PWHL Roster Status Report: Montréal

Now, it’s Montréal’s turn in the spotlight in installment three of the TIG roster report series.

All signing information is according to TIG’s roster tracker. Camp invite details are from a master spreadsheet by The Score’s Kyle Cushman unless otherwise noted.

Last Year’s Roster

Still Had Term

Forwards

• Marie-Philip Poulin
• Laura Stacey
• Kristin O’Neill
• Kennedy Marchment
• Maureen Murphy

Defenders

• Erin Ambrose
• Katie Tabin
• Dominika Lásková

Goaltenders

• Ann-Renée Desbiens

Heading into the offseason, Montréal had the fewest players under contract. However, the team's core was still intact, so luckily for GM Danielle Sauvageau, she mostly had to worry about acquiring a strong supporting cast instead of securing new game-breakers (although the more of those you have, the merrier).

Re-Signings

Forwards

• Claire Dalton
• Catherine Dubois
• Mikyla Grant-Mentis

Defenders

• Amanda Boulier
• Mariah Keopple

Goaltenders

• Elaine Chuli

Montréal was the most active team in handing out contract extensions, which is unsurprising given the previous state of their roster. Boulier earned a two-year extension, while the rest are on new one-year deals. Boulier, Chuli, and Keopple all signed during the exclusive negotiation window, meaning all their contracts are guaranteed, while the rest were signed after the main free agency window so they are not.

Free Agents

Forwards

• Ann-Sophie Bettez
• Sarah Bujold
• Gabrielle David
• Sarah Lefort
• Leah Lum
• Alexandra Poznikoff
• Brooke Stacey

Defenders

• Catherine Daoust
• Brigitte Laganière

Goaltenders

• Marlène Boissonnault

One of Montréal’s would-be free agents, Mélodie Daoust, turned the lights off on her illustrious career to transition into coaching with Collège Bourget. Two others, forward Jillian Dempsey and defender Madison Bizal, have accepted camp invites to Boston and New York, respectively. As for the rest, only David is confirmed to attend the Montréal training camp.

Draftees/New Faces

2024 Montréal Draft Class

• Round 1, Pick 5: Cayla Barnes (D)
• Round 2, Pick 11: Jennifer Gardiner (F)
• Round 3, Pick 17: Abigail Boreen (F)
• Round 4, Pick 23: Dara Grieg (F)
• Round 5, Pick 29: Anna Wilgren (D)
• Round 6, Pick 35: Anna Kjellbin (D)
• Round 7, Pick 41: Amanda Kessel (F)

Check out my colleague J Gray’s recap here for more information on the new draftees. So far, Barnes (three years) and Gardiner (two years) are the only two 2024 draft picks who have signed. However, Montréal was also able to sign 2023 draft pick Lina Ljungblom, and she should be a big boost to their lineup. The Swedish forward did play in the PWHL last year since she still had a year remaining on her SDHL contract, but Montréal pounced on her with the last pick of the draft to ensure she was all theirs when she did come over. Now, she’ll be joining them on a three-year contract.

Notably, two of Montréal’s draftees are complex cases. Abby Boreen is working on her Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, so there’s no guarantee she will play in Montréal. Montréal is reportedly trying to find her equivalent classes at McGill University, but the transfer is not going as well as hoped. So, it’s looking likely that Boreen will need to be traded, sit out a season, or take a leave of absence from school. Meanwhile, Amanda Kessel is even more doubtful to play for Montréal. The Pittsburgh Penguins recently promoted her to manager of minor league operations and assistant general manager of their AHL team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Nothing has been confirmed by PWHL Montréal or Kessel yet, but it seems unlikely she will be able to play and carry out her role, especially from Montréal.

Montréal has made no free agent signings so far this off-season, but they have invited three outside players to their training camp. Former Minnesota forward Clair DeGeorge, New York forward Alexandra Labelle, and Ottawa goaltender Sandra Abstreiter will be attending Montréal’s camp.

Remaining Roster Spots

Montréal is one of the PWHL’s most flexible teams, with five roster spots plus three reserve slots remaining. Of the 18 players signed, ten are forwards, six are defenders, and two are goaltenders. So, assuming they follow a normal roster construction, look for them to fill those five remaining slots with three forwards, a defender, and a goaltender. 

If all of Montréal’s draftees attend camp, they don’t technically need to sign or invite more players. However, since there’s so much uncertainty with the Boreen and Kessel situations, Montréal needs to recruit several more players to fill their spots and ensure enough competition for them in camp. Luckily for them, Sauvageau shouldn’t have too hard of a time doing that given the combination of team/market strength with the high number of open slots.