TORONTO — Megan Carter didn't have an ideal start to her Professional Women's Hockey League career, but she picked up valuable learning experience from it.
The 23-year-old defender, who was a second-round pick (12th overall) of the Toronto Sceptres in the 2024 PWHL draft out of Northeastern University, was placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury on Nov. 13, a couple of weeks before the regular season began.
She spent a lot of time rehabbing, and learning from teammate and star forward Natalie Spooner.
"I was able to learn some of my teammates' tendencies just from watching, which was really neat," Carter said. "I think even just being on the ice with Spooner for a lot of the time throughout that injury process was really helpful. ... Just having that presence around me just made me feel like I could make that jump.
"So as much as it sucked, I would've loved to be there Day 1, I think everything happens for a reason and her influence plus just being able to watch the team develop and seeing where I fit in was great."
Carter added that watching games with Spooner, who also missed the beginning of the season on LTIR, helped give her a new lens on the sport.
"It's funny because we would sit together at all the games and she likes to do play-by-play and guess what's going to happen or analyze different plays," said Carter, who added that she idolized Spooner growing up. "Just seeing the games through her eyes was really special and gave me another perspective."
Since her return in late January, Carter has established herself as a core piece on Toronto's blueline.
Carter, from Milton, Ont., doesn't stand out on the statsheet, only having one assist in 12 games. However, she's consistently made things difficult for opponents and provides a welcome physicality on the backend.
"I think Megan has been great," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said. "I usually have a pretty good pulse of what to expect and I honestly believe she's probably exceeded what I thought she would do stepping in when she stepped in after being out. I think that's a hard situation to be in for a first-year player.
"She doesn't mind playing a hard game and I thought some of our little turnarounds have happened with a hard Megan Carter hit or a hard play where she's been able to get us going. ... Right now she's a steady presence for us and something we definitely needed on the backend there."
Spooner isn't surprised by how well the rookie has performed for the Sceptres.
"I think she's just so steady. She blocks shots, she's a big body — I think she set the tone for us tonight making some big hits early on," Spooner said after Toronto's 4-1 win over Montreal on March 6. "Maybe the one thing we haven't seen as much from her yet is her heavy shot. I got to tip a lot of her shots in the pre-season and she can get a shot off real fast. It's pretty hard and a great tipping shot.
"I think other than that, she's just so solid back there. She has great angles, I had to go against her and she's really hard to beat so I think we've seen that transfer right over into the league and she's been amazing for us."
Carter, who said she's gained more confidence with experience, wants to show more of her game as the playoffs near. Toronto (9-2-5-7) is currently third in the PWHL with seven games remaining in the regular season.
"The first part of the season, I was really just focused on being a steady presence, playing physically, being solid defensively," she said.
"I think with the way that the game is evolving, I'd like to contribute offensively when I can, obviously, without putting all those other qualities aside."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
