Looking at the Montréal Victoire's Training Camp Roster

The six PWHL teams have announced their rosters for the 2024-25 season training camps, which will begin on Tuesday, November 12.

The Montréal Victoire will bring 31 players to camp at the Verdun Auditorium, the most of any team in the league. The camp roster includes five goaltenders, also the most attending a PWHL training camp, 16 forwards, and 10 defenders, which ties Ottawa for the most at a camp. By November 27, the roster will be cut to 23 active players and up to three reserves.

Ann-Sophie Bettez, who is rehabbing an injury, is not on the training camp roster, but could return to the team when healthy. 

As with any PWHL roster projections, it’s important to remember that contracts are not guaranteed. If an invited player outperforms one who has already been signed to a contract, the signed player’s contract may be terminated.

Forwards: 16

Entering training camp, the Victoire have 11 forwards who are already signed to contracts. This means that three spots will likely be available between the roster and the reserves.

Two players enter camp signed for three years: Lina Ljungblom, Abby Boreen.

Five are signed for two years: Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O'Neill, Maureen Murphy, Jennifer Gardiner.

Four are signed for one year: Kennedy Marchment, Claire Dalton, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Catherine Dubois.

Montréal’s approach to their forward group looks measured and straightforward. With only five forwards returning under contract, the Victoire had a lot of flexibility in building this segment of their roster for year two. They chose to re-sign three players who impressed in year one in Grant-Mentis, Dalton, and Dubois, agreed on a three-year contract with Ljungblom, and locked in their second- and third-round picks in Gardiner and Boreen.

With 11 forwards on contract, the unsigned forwards will have a tough competition in training camp. The Victoire has impressive depth on the right wing, so it’s no surprise that all five of the camp invites have experience playing either left wing or center. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess who makes the cut.

Gabrielle David played on each of PWHL Montréal’s four lines at different points last year. Before that, she was a point-per-game player through four seasons at Clarkson. Sarah Bujold led Montréal in penalty minutes while centering the third and fourth lines. Prior to that, she was a high producer in the PHF, the SDHL, and in USports. These players may have a leg up in training camp thanks to their experience with the team’s players and systems from last season.

Alexandra Labelle failed to put up numbers in the bottom six of a weak New York team last season, but she has a solid resume from her time with the University of Montréal and the Montréal Force of the PHF. Similarly, Clair DeGeorge didn’t produce much on PWHL Minnesota's fourth line last season, but brings the pedigree of three straight seasons with a championship to her name in the NCAA, PWHPA, and PWHL.

Dara Greig was a point-per-game player last year on a Colgate team that returned to the Frozen Four for the first time in six years; she also has an NCAA championship under her belt from her time with Wisconsin.

Defenders: 10

Going into camp, the Victoire have six defenders on contract already. That means that, unless the team likes what they see enough to terminate an existing contract, the four invitees are fighting for one roster spot and/or one reserve spot.

The Victoire have one defender signed for three years: Cayla Barnes.

Two signed for two more seasons: Erin Ambrose, Amanda Boulier.

Three signed to one-year contracts: Dominika Lásková, Kati Tabin, Mariah Keopple.

The Victoire took a similar approach to building their defensive group in the off-season as they did their forward group, but with different implications for training camp. They had three defenders already signed to contracts for the 2024-25 season: Ambrose, Lásková, and Tabin. They chose to extend Boulier and Keopple, both of whom impressed in the inaugural season. They also signed Cayla Barnes, the fifth overall pick of the 2024 draft.

With six defenders already signed, there’s a good chance that only one of the four unsigned defenders will earn a contract, even if that’s as a reserve. However, with the amount of injuries that Montréal saw on defense last year, they could wish to shore up the position. And with four right-hand defenders signed, there may be an advantage for those most comfortable playing on the left.

Catherine Daoust was an unsigned camp invitee at Montréal’s training camp last year and earned a contract in that camp. Prior to that, she was an alternate captain for the PHF's Montréal Force, spent three seasons with the PWHPA, one season in the CWHL, and four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Montréal selected Anna Wilgren in the fifth round of the 2024 draft after her Wisconsin team lost in the NCAA Championship. The left-handed defender also spent four seasons with Minnesota State University, serving as team captain.

Anna Kjellbin is the current captain of the Swedish national team and is a five-time champion in the SDHL. She has 15 years of experience playing in the top European league.

26-year-old Kelly-Ann Nadeau was named to the USports Second All-Star team last year after posting 15 points in 25 games, her most productive season with the University of Montréal.

Goaltenders: 5

The Victoire have two goaltenders under contract entering training camp, meaning the remaining three players will most likely be competing for the same spot on Montréal’s reserve squad.

One goalie is signed for two seasons: Ann-Renée Desbiens.

One is signed for one year: Elaine Chuli.

With Desbiens returning for the second year of her three-season contract, the Victoire made the obvious choice to extend Chuli, who put up the best numbers in the PWHL last season in an eight-game sample. Despite their strength in net, Montréal is choosing to repeat last year’s strategy in inviting five goaltenders to camp. The three unsigned players will likely compete for the reserve spot. 

Sandra Abstreiter was the third goaltender for PWHL Ottawa last season. She only played in three games behind Emerance Maschmeyer and while dealing with injury, but she put up a stellar performance for Germany at the World Championship and was named Top Goaltender of the tournament. She previously played for Providence College.

Marlène Boissonnault served as the third goaltender for Montréal last season. She previously played in the PWHPA and for Cornell University.

Tricia Deguire was injured during PWHL training camps last year and spent the season as the video coach of the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the QMJHL. She played for the Montréal Force of the PHF in the 2022-23 season after five seasons with McGill University, where she was named the USports Rookie of the Year in 2017.