Female Sports Agent Could Make History At 2020 NHL Draft
Rarely do professional drafts go as planned. Even with clear No. 1 picks, front offices follow their own plan of analytics to pick which player is best fit for their organization. With the NHL 2020 Draft slowly approaching, mock drafts predict Canadian junior hockey player Alexis Lafreniere to go first overall to the New York Rangers.
Émilie Castonguay, sports agent and vice president at Momentum Hockey Agency, represents the 18-year-old hockey player. If Lafreniere goes first overall Castonguay would be the first woman to represent an NHL No. 1 pick as an National Hockey League Players Association-certified agent.
“I think at first people are surprised, but I’ve always gotten very good feedback about my hockey knowledge,” Castonguay said in an interview with USA Today. “I think the moms like to have a woman involved. I’m not sure it’s an advantage, but I hope it is. But if I was a female and didn’t know what I am talking about, I wouldn’t close those deals.”
Castonguay began to play hockey at a young age, and later received a full-ride scholarship to play NCAA Division hockey. Throughout her college career she competed in 121 games as a forward and recorded a total of 18 assists and 23 goals.
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At Niagara University she earned a degree in finance hoping to become a general manager for an NHL team. She interned with Pierre Gauthier, who was general manager for the Montreal Canadiens at the time, and realized she had a bigger passion for player’s rights. She decided to go to law school to become a sports agent.
“I’m hoping that it has a positive impact and that other women can come into this business and realize that they can be successful,” Castonguay said in an interview with CBC Canada.
After finishing law school, she began working for Momentum Hockey. There, she scouted and signed Lafreniere out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. According to SportsNet, in the shortened 2020 season he had 35 goals, a league-leading 77 assists and 112 points through 52 games played.
“I think he makes players around him so much better. He would anticipate plays that would always lead to scoring chances no matter what,” Castonguay told SportsNet. “I think that was a big thing, for us, that we saw very early on … his I.Q. and his compete level were what stood out the most with him.”
The 2020 NHL Draft was originally scheduled for June 26-27, but was pushed back because of Covid-19 and will be held virtually Oct. 9 to Oct. 10, 2020.
