Toronto Sceptres Draft Kirsten Simms at No. 8 Amid Roster Changes

After a couple of weeks of what felt like a constant stream of steady departures for the Toronto Sceptres following three pivotal retentions in Renata Fast, Raygan Kirk and most recently Kali Flanagan, Gina Kingsbury finally got to start adding to her roster again.

A Much-Needed Boost

And make no mistake, some good news was definitely needed. After losing the likes of Daryl Watts, Jesse Compher and Maggie Connors and a reported soon-to-be-departing fan favourite Emma Maltais (Kingsbury confirmed to media she was headed elsewhere on draft night), this organization needed something positive.

Kirsten Simms, a 100-goal scorer over four years at the University of Wisconsin falling to Toronto at No. 8 in the draft certainly qualifies as a positive. Simms arrival doesn’t offset the offensive drain the Sceptres have suffered in losing Watts, Compher, Connors and Maltais by itself, but she is a bona fide elite goal creator that few if any thought would still be around by the time the Sceptres selection came up on draft night.

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Draft Night Overview

Simms was expected to go in the top four or five in the draft according to most mock drafts out there. But slipping all the way to eight for reasons only the general managers picking four, five, six and seven know, left Kingsbury the chance to grab the offensive weapon she needed and thought she was going to get before the league made the heavy-handed decision to stick the four incoming expansion teams in front of the entire original six in the draft order. But no more about that. We spent draft night ranting about that.

On the night, the Sceptres selected four forwards and two defenders. Kingsbury still has some work to do with signing team captain Blayre Turnbull right at the top of that list right next to re-signing assistant captain Allie Munroe.

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First-Round Selection: Kirsten Simms (8th Overall)

Position: Forward
School: Wisconsin
Age: 21 (turns 22 in August)
Achievements: Helped Wisconsin to three National titles in her four years at the school. Internationally, the Plymouth, Michigan native has already won an Olympic gold, a World Championship gold and a World Championship silver. She won the NCAA scoring title with 75 points in 39 games as a sophomore and was named WCHA Player of the Year and Forward of the Year. All told, Simms tallied 238 points in 152 games over four years at Wisconsin.
Intangibles: Simms is one of those athletes that has the ‘clutch’ gene embedded in her DNA. At the 2024 World Championships, Simms scored her first senior-level international goal. It came in overtime of a 1-0 win over Canada that sewed up Group A for the Americans. In 2025 in the championship game for NCAA Div. 1 teams, Simms scored on a penalty shot with 18 seconds remaining to force overtime. Once in OT, Simms scored again to give Wisconsin its eighth national championship. In her sophomore season at Wisconsin, Simms had nine game-winning goals. In her freshman year, Simms scored the game-winning goal against Ohio State in the National Championship game. New head coach Pascal Rheaume has his clutch scorer.

Second Round, 20th Overall: Jamie Nelson

Position: Forward
School: University of Minnesota
Age: 24
Home: Andover, Minn.
Achievements: Kingsbury got a distributor and probably bumped the team IQ a few points with Nelson. She was a WCHA All-Academic and Scholar-Athlete in her one and only season at the University of Minnesota. Her 31 assists were sixth in the nation while the 42 points on the year was a career best. Began her collegiate career at Minnesota State where she played four seasons and made an immediate impact becoming State’s first ever WCHA rookie of the year.
Intangibles: Played on a team at the University of Minnesota that included four other PWHL draft picks this season including No. 2 Abbey Murphy. Also on that team was Canadian National team defender Chloe Primerano who is going into her junior season. There’s still going to be a jump to be made at the professional level but playing with all that talent should put her in good stead in her first year with Toronto.

Third Round, 32nd Overall: Brooke Disher

Position: Defender
School: Ohio State University
Age: 21 (turns 22 in July)
Home: Fort St. John, B.C.
Achievements: Another team-IQ raiser, Disher was a WCHA All Academic and WCHA Academic Scholar in both seasons at Ohio State. In her two seasons at Boston University, Disher was a member of the Hockey East All Rookie team finishing runner-up in the 2023 Hockey East rookie of the year. Disher also captained Canada’s gold medal winning team at the 2022 Under-18 World Championships.
Intangibles: Very much like the Sceptres second round pick Nelson, Disher has combined academics and hockey and shown a real dedication to seeking out higher levels to improve her own by leaving behind the comfort of Boston to play at perennial powerhouse Ohio. Previously played at Ohio State with Sceptres forward Kiara Zanon who was drafted by the Sceptres last season.