It was never going to be a shock, but Marie-Philip Poulin has officially signed with the Montreal PWHL team, it was announced on Thursday. She was among the team’s three pre-draft signings, joining fellow Team Canada players Ann-Renée Desbiens and Laura Stacey.
The contracts are for three years. Per current PWHLPA policy, the terms were not disclosed. The announcement took place at the Centre 21.02, the high performance women’s hockey training centre at the Verdun Auditorium.
Poulin, 32, is the best player in the world and keeping the Quebec-born star was a priority for general manager Danièle Sauvageau. It makes sense for Poulin to stay in Quebec where she can have media opportunities in both language and where she works part time for the Montreal Canadiens as part of their player development staff.
There isn’t much to say about Poulin that isn’t already known. She is the captain of the Canadian national team, and has won three Olympic gold medals and three World Championship gold medals and an Olympic silver medal. In 2022, she was named Canada’s athlete of the year. She also won two Clarkson Cups in the CWHL, and was the PWHPA’s leading scorer a year ago.
She was fifth all-time in CWHL scoring with 87 goals and 97 assists (184 points) in 93 career games. Her 1.98 points per game ranks her third all-time behind just Meghan Agosta and Jennifer Botterill.
Desbiens is widely considered to be the best goaltender in women’s hockey. The Quebec-born goaltender will be playing in a pro league for the first time. She had played in the PWHPA after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.
The 29-year-old led Canada to gold at the 2022 Olympics. She has a remarkable 27-1 record for Canada at the Olympics and World Championships. The only loss was in the gold medal game to the United States at the most recent World Championship. She also played 13 games with Team Harvey’s in the PWHPA last year with a 2.07 goals against average and .935 save percentage.
Her numbers in the NCAA were even more unbelievable. She had a 99-14-9 record with a 0.89 goals against average and .955 save percentage and a mind-numbing 55 shutouts. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2016-17 as NCAA Player of the Year with a 29-2-4 record, 0.71 goals against average, and .963 save percentage with 17 shutouts. She holds the all-time NCAA record for most shutouts by a goaltender of any gender. Her career GAA and save percentages are the top of any NCAA woman with at least 100 games.
Laura Stacey has established herself as a mainstay on the Canadian national team with Blayre Turnbull and Emily Clark on what is called the best third line in hockey. All three members of the line were among the first 15 players to sign in the PWHL (Clark with Ottawa and Turnbull with Toronto). While she is a third liner with the national team, she is an offensive dynamo. She finished fourth in PWHPA scoring last season with nine goals and 12 assists in 20 games with Team Adidas.
Her combination of size, speed, and skill has really developed into a total package over the last few years.
The 28-year-old has been to five IIHF Women’s World Championships, and two Olympic Games. She has won two gold medals at the Worlds, one Olympic gold, and a Clarkson Cup. Stacey had 21 goals and 32 assists in 46 career CWHL games. She also had a great NCAA career at Dartmouth, with 31 goals and 56 assists in 108 games.
Stacey decided to train in Montreal and the Centre 21.02 starting in the 2019-20 season, the first season after the CWHL folded.
On top of playing together at the senior level, Stacey and Desbiens were teammates on the 2011 Canadian Under-18 team.
Poulin and Stacey announced their engagement earlier in the summer.
The majority of the Montreal team’s roster will be filled by the 15-round draft to be held on September 18. Montreal has the sixth pick in round one and all odd-numbered rounds, and first pick in all even-numbered rounds, which means they own the #6 and 7 picks in the draft.
