Émilie Castonguay is the new assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

The team made the announcement on Monday. She thus becomes the first woman in franchise history to hold this position, and only the second in the entire NHL.

The 38-year-old Quebecer was previously at the head of the Momentum agency, which notably represents Alexis Lafrenière. In 2016, she became the first female agent certified by the NHL Players Association. She also represented Marie-Philip Poulin, captain of the Canadian hockey team who will soon be flying to Beijing.

In a statement, Jim Rutherford, president of hockey operations and acting general manager of the club, praised his "extensive experience" in hockey as well as his "strong reputation, intelligence and work ethic".

The statement specifies that Castonguay will be involved in the negotiation and development of player contracts and that it will manage issues related to the collective agreement. "Her voice will be heard in all aspects of hockey operations [and] she will be a key member of our leadership team," the statement added.

The name of Castonguay has been widely spoken in recent weeks, while the process of selecting a general manager was in full swing at the Montreal Canadiens. According to our information, however, she was not approached for this position.

In 1996, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks made Angela Gorgon the first assistant general manager in NHL history. She had held this position for only one season before being hired by the Nashville Predators as director of hockey administration. She has not worked in the sport for several years. It will therefore have taken 25 years before a woman reaches such a position again.

Elsewhere in the league, other women, albeit few, hold jobs in various departments of hockey operations — in Toronto, for example, Hailey Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette oversee player development. None, however, touches so closely on the daily management of a club.

Ex-university player, Émilie Castonguay studied finance and law before turning to a career as an agent.

Momentum reacted to the announcement, also in a press release, saying that “the whole team is extremely proud to see Émilie obtain this position”. "His professionalism, his visionary side and his commitment have greatly contributed to the growth of our agency", we add.

"An inspiring woman"

Jakob Pelletier is full of praise for the one who is now his ex-agent. "If there's a girl who could do that, it's her! “, he exclaims at the end of the line.

Like other Momentum clients, this Calgary Flames prospect was told last week that Émilie Castonguay was preparing to leave, but it wasn't until Monday morning that he found out it was to join the management of the Vancouver Canucks.

Pelletier refers to her as a “friend”: “Whether you text her at 6 a.m. or 11 a.m., she answered in no time! »

"She's such an inspiring woman, who has character, poise," he says. I'm not surprised to see her become deputy general manager. »