PWHL Montreal picks fifth overall in the 2024 PWHL Draft, and the opportunity to reunite Claire Thompson and Erin Ambrose, will be a tempting option.
PWHL Montreal picks fifth overall in the 2024 PWHL Draft, and the opportunity to reunite Claire Thompson and Erin Ambrose, will be a tempting option.
PWHL Montreal will pick fifth in this year’s draft and quite frankly, it might be a blessing in disguise.
If Montreal had the first pick, they might have had to pick centre Sarah Fillier. If they had picked in the top 3, they might have been tempted to choose the golden goal scorer, centre Danielle Serdachny. But with the fifth pick, those two players should be gone, meaning the team will be able to pick exactly what they need, a defender, and that player is Claire Thompson.
Although there are excellent blueliners in the upcoming draft such as United States’ Cayla Barnes, Finland’s Ronja Savolainen, and Czechia’s Daniela Pejsova, Daniele Sauvageau needs to go with the one from Toronto, Canada.
Why? Because she’s the only one who has played with Erin Ambrose on the Canadian national team.
But first of all, let’s explain why Montreal needs help on the blue line.
It was clear, especially in the playoffs, that Montreal didn’t have depth at defence. Coach Kori Cheverie mostly played with four, sometimes five defenders throughout the series against Boston. It took a toll on Erin Ambrose, who played more than 60 minutes in that second-overtime game.
During the season, Ambrose was head and shoulders above everyone else on the Montreal defensive team. Kati Tabin is a good second-pair defender, Amanda Boulier helped compensate for the absence of Dominika Laskova, but neither of them is a number one or a number two blueliner. A solid second pair, but not a first. Ambrose played almost all year long with rookie Mariah Keopple, who wasn’t ready yet to take that job, and who will not be ready by season two if Montreal was to keep her.
What Montreal needs is someone who can efficiently play alongside Ambrose. With Tabin and Laskova being already signed for next year, which would give Montreal a very good top four.
And who other than Claire Thompson to fill that void?
Ambrose and Thompson were pairing when the latter put up 13 points in seven games at the 2022 Olympic games, enough to be named to the tournament all-star team. They also played together at the World championships.
“I think we balance each other well,” the 26-year-old said on her partnership with Ambrose in 2023. “She kind of gives me free rein to skate wherever I want which makes me really happy and then I always know that she’s right there to help me out when I need her and then offensively, she’s brilliant.”
Unlike last year, this won’t be a snake draft where if a team drafts last in the first round, they will pick first in the second. And even though Thompson didn’t play last season to concentrate on finishing medical school, the chances of having Thompson available at pick number 10, Montreal’s second-round pick, are slim. Especially with Toronto picking right after Montreal and Team Canada’s head coach Troy Ryan knowing her so well. She ranked 5th on The Hockey News list.
Thompson could bring leadership – she was Princeton’s captain in her senior year – experience, and something no one else can offer, chemistry with Montreal’s top defender. It’s the right move. It’s the only move.