Brandon Montour

Brandon Montour
Montour with the Florida Panthers in 2023
Born	(1994-04-11) April 11, 1994 (age 30) Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
NHL team Former teams	Seattle Kraken Anaheim Ducks Buffalo Sabres Florida Panthers
National team	Canada
NHL draft	55th overall, 2014 Anaheim Ducks
Playing career	2015–present

Brandon Montour (born April 11, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). ^[1] Montour was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round, 55th overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. ^[2] Montour won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers in 2024. ^[3]

Early life

Montour is of Mohawk descent and spent part of his childhood in Ohsweken, a village in the reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River. ^{[4] [5] [6]} His father is First Nations and his mother is not. ^[7] Montour spent eight years living in Tilbury, Ontario, where he completed his elementary education. ^[8] He then moved to Ohsweken and attended Assumption College School, in Brantford, Ontario. Montour also grew up playing minor lacrosse in Windsor, then with the Six Nations Rebels of the OJBLL, before winning a Minto Cup with the Six Nations Arrows. ^[9] Montour also played in lacrosse tournaments with Nick Ritchie, a future teammate on the Ducks, as well as Ritchie's brother, Brett Ritchie, who played for the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. ^[10]

Playing career

Montour started his hockey journey playing minor hockey in Cambridge, Ontario, prior to joining the Brantford Golden Eagles hockey club in 2010–11. Montour then joined the Caledonia Corvairs for one season in 2012–13 where he played against head coach David Brennan of the Thorold Blackhawks ^[9]

Montour played with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and one season with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he became the highest NHL draft pick in their school program's history after being drafted in the second round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks . ^[2]

Anaheim Ducks

Montour began his professional career at age 21 with the Anaheim Ducks' affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) towards the end of the 2014–15 season. He would then play the entire 2015–16 season with the Ducks' relocated AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. ^[11] Montour was selected to the 2017 AHL All-Star game for the second consecutive year. Despite not playing the entire season for the Gulls, Montour had amassed 21 points in only 25 games. ^[12]

Montour spent the first half of the 2016–17 ice hockey season with San Diego before he was called up to Anaheim on December 28, 2016. ^[13] He made his NHL debut on December 29 against the Calgary Flames. ^[14] Montour scored his first NHL goal in his sixth game against Tampa Bay Lightning on February 6, 2017. ^[15] He finished the season with 4 assists and 2 goals in 27 games, then provided 7 more assists in the next 17 games of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Montour stuck with Ducks for the entirety of the 2017–18 season and put up a new personal best of 32 points in 80 games. At the conclusion of the season, with Montour as a restricted free agent, the Ducks signed him to a two-year contract. ^[16]

Buffalo Sabres

Montour began the 2018–19 season returning for his third season with the Ducks. ^[17] Montour led Anaheim defensemen with 25 points through 62 games, however with the Ducks out of a playoff spot approaching the trade deadline, Montour was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Brendan Guhle and a 2019 first-round pick on February 24, 2019. ^[18]

Florida Panthers

On April 10, 2021, Montour was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. ^[19]

After signing a three-year extension in Florida, ^[20] Montour experienced a breakout in the 2022–23 season, nearly doubling his personal best with 16 goals and 73 points, the latter of which tied for fifth in the league among defensemen. His 5 goals in 7 games led all defensemen through the first round of the 2023 playoffs. During the 2024 playoffs, Montour helped the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup.

Seattle Kraken

On July 1, 2024, Montour signed as a free agent to a seven-year, $49.98 million deal with the Seattle Kraken. ^[21]

International play

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing   Canada
World Championships
	2019 Slovakia

