Blue Jackets have chance to make history with next GM
Danielle Goyette, Toronto Maple Leafs director of player development
The NHL’S first female general manager has yet to be named, but more candidates than ever are emerging as women rise through the ranks of the hockey world. The Blue Jackets still have a GM vacancy, so the opportunity is there to make a historic hire and better their organization while doing it.
Here’s a look at five female GM candidates who could make a splash in Columbus:
Emilie Castonguay, Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager
Castonguay, 40, was hired by the Cancucks as an assistant GM in 2022 and plays key roles in handling contract negotiations and managing the team’s salary.
Prior to joining the Canucks, she was an agent with Momentum Hockey. And prior to that, she played four years at Niagara University as a forward and got her law degree.
When she joined the Canucks, she told CBC that she was eager to see “where that takes me.”
Cammi Granato, Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager
Less than a month after hiring Castonguay, the Canucks hired Granato, 53, to fill another assistant GM role. Granato oversees the team’s player development and scouting departments, critical roles within an NHL front office.
Granato worked as a pro scout for the expansion Seattle Kraken for two years before joining the Canucks, becoming the first female in NHL history to hold that title.
She is married to former NHL player and TV analyst Ray Ferraro, and is arguably the most successful player in her storied hockey family – which includes three brothers who played for the University of Wisconsin. Two brothers went on to make it to the NHL, Tony as a player and Don as a coach.
Cammi Granato played four seasons at Providence College, logged nine appearances for the U.S. at the world championships (six as team captain) and captained the U.S. in two Winter Olympics.
Hayley Wickenheiser, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager
Wickenheiser, 45, is in her fifth season working for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ front office and second as assistant GM. She worked her way up to that spot after starting in 2018 as assistant director of player development.
Like Granato, Wickenheiser had a storied playing career. She’s a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, IIHF Hall of Fame, led Canada to seven world championship gold medals and four consecutive Winter Olympic golds. She was the first woman to score a goal in a men’s semi-pro league, which she did while playing in Finland
Wickenheiser also competed for Canada as a softball player in the Summer Olympics. And she has earned a medical degree and was still practicing medicine at the time the Maple Leafs promoted her to assistant GM in 2022. Wickenheiser’s primary role with the Maple Leafs is in player development.
Goyette, 58, is in her third year working with the Maple Leafs after Wickenheiser hired her in 2021 to work in a key player development role. As a player, she skated 12 years with Canada’s women’s national team, winning goal medals in eight world championships and competing in three Winter Olympics – taking home Olympic gold twice.
Like Wickenheiser, she’s a member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and IIHF Hall of Fame. Goyette was named head coach of the women’s program at the University of Calgary in 2007 and held that role for 14 years before joining the Maple Leafs.
Meghan Hunter, Chicago Blackhawks assistant general manager
Hunter, 42, has steadily worked her way up through hockey operations roles ever since her uncles, Mark and Dale, hired her as director of group sales for the London Knights junior team they own and operate in the Ontario Hockey League.
Hunter had played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin and coached for both the University of Niagara and the University of Maine before returning to London to be closer to her family. She welcomed the opportunity to get back into hockey and started her ascent into an NHL front office role. After working with Hockey Canada for six years as manager of hockey operations and national teams, she joined the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant to then-gm Stan Bowman.
She’s been in Chicago ever since, marrying her wife, Jill, and working her way up the ladder in roles as director of hockey administration and amateur scout before a promotion in 2022 to assistant GM.
“I hope I can continue to drive opportunities for women in hockey and society,” Hunter wrote for Hockeycanada.ca in 2021 before adding: “I’m excited to continue to push the envelope in my career and grind my way to a Stanley Cup.” bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger