Toronto's Struggles Shows Teams Reliance On Natalie Spooner, And Need For Her Return

Natalie Spooner was a game changer last season for the Toronto Sceptres. More accurately, she was the game changer.

Spooner was the league MVP and Best Forward scoring a league-high 20 goals and 27 points in 24 games. Her total was equivalent to 28.9% of Toronto's goal output. Without Spooner this season, Toronto has gone from first overall in the regular season in 2024, to last overall in year two of the PWHL's young existence.

Spooner was the only player in the PWHL last season to fire more than 100 shots, and she scored on 19.8% of those attempts. Currently, only the newly acquired Emma Woods is close to that total, but Woods has also only connected with 10 shots through eight games, scoring twice.

It's not the number of shots Toronto is taking without Spooner, however, it's the calibre. Toronto actually has more shots on goal this season than last, but they're not coming from Spooner's typical high-danger area, driving the net and scoring in close. In particular, this difference is showing five-on-five where Toronto's goals-for have dropped from 1.83/game, best in the PWHL last season, to 1.5/game, fifth in the league, ahead of only Boston.

Last season when Natalie Spooner scored, the Sceptres were 11-2. When she didn't score, the team was 6-5. While the depth of Toronto's early struggles can't be placed solely on her absence, the fact the Sceptres are 2-6 this season without Spooner shows a strong correlation.

Her absence, however, has allowed opposition to more effectively target Toronto's top players. Still, on a team lauded for their offensive depth this off-season, particularly following the acquisition of Daryl Watts and Emma Woods, and the drafting of Julia Gosling, Izzy Daniel, Noemi Neubauerova, and Anneke Rankila upfront, and the recent acquisition of more offensively-minded Savannah Harmon at the back end and Hayley Scamurra up front, this team is underperforming.

Emma Maltais has suffered this season without her linemate from last year, recording only two points through eight games, but she also started slowly last season, recording an identical start. The same can be said for Blayre Turnbull who didn't record her first point until the seventh game of the inaugural season.

Toronto overall started the inaugural season slowly, but it was Spooner who broke them out of the spell. She scored seven goals in three games during their eighth, ninth, and tenth games of the inaugural season. Those three games were the first in Toronto's 11-game winning streak, the longest in league history.

In Spooner's absence, the rest of the Toronto Sceptres need to step forward. That involves more consistent play from the net out. Kristen Campbell, last year's PWHL Goaltender of the Year, didn't find her game last season until her seventh start of the year. Prior to that, Campbell was only carrying an .876 save percentage. This season she has a nearly identical .877 through five starts. Up front, the team is still looking for more from Turnbull, Maltais, Julia Gosling, Maggie Connors, Harmon, and Scamurra. Other players, like Neubauerova, perhaps should be given a longer look higher in the lineup to attempt to spark chemistry.

Whenever it happens, the return of Natalie Spooner can't happen soon enough for the Toronto Sceptres, but her value on-ice, and more importantly ability to live injury free, will ensure no return will happen until Spooner and her medical team are 100% confident.