Professional women’s hockey league | Montreal will have to stock up on attackers

A few days before the opening of the free agent market of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF), the Montreal team is essentially complete on defense and in front of the net. In attack, it’s quite the opposite that happens.

Montreal announced Monday that it had signed contracts with defenders Amanda Boulier and Mariah Keopple as well as goalkeeper Elaine Chuli for next season – Boulier was even granted an additional year.

Chuli, who presented the best statistics in the LPHF in 2024, will once again be Ann-Renée Desbiens’ assistant. As for Boulier and Keopple, they were part of the defensive quartet, along with Erin Ambrose and Kati Tabin, that shared the overwhelming majority of ice time during the team’s short stint in the playoffs last month.

With Ambrose, Tabin and Dominika Laskova, all of whom still have a contract, Montreal is counting on five defenders for the 2024-2025 campaign. By adding Cayla Barnes, the club’s first round pick in the most recent draft – we expect her to play a major role upon her arrival in the metropolis – we can practically consider that the fate of the team is sealed in this position. Even more so knowing that the organization holds the rights to two other defenders, the young American Anna Wilgren and the Swedish veteran Anna Kjellbin, also drafted last week.

By videoconference, general director Danièle Sauvageau confirmed that she wanted to “stabilize” her training during the off-season, primarily in these key positions. As proof, the agreements announced Monday had been concluded at the beginning of June, revealed the DG.

Barring a surprise, this personnel surplus should mean the end of the adventure in Montreal for Catherine Daoust, Madison Bizal and Brigitte Laganière, who all played the majority of matches last season. In series, however, they were confined to a hidden, even marginal role – especially Bizal and Laganière.

Sauvageau did not confirm whether these defenders should indeed try their luck elsewhere. However, she insisted on the fact that “any self-respecting organization [ne peut] making promises she can’t keep.”

She nevertheless recalled that, last year, seven players signed a contract after showing up to training camp with a simple invitation in their pocket.

Openings

While it will take a small miracle for a guest defender to carve out a place in the lineup, it is much more open in attack.

Only six forwards – Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O’Neill, Maureen Murphy, Kennedy Marchment and Lila Ljungblom – currently have a contract. It is “not impossible” that other names will be added to this group between now and Friday, the opening day of the free agent market, although there are no essentials among Mikyla Grant- Mentis, Claire Dalton, Catherine Dubois, Gabrielle David, Ann-Sophie Bettez, Sarah Lefort and Sarah Bujold, whose agreement is about to expire.

The Press was able to confirm that Dubois and Lefort, as well as defender Catherine Daoust, had not received an offer as of Monday. Bettez doesn’t either, but since she’s recovering from knee surgery, she doesn’t know if her injury will impact her ability to sign a new contract.

Sauvageau, like his counterparts, must juggle a complex salary structure. The LPHF, rather than imposing a ceiling, requires its CEOs to maintain a fixed average salary within their respective teams. In 2024-2025, this average will be $56,650. Administrators must therefore accumulate a certain number of low-cost contracts to counterbalance the more expensive ones.

So, barring a major surprise, dollars will not rain down on the athletes available on Friday. Of the league’s top 10 scorers in 2024, only Ottawa’s Katerina Mrazova and Darryl Watts and Boston’s Hannah Miller will be available, at a time when no player drafted last week has yet officially signed. his first contract.

Does Sauvageau expect to conclude several agreements, or does she prefer to wait at camp to evaluate invited players? “A combination of both,” she replied, not yet knowing exactly who will be available on Friday.

Impact

Another element could have an impact on Montreal’s decisions in the coming days and weeks: the fate of Amanda Kessel, drafted in the seventh round last week.

This file is particularly complex. No details have yet filtered from the American star, whether or not she plans to show up at the Montreal team’s camp. THE Hockey News argued that she only wanted to play in Boston.

Sauvageau spoke of “status quo” to describe this situation. She reiterated that the players available in the draft were presumed ready to play anywhere.

“The information we have is that she wants to play hockey and that she would perhaps like to do another Olympic cycle,” said the DG. With the talent and age she has, it’s more than possible. Our goal is for her to be in camp and playing next season. »

Abigail Boreen, an attacker drafted in the third round, would also have reservations about playing in Montreal, according to the Hockey News, since she would like to complete her studies in pharmacy at the University of Minnesota alongside her hockey career. However, his case does not seem to cause any concern within the Montreal team for the moment.