place, no team can presently extend their own free agents, but talks with representatives could be going on right now. The uncertainty of how many new teams are joining the league and or how much more a player might be able to make with a new club has many players taking a wait-and-see approach with that next contract.

How likely are the Sceptres to re-sign their key players who are on expiring contracts?

According to Kingsbury, the team finished up its exit interviews with the players on Monday. “For the most part, I would say 99% were very positive and a group that wants to stay in Toronto and appreciate the environment they have been in,” Kingsbury said.

What was the biggest factor that prevented the Sceptres from making the playoffs this season?

“I don’t think we ever truly, fully connected in to the style of play we needed to play in order to be successful,” Kingsbury said. “I think we saw it in spurts. Even within a game you would see it for chunks of 10 minutes and you be saying ‘There we are. That’s exactly how we need to play to be successful.’

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“But then that was never consistent. Typically when that happens it’s a combination of maybe the players are not fully buying in to play a certain way or understand that with what we have, there is a style we have to play to be successful.”

How successful were the Sceptres off the ice?

Since the team moved its home games to Coca-Cola Coliseum at the start of last season, the team has not had a home crowd of fewer than 7,500 spectators. The one game they play at Scotiabank Arena each season has drawn more than 17,000 each of the three seasons.

Even playing that first season at Mattamy Athletic Centre, where capacity was less than 3,000 and including those three home games at Scotiabank, the Sceptres have drawn an average of 7,492 fans to its 39 ‘home’ games since the PWHL began. That’s No. 2 in the league behind only Montreal.

How much growth did the league experience this past season from an attendance standpoint?

The average PWHL game attendance in 2025-26 was up 28% over the previous season and 71% over the PWHL’s inaugural season.

What about from a merchandise sales standpoint?

Online sales of merchandise increased more than 50% season over season. Following the 2026 Olympics, this growth accelerated even further with an approximately 190% increase in sales versus the same period last year.

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