Brandon Montour
Montour with the Panthers in 2023
Born (1994-04-11) April 11, 1994
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
Florida Panthers
Anaheim Ducks
Buffalo Sabres
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 55th overall, 2014
Anaheim Ducks
Playing career 2015present

Brandon Montour (born April 11, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Montour was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round, 55th overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.[1]

Early life

Montour is of Mohawk descent and grew up in Ohsweken, a village inside the reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River. Six Nations has the highest population of any First Nation in Canada.[2] His father, Cam Montour, is Indigenous Canadian. In tribute to this, Brandon has an uncompleted tattoo on his left arm that consists of a headdress and feathers.

Montour spent eight years living in Tilbury, Ontario, where he completed his elementary education.[3] He then moved to Ohsweken, Ontario, and attended Assumption College School, in Brantford, Ontario. Montour also grew up playing lacrosse and won a Minto Cup with the Six Nations Arrows.[4]

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.[5]

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.[4]

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.[1] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8] He made his NHL debut on December 29 against the Calgary Flames.[9] Montour scored his first NHL goal in his sixth game against Tampa Bay Lightning on February 6, 2017.[10] 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.[11]

Montour began the 2018–19 season returning for his third season with the Ducks.[12] 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.[13]

On April 10, 2021, Montour was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.[14]

After signing a three year extension in Florida,[15] 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.

International play

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2019 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.[16] 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.[17] Canada lost the final to Finland to finish with the silver medal.[18]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11Brantford EaglesGOJHL37113142210336
2011–12Brantford EaglesGOJHL5114223665196121830
2012–13Caledonia CorvairsGOJHL4918496794124111522
2013–14Waterloo Black HawksUSHL6014486236126101610
2014–15Waterloo Black HawksUSHL176152130
2014–15UMass-AmherstHE213172030
2014–15Norfolk AdmiralsAHL1419108
2015–16San Diego GullsAHL681245574291458
2016–17San Diego GullsAHL3613193234
2016–17Anaheim DucksNHL2724614170774
2017–18Anaheim DucksNHL80923324240116
2018–19Anaheim DucksNHL625202540
2018–19Buffalo SabresNHL20371016
2019–20Buffalo SabresNHL545131828
2020–21Buffalo SabresNHL38591424
2020–21Florida PanthersNHL122241660006
2021–22Florida PanthersNHL8111263748100336
2022–23Florida PanthersNHL8016577310721851339
NHL totals 454 58 161 219 335 58 8 16 24 61

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2019 Canada WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 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 [19]
All-Rookie Team 2016 [20]

References

  1. 1 2 Vautour, Matt (January 10, 2015). "UMass hockey hoping highly touted defenseman Brandon Montour makes an impact". Daily Hampshire Gazette.
  2. "Community Profile". Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  3. "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.
  4. 1 2 "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.
  5. Miller, Jeff (March 21, 2017). "Miller: Ducks' Brandon Montour first rate at his second-best sport?". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  6. Kieckhefer, Sam (December 11, 2015). "#AHLOTB: MONTOUR BEGINS TO SETTLE IN". American Hockey League.
  7. "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.
  8. "Ducks Recall Montour From San Diego". NHL.com. December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  9. Shohara, Kyle (December 29, 2016). "Montour to Make NHL Debut Tonight in Calgary". NHL.com. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  10. 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.
  11. Sadler, Emily (July 24, 2018). "Ducks ink RFA Brandon Montour to two-year bridge deal". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  12. "NHL opening night rosters for 2018-19 season". NHL.com. October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  13. "Sabres acquire Montour from Ducks". Buffalo Sabres. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  14. Lysowski, Lance (April 10, 2021). "Sabres trade defenseman Brandon Montour to Panthers for draft pick". The Buffalo News.
  15. "Florida Panthers Re-Sign Brandon Montour to a Three-Year Contract". nhl.com. July 28, 2021.
  16. "Hockey Canada names 22 players to 2019 IIHF World Championship roster". Hockey Canada. April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  17. "Montour to miss remainder of 2019 Worlds". Hockey Canada. May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  18. "Finland defeats Canada for Gold Medal at World Championship". The Sports Network. May 26, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  19. "First, Second Team All-Stars announced". American Hockey League. April 7, 2016.
  20. "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.
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