CWHL Draft Preview: Goaltenders

There are a record 81 prospects registered for the 2016 CWHL Player Draft. This is the first of three articles highlighting the top players at each position, as well as those who seem like fits in Montreal with Les Canadiennes.

The CWHL Draft works differently than most drafts we see in sports. When they register for the draft, the players can choose up to three teams they would be willing to play for, and only those teams can draft the player. If a player chooses the Greater Toronto Area, that counts as two teams as both the Toronto Furies and Brampton Thunder can choose the player.

Once a player is registered, any team they list can pick them at any point. There can be no preferences within a player’s multi-team list.

We’ll start things off with a look at the top goaltenders available.

Emerance Maschmeyer, Harvard

A year ago at this time, if you had seen the name Emerance Maschmeyer, you probably would have glazed over it. That all changed after the Women’s World Hockey Championships in Kamloops, B.C. this spring.

The Harvard goaltender was a part of the Canadian National Team Development Program, but got her first taste of action at the senior level at the Women’s Worlds and proved that she is one of the best goaltenders in the world.

Maschmeyer stopped 35 of 38 American shots in the opening game of the tournament and solidified the starting spot. In the gold-medal game, she stopped 32 of 33 shots in a 1-0 overtime loss. In all, she posted a 1.25 GAA and .956 save percentage at the tournament.

That was after her 99-game career at Harvard where she went 59-29-10 with a 1.65 GAA and .940 save percentage.

She is by far the best goaltender in this draft, and while no team goes into the draft in desperate need of a starter, Maschmeyer would likely become the number-one goaltender no matter where she goes.

Montreal has the most established starting goaltender in the league, which may mean they won’t get a shot to draft her.

Taylor Hough, McGill

Taylor Hough is coming off of her best statistical season in the CIS. She has won one National Championship with the McGill Martlets and two Quebec Conference titles.

This year, she had an 11-6 conference record in 17 games with a 1.79 GAA and .924 save percentage. She missed parts of two seasons with injuries, and the CIS already has fewer games in a season than the NCAA.

In her four years, she had a record of 23-8 with a 1.90 GAA and .906 save percentage. She played 15 playoff games with an 8-5 record, 2.63 GAA and .883 save percentage, including the 2013-14 CIS Championship when she was 3-0 and stopped 56 of 62 shots en route to a national title.

Hough is a butterfly goaltender and actually has a high pedigree. Before committing to McGill she received several Division I scholarship offers including Cornell. She is a native of Scarborough, ON.

If she were to come to Montreal, I don’t think that she would start over Charline Labonté but she would be a long-term prospect with potential to grow into a bigger role. Montreal also has a backup in Sydney Aveson who put up good numbers last year.