Toronto's first ever draft pick at second overall:
Nafio
Emma Maltais # 11
Emma Maltais is a high-energy irritant to all other teams, and Toronto has this spark of awesomeness on their team.
Originally from Burlington, Maltais is getting to play for her hometown team. She has been a surprise to new fans on Team Canada as her game is huge and the first thing you will see is that she's 5'3".
Strong on the puck, a retrieval specialist and all-around checking and energy forward, she brings speed, fun and the grittiest of grit to the Toronto team.
Kristen Campbell # 14
Kristen Campbell becomes Toronto's first goalie pick. Team Canada's third-stringer will get a lot more ice time in the PWHL.
Campbell will be more familiar to University of Wisconsin Badgers fans than to international women's hockey fans. She's already the answer to a trivia question as a member of the final University of North Dakota women's hockey team before the program was shut down in 2017.
That said, she does have an NCAA title to her name as a starting goalie, and has always stepped up when called on in international play. She'll get the chance to show her chops in Toronto.
Natalie Spooner #23
Spoons is back in Toronto and back with Blayre Turnbull.
Former Toronto Furies captain Natalie Spooner is no stranger to PPP. She's a dynamic power forward who has sometimes had to carry the entire team on her back at league level.
She had an interesting 2023, coming back to the PWHPA Dream Gap Tour only weeks after giving birth, and then managing to be a difference maker on Team Canada at the 2023 World Championships.
Jesse Compher #26
Gina Kingsbury opts for a star of Team USA for the 26th pick. Jesse Compher, originally from Northbrook, IL, is only 24 and is a forward to reckon with. She was one shy of a point per game at the University of Wisconsin last year, and has a host of medals for the wrong team at Worlds and Olympics. But we love her now. She's all ours.
Kali Flanagan #35
After a lot of deliberation and a timeout, Toronto selected American defender Kali Flanagan. She spent last year in the PHF with Boston, and is originally from Burlington, MA.
She is 27, a right-shooting D, always in demand. She has played a small amount internationally for Team USA, but not recently. Like a lot of players too old for the NCAA, she's missed playing time in the last few years, and teams are now relying on scouting to chose their middle ranked players.
Victoria Bach #38
Toronto returns to Team Canada and familiar players with Bach, a 27-year-old forward. She's been with the PWHPA for years now, and plays a depth role on the national team.
She was rookie of the year for the Markham Thunder and has the potential to bring both speed and scoring to the team.
Brittany Howard #47
Another familiar face to Toronto fans, this former Fury was a bit of a fan favourite in the final season of the CWHL. She also is the first member of the Toronto Six to be drafted back to Toronto.
Allie Munroe #50
Another former PHF player, Munroe is a defender from the Connecticut Whale, who also spent some time in the SDHL.
Mellissa Channell #59
Originally from Oakville, Channell, is a left-shooting defender who has been with the PWHPA after a year on the Furies.
Maggie Connors #62
Toronto goes for youth with Connors, a 22-year-old graduate of Princeton. She has some nice scoring stats as a left-shooting forward, and finished her time there wearing the A. She is also from St. John's and has never played hockey in Canada as an adult. The PWHL will make that happen.
Rebecca Leslie #71
Another alumna of Canada's U-18 team, this Ottawa native won the Clarkson Cup with the Calgary Inferno. She was a standout forward with Boston University.
Hannah Miller #74
Hannah Miller is an interesting personality to be sure. She's been playing in China since she got herself on the roster of KRS Shenzen by the simple expedient of calling the GM and asking to be their last pre-draft pick.
Since then she's acquired dual citizenship and played on the Chinese national team at the Olympics and the Div I B Worlds.
Alexa Vasko #83
Vasko, a 24-year-old forward from St. Catharines has just finished NCAA play in 2022.
Olivia Knowles #86
Toronto went all State of Hockey for their last pick Knowles, 24, is the former captain of the University of Minnesota and played one year on the Whitecaps in the PHD. She is a right-shooting defender.
And that's the full Toronto draft record on this first-ever PWHL draft. We'll try to digest this and have some thoughts on it by tomorrow.
Thanks everyone for watching the draft, and enjoying this historic day with us.
