Montreal, like Minnesota, took a more conservative approach in their signings ahead of the draft. With only eight players signed, Danièle Sauvageau will need to add fifteen contracts before the conclusion of training camp to complete the 23-player roster, plus two reserves.
Expected Camp Roster
| PLAYER NAME | POS | STATUS | 2022-2023 TEAM | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desbiens, Ann-Renée | G | SIGNED | PWHPA - Team Harvey's | Initial signing 80k+ |
| Poulin, Marie-Philip | F | SIGNED | PWHPA - Team Harvey's | Initial signing 80k+ |
| Stacey, Laura | F | SIGNED | PWHPA - Team adidas | Initial signing 80k+ |
| O'Neill, Kirstin | F | SIGNED | PWHPA - Team adidas | Drafted 2-7, 80k+ |
| Marchment, Kennedy | F | SIGNED | PHF - Connecticut Whale | Drafted 6-31 |
| Dempsey, Jillian | F | SIGNED | PHF - Boston Pride | Drafted 11-66 |
| Ambrose, Erin | D | SIGNED | PWHPA - Team Sonnet | Drafted 1-6, 80k+ |
| Dalton, Claire | F | SIGNED | NCAA - Yale | Drafted 12-67 |
| Bettez, Ann-Sophie | F | Draft pick | PHF - Montreal Force | Drafted 14-79 |
| Bujold, Sarah | F | Undrafted | PHF - Metropolitan Riveters | |
| Bunton, Hanna | F | Undrafted | PWHPA - Team Sonnet | |
| Daoust, Mélodie | F | Undrafted | PWHPA - Team Scotiabank | |
| David, Gabrielle | F | Draft pick | NCAA - Clarkson | Drafted 9-54 |
| Dubois, Catherine | F | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Lefort, Sarah | F | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Ljungblom, Lina | F | Draft pick | SDHL - MoDo | Drafted 15-90 |
| Lum, Leah | F | Undrafted | PHF - Toronto Six | |
| Murphy, Maureen | F | Draft pick | NCAA - Northeastern | Drafted 3-18 |
| Poznikoff, Alexandra | F | Undrafted | PWHPA - Team Harvey's | |
| Stacey, Brooke | F | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Vanišová, Tereza | F | Draft pick | PHF - Toronto Six | Drafted 7-42 |
| Bizal, Madison | D | Draft pick | NCAA - Ohio State | Drafted 8-43 |
| Daoust, Catherine | D | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Keopple, Mariah | D | Undrafted | NCAA - Princeton | |
| Laganière, Brigitte | D | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Lásková, Dominika | D | Draft pick | PHF - Toronto Six | Drafted 4-19 |
| Poulin-Labelle, Maude | D | Draft pick | NCAA - Northeastern | Drafted 10-55 |
| Tabin, Kati | D | Draft pick | PHF - Toronto Six | Drafted 5-30 |
| Chuli, Elaine | G | Draft pick | PHF - Toronto Six | Drafted 13-78 |
| Boissonnault, Marlène | G | Undrafted | PWHPA - Team Harvey's | |
| Deschênes, Marie-Soleil | G | Undrafted | PHF - Montreal Force | |
| Škodová, Blanka | G | Undrafted | NCAA - Minnesota Duluth |
Team Staff
- General manager: Danièle Sauvageau, founder of Centre 21.02 who spent last season as the GM and associate head coach with the PWHPA's Team Harvey's; also has spent time coaching with Les Canadiennes in the CWHL and was GM with the University of Montreal
- Head coach: Kori Cheverie, who has served as an assistant coach with Team Canada at both the U18 and senior level since 2018 and has also been an assistant with Ryerson; Cheverie was also an assistant coach with Team Harvey's last season and is a former forward with the CWHL's Furies
- Assistant coach: Éric Houde, former player who has most recently overseen the youth hockey program for the Montreal Canadiens and served as head coach at Collège-Français LHJQAAA
What They Have
In addition to their initial free agent signings, Montreal locked up essential forwards in O'Neill, Marchment, and Dempsey and added depth at the position with Yale grad Dalton. They signed first-round pick Erin Ambrose the day after she suffered what looked like a serious injury during a Rivalry Series game, at least giving the appearance that she is good to go for camp – but we should find out more about that today. Montreal has the building blocks of a championship contender, but they need to fill out the rest of the structure, and have decided to wait until camp to do so.
What They Should Be Looking For
There will be stiff competition to be Desbiens' backup in net, with four total goaltenders vying for the position. Meanwhile, Sauvageau has only signed one defender – Ambrose – and will have seven blueliners competing for what will likely be six roster spots.
Montreal has six forwards signed so far, but that doesn't include third-round pick Maureen Murphy, who would seem the obvious choice to complete their CBA-mandated six 3-year contracts at $80,000 or more annually. They'll be looking to add six to seven forwards to their roster during camp overall. Notably, Lina Ljungblom is still on the camp roster even though she may be contractually obligated to finish her season with MoDo.
Including Ljungblom, Sauvageau has ten draft picks who remain unsigned heading into training camp, plus a plethora of undrafted camp invites to make each roster spot competitive.
News & Notes
Montreal's jerseys were also revealed on November 15. The official team colors are Burgundy, Storm, and Sand. (As with Ottawa, the "storm" color is a dark blue-gray.)
On aime nos nouvelles couleurs 🤌🏼
— PWHL Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) November 14, 2023
We like our new colours 🤌🏼 pic.twitter.com/fqNIsNfm5b
As expected, Montreal also announced on November 13 their training facility would be the Centre 21.02 at Verdun Auditorium:
Là où nous allons honorer le passé et bâtir le futur: Le Centre 21.02, situé à l’Auditorium de Verdun, sera notre centre d’entraînement officiel 🏠🏒
— PWHL Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) November 13, 2023
Il s’agit du premier et du seul centre de hockey de haute performance reconnu pour les athlètes féminines au Canada 👏🏼
Where we… pic.twitter.com/qHRsQQJetT
