Make no mistake about it, PWHL Montreal still feels good about their core. Despite being swept in the opening round of the PWHL playoffs, the team felt they played their best three games of the season, in terms of scoring chances created. They confirmed this fact at their season-ending media availability.
A big topic of discussion was the ice time deployed by head coach Kori Cheverie and general manager Danièle Sauvageau backed her coach.
“For the players played less, there will be elements of the answer that will stay between us,” Sauvageau said.
Of course, Montreal’s depth was hit hard by the injuries to Dominika Lásková, Kennedy Marchment, Ann-Sophie Bettez, and Sarah Bujold. All three of those players would have been expected to play key roles for the team’s bottom six and all were missing from the first round series.
The good news for Montreal is, despite an off-season that will see 20 of the 29 players who finished the season under contract become free agents, the core is locked in. The three foundational signings (Ann-Renée Desbiens, Marie-Philip Poulin, and Laura Stacey) are on three-year contracts as are draft picks Erin Ambrose, Maureen Murphy, and Kristin O’Neill. Kati Tabin, Lásková, and Marchment are on two-year contracts.
The other good news is that other teams are facing similar challenges, but with a deep free agent class and a draft with plenty of game-changers, teams will have every opportunity to improve.
Who will Montreal target to re-sign?
This is a bit of a tough question because the depth of the entire league will improve drastically next season. Some players who played top roles will possibly see their roles potentially reduced to depth roles, while those who played bottom-six and bottom-pairing minutes will be possibly fighting to keep a roster spot.
Although teams have an exclusive window to re-sign their own free agents from June 1-June 21, there have yet to be any signings announced. Teams may be seeing who they add in the draft (June 10) before committing to players at certain positions.
Montreal will surely be adding Swedish forward Lina Ljungblom, who was dominant in the SDHL and who they drafted with the final pick of the 2023 Draft. She had a contract in Sweden last year that prevented her from coming over, but all indications are that both sides expect to come to a deal for next season.
Free agents who played key roles for Montreal in the playoffs include forwards Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Gabrielle David, Claire Dalton, and defenders Mariah Keopple, and Amanda Boulier. It would not be a surprise to see any of these players re-signed, but interest will be high in most of these players across the league. Any potential holes in key spots left after the draft can be filled by these players without much issue.
Other key contributors who will be free agents are Sarah Lefort, Leah Lum, Madison Bizal, Catherine Daoust, Catherine Dubois, Brigitte Laganière, Jillian Dempsey, and goaltender Elaine Chuli, plus Bettez and Bujold. Players who were on the reserve roster for part of the season include Dubois, Mélodie Daoust, Alexandra Poznikoff, Liliane Perreault, and Brooke Stacey, plus third goaltender Marlène Boissonnault.
This group will be interesting. Some will surely not be back next year, others will likely get invited to camp at the very least. Chuli performed great all season when called upon, but that might also mean she will have interest elsewhere where she can have a bigger role. There are also a lot of other goaltenders who will be free agents, and some top prospects in the draft.
Daoust is unable to take a full-time contract under the current system because of her work and personal situation, as she has shared custody of her son. The others who don’t get invited to Montreal’s camp might have the opportunity elsewhere.
A key draft
Like their male counterparts in the NHL, Montreal will have the fifth pick of the draft. A lot will depend on who gets taken ahead of their pick, but they will have the opportunity to possibly add a top forward (Sarah Fillier, Hannah Bilka, Danielle Serdachny, or Julia Gosling are among the top choices) or defender (Olympians Cayla Barnes, Claire Thompson, and Ronja Savolainen are among the top ones available).
With seven players listed, at least three will be available when Montreal makes their first selection. Not to mention so many other really talented players expected to go in later rounds like long-time Finnish national team member Noora Tulus, American veteran Amanda Kessel, and the reigning Patty Kazmaier winner for NCAA player of the year, Izzy Daniel. There is also local talent expected to be drafted in Concordia’s Emmy Fecteau and Clarkson’s Alexie Guay. There are truly too many potential impact players to name without leaving one out.
With the draft only a week away, in Minnesota on June 10, it has the opportunity to set the foundation for the team’s free agency decisions. Does the team target top offensive talent knowing that they can fill the rest of the forwards with free agents and really add impact to their top-six (along with the expected addition of Ljungblom) or do they target defence to surround Ambrose, Tabin, and Lásková with top talent, knowing they have free agency and an established core of forwards.
They also have the option to replace Chuli with a goaltender like Northeastern’s Gwyneth Philips or Czech national team member Klára Peslarová.
