"It's going to be a battle" says Kingsbury of Toronto Sceptres' camp

The battle for roster spots on the 2024-25 Toronto Sceptres is going to be intense because of the team’s depth, especially up front. Sceptres’ GM Gina Kingsbury and coach Troy Ryan spoke to the media on Tuesday and stressed that the two-week training camp is going to be used to try different combinations and to find out where their new players best complement what was already one of the league’s strongest rosters.

“I think it's going to be a battle for this training camp,” said Kingsbury. “We've left some open spots and we are 100% open on seeing what they can do at camp. We're not coming in with predetermined names in certain slots or decisions that are already made. We will be taking the next two weeks to look closely at those last few spots and giving it to the to the athlete that earns that position.”

With newcomers like draftees Noemi Neubauerova and Anneke Linser competing with intriguing invitee Laura Kluge and returning forwards Samantha Cogan, and Kaitlin Willoughby, the third and fourth lines of the Sceptres will be a work in progress throughout camp and into the start of the season. Kingsbury said there are no preconceptions.

Kingsbury is happy with the outcome of the off-season: “I think we got deeper. I think we got substantially deeper, especially up front. I think we've got some great additional athletes coming in that play a very similar style to how we play. I think we're going to be very hard to play against again this season and I think we just got much deeper.”

Coach Troy Ryan said that he sees improvements throughout the roster.

“We're excited about our young players coming in, and the players that Gina drafted I think are really going to set us up for success. They give us a ton of depth. Someone like Izzy Daniel, she could be anywhere from a first-line player to a fourth-line player. A lot of it is, how can we use these next two weeks to see what kind of chemistry is out there, see who complements each other.”

No one should feel that their spot is guaranteed simply because they were drafted. And all players will be encouraged to find their roles during camp.

“We're not waiting for magic to happen on day one,” the general manager said. “We understand that there's going to be a little bit of adjustment and feeling out the pace and everything.

“The pressure is not for them to showcase ‘incredible’ right off the bat. It's to ease themselves in and trend in the right direction. And it's as much on the ice as off the ice. Do we feel that they add to our culture? Are they diverse in how we can play them and where we can put them? All of those things we will be measuring. But we will certainly give them the time to settle in and we'll give them the time to show us what they can bring.”

It was confirmed that last year’s league-leading scorer Natalie Spooner will not start the season with Toronto, so that caused some adjustments in the pair’s thought process as they shaped the new lineup.

“I think with Natalie Spooner being out, that was very important to add some offense to our lineup. And [free agent signee Daryl Watts] certainly will be able to do that here this season with us,” Kingsbury commented.

First-round draft pick Julia Gosling is another player who will be looked upon to partially fill that void.

“She's got one of the best shots in the game at the moment, and we'll try to exploit that as much as we possibly can.”

Ryan is already considering where Gosling will best fit.

“Gosling played most of her college years in the middle, but most of her time with the national team, she's played on the left wing. So we're just going to try some different combinations and see what we come up with.

“Those two exhibition games (November 20 and 24), we'll get some information from that. We obviously in the back of our heads have some information that we're curious to test. We're curious right now with Gosling, do we try her in the middle first? Someone like Hannah Miller, for example, – both of them would look very good together on a line. Hannah Miller came in last year as a center. We put her on the wing because she started the year with an injury – so we could try Gosling or Miller in the middle and whoever is not in the middle, maybe try one of them on the left side.”

“We’ve talked a lot about, 'do you mix [the bigger forwards] up and put them on different lines, or do you just get a real strong, powerful line, maybe a Compher on that right side?'”

The Sceptres will have a dangerous trio on the ice whether it’s termed the “first” or “fourth” line. But ice time will be an issue for those who are used to playing higher in the lineup, and keeping morale and perspective is a tricky path for coaches to navigate.

“Everybody wants depth and I'm obviously very happy that we've got a little bit more depth this year, but it does create some different side conversations that we've got to manage for sure,” Ryan observed.

Still, the options are tantalizing for fans and coaches alike when you’re deciding between Canadian national team standouts, Patty Kazmaier winners, and free-agent additions like Emma Woods. And each decision ripples throughout the lineup. Ryan summed it up:

“One of the things with our group is that one move or one decision tends to change three or four things. Last year, for example, we'd have (Emma) Maltais with (Blayre) Turnbull, but if we didn't have Maltais with Turnbull, we'd put Maltais with Nurse, but it generally changed who would be on Turnbull's right side. So a lot of it is like that, deciding on those moves and what we'll do, and we'll sort it out during training camp.”