‘We were pretty confident we were going to have an agreement, and that changed’: Sceptres’ Kingsbury on Watts
One of the most entertaining and talented players in the game is going to hit the market.
On Wednesday, the Toronto Sceptres, along with the other seven established franchises of the PWHL, submitted their three-player protection lists for the second phase of the Expansion Player Distribution Process. The team elected to re-sign goaltender Raygan Kirk and defender Renata Fast, along with protecting fellow blueliner Ella Shelton.
A key piece of the team that wasn’t included in that list was forward Daryl Watts.
When speaking to the media on Thursday, Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury admitted that the team wanted to protect the Toronto native, but things simply didn’t work out.
“We did really try hard to protect Daryl Watts,” Kingsbury said. “It was definitely a priority of ours, and we unfortunately weren’t able to. So, we went to the assets that we had, and we felt strongly about the position that we are in right now.”
Watts is a pending unrestricted free agent, meaning she had to be signed by the Sceptres in order to be protected. It was only two years ago that Watts was the top free agent, signing a two-year deal with Toronto. It became clear that one of the main reasons she wanted to join the Sceptres was the opportunity to play under the Canadian Women’s National Team’s management, led by Kingsbury and then-head coach Troy Ryan. She took a very team-friendly discount, with her cap hit only coming to $59,000 last year. The move paid off, as she earned a spot on Canada’s roster for not just the IIHF Women’s World Championship, but also the Winter Olympics this past February.
Now, with Ryan and Kingsbury no longer part of Hockey Canada, the idea of Watts sticking around for sentimental purposes has seemingly worn off. Kingsbury noted that she was optimistic that the team was going to be able to extend Watts before the Wednesday deadline, but conversations with the player on Monday erased hopes.
“We were pretty confident that we were going to have an agreement with Daryl, and that changed. Obviously, it’s professional sports, so players have the opportunity to decide what’s best for them. She felt that another market was better for her.”
Per Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News, the expansion teams in Las Vegas and San Jose, the latter of which sees Ryan serving as both GM and head coach, are the frontrunners to nab the Patty Kazmaier Award winner. After playing under a fairly cheap contract for the past two years, it’s expected that Watts is going to receive a big payday, possibly beyond what the Sceptres were willing to pay, especially given the long-term commitments to both Fast and Kirk.
Despite being on a poor Toronto team last year, there’s no question about the amount of skill and tenacity Watts brings to the game. After giving a glimpse of what she could do with Ottawa in the league’s inaugural season, she has been able to shine in the spotlight in Toronto. In 2024-25, she posted 12 goals and 27 points in 30 games. This year, the 27-year-old was the lone Sceptre to reach 10 goals. In fact, she’s the only player to reach double-digits in goals in each of the PWHL’s first three seasons.
Losing Watts, and potentially other franchise cornerstones in Emma Maltais and captain Blayre Turnbull, Toronto is going to be losing a lot of its offensive punch. The team struggled mightily during the 2025-26 season, scoring a league-low 51 goals, the second-fewest in a single season in PWHL history. Kingsbury isn’t hiding from the fact that the 2025-26 season was tough and that the team is going to focus on improving its scoring prowess during the offseason.
“We’re not denying that offense was a struggle of ours last season, Kingsbury said. “I think this is a brand new season ahead with a changing landscape. So, I think our jobs are to task ourselves to make sure that we’re protecting and building with the best assets that we have.
Obviously, we want to be more offensive next year. We’re going to try our best again.”
The second phase of the expansion process begins on Friday and will continue through June 8. Once Phase 3 begins, the eight established teams in the league will be allowed to protect another three players for the remainder of the summer.