Looking At The Montreal Victoire's 31 Camp Invitees

The PWHL's Montreal Victoire have 31 players coming to camp. Amanda Kessel is absent, but there are other interesting names. Here's a look from Pat Laprade.

The Montreal Victoire has invited 31 players to their training camp. That said, the one thing that is the most talked about, is the one player whose name is not on the roster: Amanda Kessel.

The situation with Amanda Kessel has been heavily talked about ever since she was drafted back in June. With her seventh-round pick, the next-to-last pick in the PWHL draft, Daniele Sauvageau took a calculated risk by choosing Kessel. Clearly, her name should have been heard in the first two rounds of the draft, but it was well known within the teams that the Olympic gold medallist wanted to play for a specific team and that was the Boston Fleet.

But Montreal had nothing to lose with that pick. It was worth the try, because if you can convince Amanda Kessel to join your team, it’s a game changer.

Then, when it was announced last summer that Kessel agreed to become GM of the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL, as well as assistant-GM to Jason Spezza with the Wilkes-Barre Penguins in the AHL, the chances of seeing her in Montreal became slim to none.

Today, after Montreal announced their roster, the team confirmed to The Hockey News that “Danièle (Sauvageau) received a communication in the last few days to the effect that Amanda (Kessel) would not be present at the team's camp.”

Well, Amanda Kessel’s rights remain to the Montreal Victoire until June of 2026. As soon as draft picks can be traded once again in the PWHL, Sauvageau could try to trade her rights to another team, most probably Boston. Not being able to trade draft picks over the summer could have been the reason why Sauvageau was not able to do that yet. We could also see Kessel, 33, announcing her retirement.

With 10 forwards, 6 defence players and 2 goalies already signed, only 5 regular spots will be available in Montreal when the camp starts on November 12. That didn’t prevent Sauvageau to invite 31 players, the most of any team in the league.

Let’s start with the easiest position to predict and that is in front of the net.

Montreal will have the same duo as last year with both Ann-Renee Desbiens and Elaine Chuli signed for next season. Although Chuli did very well and showed great stats, Desbiens was the clear number one last season and she will have the same role this year.

Marlene Boissonnault had that role in 2024, although she hasn’t played one single minute all year, and the same is to expect this year. It takes a goalie who will understand her rank on the team and be able to show up for practice, knowing she won’t be playing all season. So, Boissonnault has that experience going for her.

Another invitee is Germany’s Sandra Abstreiter, who played three games with Ottawa last season, and is the top goalie for Germany in international competitions. And the fifth goalie invited is Tricia Deguire. Because she was injured, she hasn’t played in a regular league since her last game with the Montreal Force in 2023. She got back in the net over the summer in the LSHL, doing quite well, actually. She is local and being number 3 could be a good way for her to make her debut in the PWHL. Also, her experience as video coach and assistant coach with the Sherbrooke Pheonix in the QMJHL last season could benefit the Victoire.

On the blue line, with Erin Ambrose, Cayla Barnes, Amanda Boulier, Mariah Keopple, Dominika Laskova, and Kati Tabin all signed, there’s only one spot left on the 23-player roster, and one, or perhaps two more on the reserve list.

Anna Kjellbin and Anna Wilgren have to be considered as the front runners here. Kjellbin, Montreal’s sixth-round pick in 2024, is a regular with Team Sweden, participated in five world championships, one Olympics, captained her national team, is a five-time SDHL champion, and has been named on the second all-star team the last two seasons in Sweden. The 30-year-old athlete hasn’t declared for the draft to be left on the sidelines. It would be surprising not to see her debut on the main roster when the puck drops at the end of November.

On the other hand, Anna Wilgren, 24, was the team’s fifth-round pick. Former captain at Minnesota State, she played with the Wisconsin Badgers last season. She’s a different player than her namesake, better with the puck, but doesn’t have the experience and the steadiness on the blue line Kjellbin can bring to the table.

Another invitee is Catherine Daoust, who played all of the 24 games last season with Montreal. The 29-year-old was not offered a contract, and even if she will be given every opportunity to make the team, it’s going to be hard for her with so much congestion on the blue line. Training camp will be very important for Daoust, but it might also be a matter of if the team decides to keep one or two defence players on the reserve list, and if Daoust herself, wants to have that role.

The other invitee on the defence squad is Kelly-Ann Nadeau, one of the best defenders in the RSEQ the last couple of seasons. She’s local and could very well take a spot on the reserve list.

Ten forwards are signed in Montreal: Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O’Neill, Maureen Murphy, Kennedy Marchment, Lina Ljungblom, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Jennifer Gardiner, Catherine Dubois, and Claire Dalton. Therefore, only three spots are open plus one or two on the reserve list.

And one of those spots is Alexandra Labelle’s job to lose.

The 28-year-old refused to go to New York, where she played 24 games last season, preferring to stay in Montreal, where she could more easily find a sideline job if things wouldn’t turn the way she hopes at training camp. That said, Daniele Sauvageau knows her very well and didn’t bring Labelle to Montreal if she didn’t think she could fill one of the 13 spots available.

The other wild card is Abby Boreen. Similar to Kessel, Boreen was drafted by Montreal in the third round, but according to what we know, she wants to play in Minnesota, where she could keep studying. Out of the reserve list, she played 14 games, including the playoffs, last season with Minnesota, before declaring herself for the draft. Will she show up to camp? If so, and if she’s not traded before the start of the season, her place is almost guaranteed with the team.

And then, there’s Clair Degeorge, perhaps the most surprising name on that list. The 25-year-old played all season with Minnesota last year, winning the Walter Cup. Obviously, she knows Abby Boreen for having played with her in 2024, but she also played with Jennifer Gardiner a few years ago with Ohio State University. 

That leaves very few spots for the other invitees. Sarah Bujold and Gabrielle David both played more than 21 games with Montreal last season, as Dara Greig was Montreal’s fourth-round pick from Colgate University.