Sceptres Continue to Build Up Front

Rebecca Labaj

After falling through the cracks on draft night Concordia Captain Jessymaude Drapeau has been invited to the Toronto Sceptres training camp. 

The Quebec native ended her U Sports career as one of the most decorated women’s hockey players in U Sports history with a pair of gold and pair of silver medals, capping it all off with the Broderick Trophy as the U Sports Player of the Year. This past season Drapeau had 39 points in 24 games, marking a new career high. Throughout her time with the Stingers, she recorded 150 points in 124 games. Beyond the stat sheet, her leadership has been instrumental for the Stingers program. 

Drapeau adds to the youthful offence the Sceptres have built through this year's draft bringing in offensive powerhouse Kirsten Simms from the Wisconsin Badgers and USA National Team along with Jamie Nelson from the University of Minnesota. 

Through the expansion the Sceptres were forced to focus on their backend as Watts didn’t want to re-sign, and as we now know Captain Blayre Turnbull is pregnant. In their initial protections the Sceptres locked in Renata Fast, Ella Shelton, and Raygan Kirk. Fast has been a reliable two-way presence for the Sceptres, ranking in their top 5 scorers last season (the only remaining player from the top 5). Not far behind her was Ella Shelton who had 3 goals and 4 assists last season, well providing a steady presence on the back end. While in net, Raygan Kirk continued to amaze, keeping the Sceptres in the game through several tight matchups. 

In their next phase of protections the Sceptres locked in their first pick from the 2025 draft, Emma Gentry, alongside veteran forward Natalie Spooner and defender Kali Flanagan. After the expansion process ended the Sceptres re-signed defenders Allie Munroe and Jess Kondas along with forwards Claire Dalton, Lauren Messier and Emma Woods as their roster started to take shape. 

Adding to the front end, the Sceptres signed veteran forward Jamie Lee Rattray from the Boston Fleet, who recorded 4 goals and 8 assists last season. With a young offensive core coming in her veteran presence and leadership on and off the ice is going to be a valuable asset as Toronto looks to make it back to the playoffs. 

The Sceptres were also on the hunt for a backup goalie after losing Elaine Chuli in free-agency, bringing in Grace Campbell from Boston University. Throughout her career with the Eagles Campbell posted a .927 save percentage, starting in 107 games. 

So far the Sceptres have done an incredible job in rebuilding their team this off-season, now with 14 players under contract they still have some room to work with 5 roster spots available ahead of training camp (the PWHL has limited teams to 19 signed players ahead of camp). Expect one of these slots to be used on their first round draft pick Kirsten Simms, as draftee signings remain slow with Tessa Janecke the only draft pick to officially sign.