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.)

Image via PWHL

As expected, Montreal also announced on November 13 their training facility would be the Centre 21.02 at Verdun Auditorium: