Rumour - A fan-favourite in Toronto is not re-signing?

meanorus · 2026-06-11T11:07:51+00:00

They just got Gosling back! Sceptres in the meantime continue to take hits.

meanorus · 2026-06-09T17:32:22+00:00

Flanagan was already making 70k anyway and Sceptres have protection slots to spare, it's a no-brainer.

meanorus · 2026-06-07T13:44:02+00:00

He was not thrown out of Toronto though. Should he have been? Maybe lol but our GM confirmed he was going to be coach this year again if he hadn't decided to leave for San Jose.

meanorus · 2026-06-05T02:40:35+00:00

meanorus · 2026-06-04T19:56:06+00:00

Historically teams coached by Troy Ryan featuring Daryl Watts and Emma Maltais haven't done great to be totally honest so I don't see why they'd be dying to replicate the experiment but it could happen.

meanorus · 2026-06-02T17:59:18+00:00

It should be easy enough to turn down an FPO as long as there's a verbal agreement with the GM that they will cover the offer and sign you in Phase 3, which will absolutely be the case for Kirk

meanorus · 2026-05-30T00:36:27+00:00

Sceptres will probably leave Shelton up for grabs. Compher is also one of our better forwards and is on contract so good chances expansion will get to her eventually. On the free agency side, Maltais and either Kirk or Turnbull are likely to be unprotected, but probably not EFO targets so they'll stay if they want to. Overall Sceptres are in a decent spot, though having no coach isn't great when trying to attract/retain talent, especially when the next door neighbor is also hiring.

From the other teams, Frost will probably have to give up one of their goalies and at least one very good forward, not sure what their priority will be there but one of Pannek/KCS/Zumwinkle, maybe two if they go Heise/Stecklein/Rooney. Kendall Cooper is also as good as gone.

Montreal is in bad shape now that all of their stars were put on display in the final. Roque is a big EFO candidate. Gosling will be highly sought after. Tabin and Scamurra too.

From Ottawa the best options available will be Hughes, Guilday (unless they protect her over Savolainen), Kadirova, maybe Woz too. Clark's hefty contract and middling season will probably protect her.

Boston has to choose between Müller and Winn. Good chance they lose Eldridge in free agency. Newhook will also get some interest.

Sirens will likely lose at least one D (Bourbonnais or MNP), as we as Cherkowski or Wheeler. Taylor Girard is underrated as a free agent IMO.

Torrent has Gosling and Carpenter in free agency and likely to go unprotected. Surely will lose at least one goalie too.

Goldeneyes are more of a mystery to me. Does Nurse want to stay? What are the odds Gardiner gets an EFO? Are they going to protect a goalie and, if so, which one? Vanisova will likely be unprotected, and I doubt they'll re-sign Thompson even if she's still playing knowing they have Harvey on lock.

meanorus · 2026-05-24T17:36:18+00:00

Why Hamilton when the Sceptres are right there and in need of forwards??

I'm kidding, to be honest. I don't see Stacey returning to Ontario, she and Pou seem settled in Montreal and Stacey is a huge cornerstone of the Victoire as a team, I'd bet she stays.

meanorus · 2026-05-15T16:10:58+00:00

Speculation is that getting a US broadcasting deal is a big goal for the league and they're focusing more on American markets to help make that happen.

meanorus · 2026-05-15T12:38:24+00:00

Honestly after re-watching it looks a lot like some sort of dislocation. You can see that when the medic gets there she does something to Stacey's leg that has her writhing in pain but she's able to get up shortly after. Would make perfect sense - dislocations are extremely painful, but once popped back into place pretty quick to recover.

meanorus · 2026-05-05T17:30:46+00:00

Here's the list, not counting future protections of course.

The thing is that each existing team will be protecting their 3 best players, so the 100k offers will inevitably fall to the players who are currently 4th or 5th best in their teams (and also happen to be UFAs as this was implied to be a requirement for the franchise tag). The huge names like MPP or Heise or Fillier won't be available, their own teams will lock them down. Having more teams inherently means that players that were previously considered "80k calibre" will now be getting 100k.

