The busy off-season for Toronto‘s PWHL team continued Friday.
After re-signing defender Allie Munro on Thursday, the club announced a one-year extension with 28-year-old forward Hannah Miller. Later, Toronto also agreed to two-year deals with free-agent forwards Daryl Watts and Emma Woods.
Watts played for Ottawa last season, scoring 10 goals (including a hat trick against Toronto) and adding seven assists in 24 games, and was widely considered the biggest free agent on the market.
The year before that, the 25-year-old played for her hometown Toronto Six in the PHF, after signing a two-year contract that would have paid her a league-record $150,000 in 2023-24. The contract was voided when the league folded to make way for the PWHL.
Player salaries weren’t revealed for the latest signings Friday, as per the agreement between the players’ association and the PWHL.
Miller, a Vancouver native, played left wing on the second line through most of her first season in Toronto, finishing with 14 points — seven goals and seven assists — in 23 games. In Toronto’s disappointing playoff run, Miller had a goal and two assists in two wins against Minnesota before going cold in the subsequent games, where Minnesota completed its comeback on the way to the championship. Miller recorded a team-high five hits in Game 1 of the series with just 14 minutes of ice time.
“Hannah was a key part of our team’s success in the inaugural season,” Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury said in a statement. “She is a strong power forward that plays a 200-foot game.”
“I’m very excited to be staying in Toronto for another season,” Miller added in the press release. “I can’t wait to get back on the ice and start working towards our ultimate goal of bringing a championship to this city.”
Woods had two goals and three assists in 24 games last season with New York. She was also teammates with Watts on the Toronto Six which won the league championship before the PHF folded.
Munro, Miller, Watts and Woods will join several Toronto players who were already under contract for the PWHL’s second season: Victoria Bach, Jesse Compher, Maggie Connors, Emma Maltais, Sarah Nurse, Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull, Renata Fast, Kali Flanagan, Jocelyne Larocque and Kristen Campbell. The team also selected forward Julia Gosling in the first round of the PWHL draft on June 10.
Teams had until Friday to offer extensions to players under contract before the leaguewide free-agent market opened. Forwards Alexa Vasko and Rebecca Leslie were the only two remaining Toronto players who needed to be re-signed or else test free agency. Forward Brittany Howard and goaltender Erica Howe announced their retirements Thursday.
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