The Montreal Victoire have several decisions remaining to finalize their roster. Will the situations surrounding Lina Ljungblom and Natalie Mlynkova impact those moves?
The Montreal Victoire played its second and final exhibition game on Monday afternoon. After two identical 3-2 wins against Boston, GM Danièle Sauvageau and head coach Kori Cheverie will now have less than 48 hours to make their decisions.
Indeed, each team must confirm its final roster with the league by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. This includes a period of a few hours during which teams can offer a contract to a player who has been placed on the reserve list or who has been released.
The games on Saturday and Monday provided some answers for Montreal. Cheverie left nothing for interpretation at the press conference after Monday’s game: even though there have only been three practices and two games, she has seen enough to make her decisions.
If I were to make my predictions for the Montreal Victoire’s final roster, here is what it would look like.
Ljungblom Changes Everything
First, there are the 11 forwards under contract: Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Abby Roque, Shiann Darkangelo, Hayley Scamurra, Maureen Murphy, Jade Downie-Landry, Alexandra Labelle, Catherine Dubois, Kaitlin Willoughby, and Lina Ljungblom. However, since Ljungblom, who has been sick, missed the three full-team practices last week and did not play in the preseason games, it would be surprising if she were ready to start the season next Sunday. This would open up a spot, at least temporarily. Cheverie even confirmed that this could be an option. Under these circumstances, I believe Natalie Mlynkova, Skylar Irving, and Maya Labad will receive standard contracts, while I expect Audrey-Anne Veillette to be offered a reserve contract.
Mlynkova: It's in the Bag
Czech player Natalie Mlynkova is a special talent and has her place in the team's top six. Cheverie didn't want to commit, but if you read between the lines, Mlynkova is the only player without a contract who was part of the lineup on Saturday, but didn't play in Monday's game. And when you talk to her, she seems more like a player who will be settling in Montreal than one who is staying in a hotel without really knowing her future.
As far as Irving and Labad go, they are two players coming from the NCAA who need to adapt to the level played in the PWHL and also to take on a more defensive role. Nonetheless, both of them bring speed.Labad definitely has the skating skills to play in this league. On Saturday night, alongside Darkangelo and Murphy, she played more than 15 minutes, with five shots on goal and a plus-2 differential. Cheverie mentioned her presence in front of the net, her forechecking, and her speed among her qualities.
Veillette, Labad, or Greig?
Veillette is a natural scorer, but the reality of the past few seasons with her injury has made it so that she has not been able to fully demonstrate it. However, this is not an aspect of her game that concerns her. Speaking to the media on Monday, Veillette stated that she has shown other aspects such as her defensive play, winning her battles, and being physical. The key to success in the PWHL is precisely being a complete player. Despite a goal on Monday, Claire Vekich was hit multiple times on Saturday and does not seem ready to play at this level. Dara Greig has the advantage of having played 33 games last season, and Montreal likes players who have experience, but at the same time, she was not re-signed and the team was prepared to lose her by not making a qualifying offer.
Both Veillette and Labad would accept a reserve contract, while Greig could be this year's Gabrielle David. Eventually, I have the impression that it will be between Greig and Veillette, and I will always favour the local player in such circumstances. However, both could remain on the reserve list depending on what is going on with Ljungblom's health.
A Two-Player Battle at D
On the blue line, the six contracted defenders are Erin Ambrose, Kati Tabin, Nicole Gosling, Amanda Boulier, Maggie Flaherty, and Jessica DiGirolamo. That leaves Kelly-Ann Nadeau and Tamara Giaquinto. If the team chooses to go with 14 forwards and six defence players, which would surprise me, both would then be on the reserve list. If they go instead with 13 forwards and seven defence players, I think Nadeau will get the last standard contract available. Cheverie mentioned that Nadeau did improve since she played four games last year.
Few Shots Against for the Goalies
In front of the net, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Sandra Abstreiter will be two of the three goaltenders on the team.
If you just look at Saturday's game stats, Tricia Deguire doesn't have an impressive record with two goals allowed on five shots. However, if you look a little closer, the first goal came as a result of a turnover following a miscommunication between Deguire and her defence player, while the second goal was scored by Sophie Shirley on a breakaway. But Deguire bounced back with a nice save on another breakaway later in the game.
The reality is that she only faced five shots, so it's very difficult to evaluate, while Megan Warrener stopped the 10 pucks directed at her, which also is, relatively speaking, a small number of shots. And Warrener didn’t seem as experienced as Deguire in front of the net.
Cheverie mentioned that both had played well, especially with the puck, but that there was more than ice time or the number of shots in the evaluation made by her staff. Speaking about the goalies, but also the skaters, Kori mentioned, among other things, the physical tests, the players’ potential, and the places they played before arriving at camp. That said, in two seasons, no third goalie has seen action with Montreal.
So, to recap, my predictions are that Mylnkova, Irving, Labad, Nadeau, and Deguire will sign standard contracts, Veillette, Greig, and Giaquinto will be on the reserve list, while Warrener and Vekich will be released. In the event that Ljungblom starts the season, Labad would probably go to the reserve list, and it would come down to Veillette and Greig if the team wants to keep a defender on that list.
Who Will Be on the First Line?
At practice last week, Cheverie had Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey play with Abby Roque, and that was the only line that didn’t change on Monday for Montreal. That will be the team’s first line, at least to start the season.
Roque was also the most used forward for Montreal on Monday, spending just over 19 minutes on the ice. Meanwhile, Poulin and Stacey both finished the game with two points each.
The Victoire was playing with 13 forwards in addition to having to deal with 18 minutes on special teams, which isn’t ideal when it comes time to test players who won’t have that role on the team.
With six power plays, Nicole Gosling, Jessica DiGirolamo, and Amanda Boulier were the three defenders who spent the most time on the ice. Gosling was paired with Boulier while DiGirolamo played with Kelly-Ann Nadeau. Tabin and Ambrose had a rest day while Desbiens played the first two periods, with Abstreiter finishing the game.