Despite finishing her NCAA hockey career as the second highest scoring player in NCAA women’s hockey history, Daryl Watts faced a difficult decision. Options to play professional hockey were limited, especially if she wanted to earn a living wage.

She’d been accepted to a Master's program in commercial real estate with the prospects of making six-figure sums soon. Alternatively, her lifelong dream of playing hockey was over. At age 23, she considered herself retired from the game as the PWHPA and PHF just weren’t paying sustainable wages.

That was, until the PHF announced its salary cap would be increasing to $1.5 million next season. With that news, Watts’ head started spinning. She told her parents she wouldn’t be going back to school this year, and soon, she signed with the PHF’s Toronto Six.

As it turns out, the six-figure sums Watts had hoped for were already hers, as she signed a two-year deal that will pay her $150,000 next season. The contract is the biggest in women’s hockey history, smashing Mikyla Grant-Mentis’ contract of $80,000 she signed this season with the Buffalo Beauts.