On April 29, 2019, Montour was selected to make his international debut after he was named to the Canadian national team for the 2019 IIHF World Championship, held in Slovakia. ^[22] On May 13, 2019, during a 6–5 victory over host nation Slovakia, Montour suffered a tournament ending lower body injury, he finished scoreless through 3 games for Canada. ^[23] Canada lost the final to Finland to finish with the silver medal. ^[24]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2010–11	Brantford Eagles	GOJHL		37	1	13	14	22		10	3	3	6	—
2011–12	Brantford Eagles	GOJHL		51	14	22	36	65		19	6	12	18	30
2012–13	Caledonia Corvairs	GOJHL		49	18	49	67	94		12	4	11	15	22
2013–14	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL		60	14	48	62	36		12	6	10	16	10
2014–15	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL		17	6	15	21	30		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	UMass-Amherst	HE		21	3	17	20	30		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		14	1	9	10	8		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	San Diego Gulls	AHL		68	12	45	57	42		9	1	4	5	8
2016–17	San Diego Gulls	AHL		36	13	19	32	34		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		27	2	4	6	14		17	0	7	7	4
2017–18	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		80	9	23	32	42		4	0	1	1	6
2018–19	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		62	5	20	25	40		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		20	3	7	10	16		—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		54	5	13	18	28		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		38	5	9	14	24		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Florida Panthers	NHL		12	2	2	4	16		6	0	0	0	6
2021–22	Florida Panthers	NHL		81	11	26	37	48		10	0	3	3	6
2022–23	Florida Panthers	NHL		80	16	57	73	107		21	8	5	13	39
2023–24	Florida Panthers	NHL		66	8	25	33	46		24	3	8	11	12
NHL totals				520	66	186	252	381		82	11	24	35	73

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2019	Canada	WC			3	0	0	0	0
Senior totals					3	0	0	0	0

Awards and honours

Award	Year
GOJHL
Midwestern Best Defenseman	2013
USHL
All-Star Game	2014
Defenseman of the Year	2014
First All-Star Team	2014
Player of the Year	2014
College
HE All-Rookie Team	2015
AHL
All-Star Game	2016, 2017
First All-Star Team	2016	[25]
All-Rookie Team	2016	[26]
NHL
Stanley Cup champion	2024

References

1. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
2. Vautour, Matt (January 10, 2015). "UMass hockey hoping highly touted defenseman Brandon Montour makes an impact". Daily Hampshire Gazette.
3. Morrisseau, Miles (June 25, 2024). "Brandon Montour and Florida Panthers win Stanley Cup". ICT. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
4. NHLPA [@NHLPA] (June 21, 2021). ".@MontourBrandon (Mohawk, Six Nations of the Grand River) has achieved his goal of playing in the NHL and encourages Indigenous youth to stick with their dreams – whether they're on or off the ice" (Tweet). Retrieved April 12, 2024– via Twitter.
5. Trota, Brian (June 15, 2023). "The Rise of Ohsweken's own Brandon Montour". BrantBeacon. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
6. "Why this Stanley Cup is so important to Indigenous players Brandon Montour and Zach Whitecloud". ESPN.com. June 7, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
7. "Column: Brandon Montour is drawing plenty of attention as the Ducks' latest impressive young defenseman". Los Angeles Times. December 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
8. "Ex-Cyclone Montour makes NHL debut with Ducks". Chatham Daily News. December 30, 2016. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
9. "Ohsweken's Montour signs with NHL Anaheim Ducks". Brantford Expositor. March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
10. Miller, Jeff (March 21, 2017). "Miller: Ducks' Brandon Montour first rate at his second-best sport?". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
11. Kieckhefer, Sam (December 11, 2015). "#AHLOTB: MONTOUR BEGINS TO SETTLE IN". American Hockey League.
12. "Brandon Montour Named to 2017 AHL All-Star Classic". San Diego Gulls. January 2, 2016. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
13. "Ducks Recall Montour From San Diego". NHL.com. December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
14. Shohara, Kyle (December 29, 2016). "Montour to Make NHL Debut Tonight in Calgary". NHL.com. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
15. Stephens, Eric (February 6, 2017). "Thrilling first NHL goal caps a wild ride for Ducks rookie Brandon Montour". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
16. Sadler, Emily (July 24, 2018). "Ducks ink RFA Brandon Montour to two-year bridge deal". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
17. "NHL opening night rosters for 2018-19 season". NHL.com. October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
18. "Sabres acquire Montour from Ducks". Buffalo Sabres. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
19. Lysowski, Lance (April 10, 2021). "Sabres trade defenseman Brandon Montour to Panthers for draft pick". The Buffalo News.
20. "Florida Panthers Re-Sign Brandon Montour to a Three-Year Contract". nhl.com. July 28, 2021.
21. "Kraken sign Montour, Stephenson to 7-year contracts". National Hockey League. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
22. "Hockey Canada names 22 players to 2019 IIHF World Championship roster". Hockey Canada. April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
23. "Montour to miss remainder of 2019 Worlds". Hockey Canada. May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
24. "Finland defeats Canada for Gold Medal at World Championship". The Sports Network. May 26, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
25. "First, Second Team All-Stars announced". American Hockey League. April 7, 2016.
26. "2015-16 AHL All-Rookie Team unveiled". American Hockey League. April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2016.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database