Pre-Draft Check-in with the Montréal Victoire

After the immense disruption of the Seattle and Vancouver Expansion Draft, the Montréal Victoire will have six picks in the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft to re-establish their roster. While the team has been busy in free agency and has options to bring back solid contributors from this season, they still must play the Draft well if they hope to repeat their 2024-25 regular season championship, or make a play for the Walter Cup.

Before the Draft

The expansion draft took two scoring wingers from the Victoire in Jennifer Gardiner and Abby Boreen and two scoring defenders in Cayla Barnes and Anna Wilgren. That hurts a lot, for a team that found scoring scarce in the latter half of last season and in the playoffs. Up front, the team shifted lines often, but still had difficulty finding reliable centers and establishing chemistry, despite having a stable full of talent. On the back end, Montréal still has great players, but losing their top pair leaves a big, big hole. 

In free agency, solid depth players have been swiped by other teams. Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Mariah Keopple signed with PWHL Seattle, while Claire Dalton and Clair DeGeorge went to Toronto. These were not star players, but they were solid contributors to the Victoire last season. 

As of draft day morning, the Victoire have made seven free agency signings, including extensions for their own Catherine Dubois and Sandra Abstreiter. The Victoire added players from every other team in the league: they signed two defenders in Jessica DiGirolamo from the Boston Fleet and Maggie Flaherty from the Minnesota Frost, while adding three forwards: Hayley Scamurra from the Toronto Scepters, Jade Downie-Landry from the New York Sirens, and Shiann Darkangelo from the Ottawa Charge.

Who did the Victoire add up front? Although USA national team winger Scamurra had a down year for scoring, she has proven herself at the top levels and could see a resurgence in Montréal. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu native Downie-Landry is sure to be a hit with the home crowd and on the ice, as the physical center/winger finished second on the Sirens in PIMs. Last but not least, Darkangelo centered Ottawa’s best line in the 2025 playoffs.

Can these three help replace Gardiner, Boreen, Grant-Mentis, Dalton, and DeGeorge? Maybe. But there is still a lot of work to do in adding the finishing ability that Montréal couldn’t find last year.

On the back end, the Victoire desperately need to replace the talent they lost in Cayla Barnes and Anna Wilgren, not to mention Mariah Keopple. While Flaherty and DiGirolamo are strong depth players, the Victoire will need to utilize the draft to make up for the growing pains.

In their back pocket

The Victoire’s depth in their first two seasons has been affected greatly by injury. Strong players in Kennedy Marchment and Dominika Lásková languished on IR for many months, unable to contribute to the team’s scoring struggles. While Lásková was able to return towards the end of the 2024-25 season, Marchment has remained on the injured list. If she is able to return eventually and the team chooses to sign her again, she could be a real contributor. Lásková could also be a promising piece for a team that loves to have a long list of reliable defenders available.

Two other free agents who contributed to the Victoire last season have not yet been snapped up by other teams. Gabrielle David spent a while on the reserve list, but played three games this past season and 23 the year before. Alexandra Labelle is a very reliable two-way center who the team should be planning to re-sign after the draft.

With those question marks and options in hand, we’ll move on to the Draft.

Goaltending

Losing Elaine Chuli to Toronto hurts the team. Chuli has been solid in net over the last two seasons, and with the addition of two new teams, the goaltending talent in the league has some room to spread out. The Victoire re-signed Sandra Abstreiter, who served as the team’s third goalie this year. Read my colleague Elisha Côté's profile on Abstreiter's readiness to step into this new role.

With Abstreiter signed and starter Anne-Renée Desbiens protected in the expansion draft, I don't expect the Victoire to take a goaltender in this draft. I predict that they will pick their third goaltender from the rich pool of free agents available to be invited to training camp after the draft. But if they do take one, I expect they would wait until a later pick to do so. At that point, the top-rated goaltenders in Sanni Ahola and Hannah Murphy may be off the board. Someone like Boston University's Callie Shanahan may be a sneaky good pick.

Defenders

As I referenced above, the Victoire have a lot of need at this position. Although three of their D-corps from last season are confirmed to return (Kati Tabin, Erin Ambrose, and Amanda Boulier), losing three young defenders in Barnes, Wilgren, and Keopple to expansion is a heavy blow. The additions of solid pieces in DiGirolamo and Flaherty helps to soften the impact, but I expect the Victoire to take at least two defenders with their six draft picks. I expect one of those selections to be made with Montréal's first or second pick.

With the fourth and twelfth picks, Montréal will have their opportunities to take capable defenders who will excel in the Victoire's system. In the Ice Garden's mock draft, I selected Nicole Gosling for the Victoire with the fourth overall pick. Another defender who might be available at this pick is Haley Winn, Gosling's defensive partner at Clarkson. In the second or even third round, I could see Montréal going for a shot-blocker like Rory Guilday, should she be available. See my colleague Giselle Velazquez' profile on the top available NCAA defenders for profiles on these players.

The Victoire are not immune to taking a long shot in the later rounds. If they like the look of a player like Nicole Vallario, who had a strong tournament for Switzerland at the 2025 Women's World Championship, they might steal her away from the SWHL. 

Forward

Scoring is always the question, but in Montréal, scoring is perhaps even more the question than usual. The Victoire struggled to score last season. In the draft, they need to identify and take players who can put the puck in the net. There are smart, capable players in Montréal, but the value of a scoring touch cannot be overstated.

If somehow Casey O'Brien or Kristýna Kaltounková are available with the fourth pick, Montréal would be remiss not to take them. However, that's unlikely, so we'll move on. Highly-rated prospects like Natálie Mlýnková, Kiara Zanon, and Anne Cherkowski will be available. Mlýnková and Zanon would have a chance to slot into Gardiner or Boreen's spots in the top six, while Cherkowski could be tried pretty much anywhere in the lineup. Of those options, I would have said Cherkowski had the edge a few days ago, as the Victoire's need at center was rather dire, but the signing of Shiann Darkangelo has taken some of that pressure off.

In the Ice Garden's mock draft, I picked Sara Hjalmarsson and Makenna Webster in the second and third rounds. Webster may be snapped up already, however. In a later round, a consistent player like Abby Newhook could be a good fit for the roster.

It's only been two seasons, but Montréal's propensity for taking someone unexpected in a later round is already one of my favorite things about the PWHL Entry Draft and I hope they do it again. Who will the Victoire take a gamble on this year? Could it be PHF star Allie Thunstrom, who has declared again after taking time away from hockey to play for the US national bandy team? Or ZhHL star Anna Shokhina?

Personally, I'd love to see the Victoire let New York take one of their draft picks in exchange for Noora Tulus. That's a player who has a lot of potential in a new environment, and it's just wacky enough to qualify for the Victoire's annual surprise.