Even if you accept, as most will, that the Toronto Sceptres won its recently completed trade with the Ottawa Charge, that doesn’t mean the Sceptres didn’t pay a hefty price in making it.
Trading 36-year-old Jocelyne Larocque and 28-year-old forward Victoria Bach for 30-year-old forward Hayley Scamurra and 29-year-old defender Savannah Harmon was the kind of deal Gina Kingsbury and the Sceptres could not turn down.
There is little question Larocque and Harmon were the principals in the deal, though Scamurra and Bach will almost certainly have an impact with their new teams as well.
Scamurra fits Toronto’s identity like a glove with her physicality and tenaciousness while a move for Bach could very well open up some of the untapped offensive potential that never really got the chance to be exposed in Toronto where she spent most of her time in a third or fourth line role.
As Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said Saturday, there’s a real upside for Bach in being traded as she will be given a much bigger role in Ottawa than she had in Toronto.
But for Larocque, any upside is much tougher to see.
A key member of the Sceptres leadership team and someone who was instrumental in establishing an identity for Toronto’s program, Larocque was the price Toronto had to pay to get younger on the blue line and a little more offensive there as well.
Larocque continues to play at a very high level but at 36 her long-term future in the PWHL is limited, or at least more limited than the 29-year-old Harmon who is also logging elite minutes like Larocque in a league where tireless, steady defenders are at a premium.
That alone pushes this deal decidedly in Toronto’s favour.
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Of course, none of that takes into account the individual. And in this case, we are speaking specifically of Larocque.
Her standing in the game and the accrued experience she can bring to any situation a hockey team could possibly experience ensures that when she speaks, everyone in that locker room listens. She pulls this off without being the least bit heavy-handed.
Those qualities continue to exist in Toronto’s room — even with Larocque moving on — with captain Blayre Turnbull and Larocque’s long-time defensive partner Renata Fast. But it’s fair to say Larocque is just at another level in this particular department.
And it’s because of that, if there is a potential downside to this trade for Toronto, it resides exactly there. Larocque’s importance to this team is far more than just the steady, tough defender she plays on the ice.
Turnbull met with the team almost immediately after learning of the player swap, knowing this first ever trade by the Sceptres was going to hit hard. How to overcome that leadership loss was on top of that meeting’s agenda.
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“It’s something that we actually discussed right away because I think it’s important to know that none of us is going to fill the void that losing Joss leaves,” she said. “Who she is as a player and as a leader and what she brings in the calm veteran presence to our team and dressing room.
“So I think the most important thing was for us to try to understand that there is a void to fill but none of us have to change who we are in order to fill that and we will just kind of naturally let it be and see who can step up and provide things Joss provided.”
Turnbull said Fast was already doing that even before the trade.
“Renata and Joss are very similar in the persona that they emulate and the presence they have around them where they are just calm and poised in the majority of situations,” Turnbull said. “Honestly she had already stepped up over the last few weeks in that area, not just since Joss (was traded). I think Kali Flanagan will step up too and I think our new players (Harmon and Scamurra) will bring the same sort of presence as well with their veteran experience once they settle in.”
Ryan put the trade in perspective this way.
“I would bet — and I don’t know how long I will coach in this league — but if I were to be honoured to coach in this league for say 10 more years, I don’t think we would have a harder one,” he said of Monday’s trade. “That is probably as tough a trade as you can get, just trading players you have a history with and a connection with.”
As an assistant captain, Larocque’s departure leaves the Sceptres down a letter on the ice. Ryan said he’s in no rush to respond to that situation.
“It’s not something you rush into,” Ryan said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have good leaders, but just no need to right away. We’ll do it by committee until we feel it benefits our team or benefits an individual.”
Toronto excelled in this league in the first year first because they are a well-constructed team of talented professionals but also because they are a tight unit off the ice, a team that has each other’s backs, knows exactly who they are and went through some real soul-searching early on to come out the other side a stronger unit than they began.
Larocque was a big reason, nut not the only reason, they became that type of team.
Turnbull believes they will get back to that, but it’s going to take a little time.
Toronto leaves for Vancouver on Monday for Wednesday’s matchup with Montreal. They play just once in Toronto in the month of January, that coming on Jan. 25 when they take on Montreal at Scotiabank Arena. There will be plenty of time to figure this out together.