With the June 21st free agency period coming closer, PWHL Montreal general manager Danièle Sauvageau has taken care of some of her pending free agents, signing three players: goaltender Elaine Chuli, and defenders Mariah Keopple and Amanda Boulier to new contracts.
Boulier’s contract is for two years, while Keopple and Chuli signed one-year contracts.
Boulier, 31, was acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa in return for Tereza Vanišová. She played six games with Montreal, earning three assists. In 23 combined PWHL games last season, Boulier had one goal and eight assists.
Keopple, 23, was in her first professional season after playing her NCAA hockey at Princeton University. She went from undrafted free agent to first pairing defender very quickly, earning her spot next to Erin Ambrose. She eventually played with Boulier in the post-season on the team’s second pair. She was one of only seven Montreal players to play all 24 games last season, earning three assists.
Chuli, 30, was statistically among one of the top goaltenders in the PWHL last season. She played eight regular season games, going 6-1-1 with a 1.61 goals against average and .949 save percentage. Both marks were tops among qualfiied goaltenders. She will be back to once again share the net with Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Montreal still has 16 pending free agents, including 12 forwards.
