BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 11: USA’s Lee Stecklein #2 attempts to play the puck while the Czech Republic's Dominika Laskova #14 defends during Quarterfinal Round action at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Wukesong Sports Centre on February 11, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Andrea Cardin/HHOF-IIHF Images)
Wednesday’s FTB: Ella Shelton to Toronto
The PWHL draft was last night. Now, if you’ve never seen this, it’s not like the NHL draft. There are European pros coming into the league, and the rest of the “prospects” aren’t teenagers, they’re NCAA and USPORTS graduates. A very large percentage of these players will sign contracts and be regulars right away, particularly in the top 3-4 rounds.
For example, Vancouver’s first pick was 35-year old mega-star Michelle Karvinen from Finland.
Toronto did not make their first pick, they traded it and the 27th overall to New York for top-pairing defender Ella Shelton. She is 5’10”, a left shot to complement righty Renata Fast. She has been on Team Canada since she left Clarkson University, and she is exactly what the Sceptres need on defence.
Yay!
With the 11th overall, the Sceptres selected a big and physical forward Emma Gentry from Alpena, Michigan. She went to St. Cloud, where she scored goals, but rarely had assists. She was second on her team in points, and they had a setup defender in Dayle Ross who racked up the assists. I think Gentry also kicked ass and took names. When she was playing hockey, they said on-air, the rugby team tried to recruit her.
Toronto traded goalie Kristen Campbell and the 19th overall to Vancouver for the 16th and 23rd.
With the 16th overall, the Sceptres selected Kiara Zanon. a good scoring forward from the powerhouse team Ohio State. She had 1.12 points per game in the NCAA and is about to turn 23. The best mix of experience at a high level and youth. Zanon is from Fairport, NY.
With the 23rd overall, the Sceptres picked Clara Van Wieren. Van Wieren was the captain on the Minnesota-Duthuth team. She is very much another power forward, and like Gentry is from Michigan. She is only 5-10, though.
With the 35th overall, the Sceptres picked Sara Hjalmarsson from Linköping and Team Sweden. She is 27 with the reputation as a physical forward. She previously played at Providence College and has been in the SDHL for two years.
With the 43rd overall, the Sceptres selected Hanna Baskin. She is a shutdown defender and is only 22 (in a few weeks). She has been playing the power play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
And that’s a wrap on this draft for the Toronto Sceptres. If you didn’t know it before, the Sceptres are a physical power-first team, and their draft picks reflect that. The first three will likely make the team out of camp and I would expect Hjalmarsson to be a lock as well. The only question mark is Baskin, but the Sceptres are shy some defenders after the expansion draft and signing period, so maybe she’s in as well.
The team is far from complete and they have some players yet to sign, and will invite some of these undrafted players to training camp as well.
Insider Trading had a bit on John Tavares that can be summed up as JT and the Leafs are still negotiating. No other news is out there on any Leafs moves, intentions or contracts.
The HHOF inductions were yesterday, and of all the people announced one of them just reported to work last night, that being Montréal Victoire GM Danièle Sauvageau who will be added in the builder category. The rest of the new Hall of Famers:
Players Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, Duncan Keith, Alexander Mogilny, Joe Thornton, and Zdeno Chara will be inducted this fall.