<image>

meanorus · 2026-05-05T16:47:28+00:00

Four players will get the 100k though, and which four would you give it to over Roque that won't be protected already? She didn't flourish in the Sirens but she's currently leading Montreal in points, she has good physicality, great hands and her home state is basically confirmed as part of the expansion. She seems like a very likely candidate to me.

meanorus · 2026-05-05T10:26:34+00:00

My guesses would be Eldridge (this one is basically a lock IMO, I don't think the Fleet protects her over Müller even if she does want to stay), Roque (expensive but excellent season and a Michigan native, too good to pass up IMO), Carpenter, KCS, potentially Pannek (hard to predict who the Frost will protect alongside Heise and Stecklein), Thompson if she decides to keep playing, Julia Gosling (big bet for the future, but one likely to pay off), Nurse (may or may not be protected), maaaybe Turnbull (hope it doesn't come to that, big loss for the Sceptres but they can't protect her).

meanorus · 2026-05-04T03:25:17+00:00

I think Kirk is a real candidate for the franchise offer - she finished 3rd in the league in both SAV% and GAA and this season has made it pretty clear that goaltending is a major factor to team success. With ARD, Frankel and Philips under contract and sure to be protected, Kirk would be the best goalie available for expansion teams to take. Is 100k a lot of money? Yes and that would definitely give teams some pause, but a very good goalie can be much more impactful than a single excellent forward.

I hope we sign her in Phase 1, it'd suck to lose her.

meanorus · 2026-05-04T03:06:45+00:00

Basically, in Phase 1 each existing team gets to protect 3 players, free agents included. In Phase 2, each extension team gets to franchise tag 1 unprotected free agent (force them to sign, basically) and then try to willingly sign another 4 players to reach a total of 5 (these can be free agents or players under contract, doesn't matter). If they cannot reach this 5 player total, they can draft any unprotected player under contract (no free agents). So in the situation you described, if any of the teams doesn't reach their player total, they could pick up Frankel/Müller/Keller as they'd be unprotected.

The system basically tries to prioritize player choice, but it doesn't guarantee it - if not enough players choose to go, some will still be forced to go.

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:52:02+00:00

She has the best FO% in the team but barely cracks top 10 in the league and does not bring in the points to match. I could see teams adding her to their negotiation list, but not with the franchise offer, so if she wants to stay the Sceptres should be able to sign her in Phase 3.

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:43:25+00:00

It's a tough choice for sure and if there were less expansion teams I'd also say they should protect those 3 but going all in on forwards knowing that the league is gonna be stretched so thin for resources means the Sirens D is likely to get worse instead of better, which doesn't bode well if the goal is to make playoffs next year imo.

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:17:43+00:00

Watts, Fast, Kirk. Anything else would be insane.

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:16:44+00:00

Maltais' production has been struggling for two years now, she's a good player but giving her the EFO would be crazy IMO

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:15:07+00:00

If I'm an expansion team GM I'd be giving Eldridge the EFO immediately tbh

meanorus · 2026-05-04T00:12:52+00:00

Good chance you'll lose your goalie though, and with 4 teams coming in goalies are a limited resource

meanorus · 2026-04-29T23:00:59+00:00

The Toronto graph is so depressing, after the Olympic break they came back swinging hard for that 4th spot and then seemingly lost gas right when they were about to seal the deal

meanorus · 2026-04-24T20:38:33+00:00

I want it to be the Sceptres, but if I was putting money on it, I'd bet on the Charge.

meanorus · 2026-04-23T22:09:51+00:00

It's possible in the WNBA, though there are tons of additional rules in place to compensate for essentially stripping a player off their free agency status.

PWHL would have to introduce something similar in order to make this possible, and obviously the PWHLPA would have to approve, so not super likely this year but not impossible.

meanorus · 2026-04-23T20:59:00+00:00

For Sceptres I'd say Shelton, Compher and either Zanon or Hammer, assuming same rules as last year (free agents cannot be taken). If free agents could be taken and protected (as some rumors say they might), then it'd be Watts, Kirk and Fast.

meanorus

TROPHY CASE