With the selection of Manon McMahon, adding to Gabbie Hughes, Ashton Bell, and Katerina Mrazova, the pipeline from the University of Minnesota-Duluth to PWHL Ottawa continues to develop.
With the selection of Manon McMahon, adding to Gabbie Hughes, Ashton Bell, and Katerina Mrazova, the pipeline from the University of Minnesota-Duluth to PWHL Ottawa continues to develop.
With two years of the PWHL Draft in the books, some pipelines are becoming clear, with one notable line formed between the University of Minnesota-Duluth and PWHL Ottawa.
In year one, PWHL Ottawa selected Katerina Mrazova, Gabbie Hughes, and Ashton Bell who are all Minnesota-Duluth alumni.
This year it was the selection of Manon McMahon that drew another connection. McMahon was Ottawa's fifth round pick, 26th overall. Her Minnesota-Duluth coach helped with the process calling teams on her behalf.
McMahon captained the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs women's hockey team this season scoring 31 points in 39 games. Bell and Hughes were her teammates last season. Now they'll be reunited in the PWHL.
In fact, when Ashton Bell was draft last year, McMahon was one of the first to comment on social media saying she'd always wanted to visit Ottawa. Now, she'll play in the city.
"I mean I talked to Ashton (Bell) and Gabbie (Hughes) all year long about how everything is going and just got every update possible from them," McMahon told reporters following her selection. "It definitely is a sense of comfort going to a place where i have two of my best friends at. Definitely a home away from home so I'm super excited and thankful for that."
In 2022-2023, Hughes led Minnesota-Duluth in scoring with 46 points in 38 games followed by Bell who had 33 points in 39 games as a defender.
The next three players on Minnesota-Duluth's scoring chart that season were 2024 PWHL Toronto draft pick Anneke Linser, McMahon, and PWHL Minnesota defender Maggie Flaherty. Their netminder that season was PWHL Boston goalie Emma Soderberg.