In Hainsight: Getting Ready for the PWHL Draft

In the end, 268 players worldwide declared for the upcoming PWHL draft including 146 forwards, 78 defenders and 44 goaltenders. There are players from 17 different countries on the list and some very big names on there. As I’ll be covering the Montreal team this season, I’ll be focusing on the names that could catch general manager Daniele Sauvageau’s eye.

So far, Sauvageau has signed her three foundational players Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Ann-Renée Desbiens. While she arguably has both the best forward and goaltender in the game on her roster, she also has the oldest line-up so far. Poulin is 32 and both Desbiens and Stacey are 29 years old, meaning that the Montreal franchise will have to get some youth out of the draft. However, will Sauvageau be able to resist the urge to add even more local flavor to her roster?

Even since the league made details of the draft available, I’ve been wondering if Canadian Olympian Melodie Daoust would declare for it. Last season, she took a year off the PWHPA as she agreed to coach the women’s hockey program at College Bourget in Rigau with her partner and co-head-coach, Hanna Bunton. The free agency period came and went without Daoust being signed by a team. So, I had to wait until today to find out if either Daoust, Bunton, or both had decided to come back to the game.

There are various reasons for why Daoust would be a good fit for the PWHL Montreal. For starters, she is a Valleyfield, Québec native and Sauvageau has spoken about the importance of having local players in the line-up. Plus, she has great chemistry with Marie-Philip Poulin. However, Daoust is already 31 years old and wouldn’t make the team any younger. But she was the MVP of the 2021 World Championships and she is an exciting player to watch.

As for Bunton, she’s a 28-year-old Belleville, Ontario native who played in the CWHL before it folded and with the PWHPA where she represented Calgary (Team Scotiabank). In the CWHL, Bunton played for the Vanke Rays who eventually became the Kunlun Red Stars — the sole Chinese team in the league. Bunton only played for Team Canada at the under 18 level, but she’s still a quality offensive player. Lining-up for Cornell (2013-17) in the NCAA, she racked up 87 points in 125 games.

Since they are a couple, Daoust and Bunton would likely be drafted by the same team. Montreal will have picks 6 and 7 of the draft. So, it is possible for Montreal to draft them both. Or, as the list also includes the players who applied for compassionate circumstances, they could have applied and been approved. If that’s the case, I’m not sure what the process is then. Do they have to be drafted by the team they chose? Or can they be signed as free agents post draft? The latter would make more sense than the former.

Around the PWHL

• In Hainsight: Here Are your PWHL Montreal players!
• Inaugural PWHL Draft Picks
• Inaugural PWHL Draft : Who, When, and How to Watch
• In Hainsight: Chevrie Appointed as Head Coach of Montreal’s PWHL Franchise
• PWHL Names Head Coaches for Inaugural Season

One has to believe that Montreal will be eager to add a quality defender to its line-up. There are only 78 of them on the draft list and the best ones will probably be picked up early in the draft. Team Canada’s Ella Shelton could be a great addition to Montreal’s line-up, especially since she’s only 25-years-old and her Clarkson University coach called her “a Swiss Army knife of defence”. So would Claire Thompson who’s also 25 years-old and could be the PWHL’s equivalent to Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff in the NFL as she has studied to be a doctor. Thompson started playing hockey as a forward and therefore has very good offensive instincts. Snapping both of them with picks six and seven would be a great start to the Montreal blue line.

It’s quite hard to predict who Montreal will pick since they’re the last team to pick in the first round and aside from Minnesota picking Taylor Heise which appears to be a certainty, the field is wide open for picks two to five. If you want to browse the draft eligibility list, you can find it here.

There are a few notable absentees from the list such as international team members Amanda Kessel, Rebecca Johnston, Kacey Bellamy, Brigette Lacquette, Jennifer Wakefield, Meghan Mikkelson, and Laura Fortino. Still, this will be the best professional women’s hockey league in the world and fans will be treated to a very high caliber of hockey.

Finally, Radio Canada Sports’ Christine Roger reports that Sauvageau has found her coach and that Kori Cheverie will soon be announced as Montreal’s first head coach. Cheverie was an assistant coach when Canada won the Olympic gold in 2022 and the silver medal at this year’s World Championships, so she’ll know the franchise’s first three players pretty well. Especially since she was also an associate coached for Team Harvey’s in the PWHPA last season.

Follow me on twitter, @KarineHains, for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women’s hockey