2025-26 PWHL team preview: Montreal Victoire
LAST SEASON
The Montreal Victoire finished the 2024-25 campaign with the best record in the PWHL, going 12-7-3-8 with 53 points — five points clear of the second-place Toronto Sceptres — leaving fans and pundits alike with the impression there was no second guessing who the best team in the league was.
But just like the Sceptres in the 2024 PWHL Playoffs, who finished first and could choose their first-round opponent, the Victoire were eliminated by the team they elected to face, losing in four games to the Ottawa Charge with all four games being decided by one goal. For Montreal, a second-straight, first-round exit left a bad taste in the mouths of players, coaches and fans alike.
What stings more is the lack of team hardware after an impressive season from captain Marie-Philip Poulin, whose 19 goals led the PWHL and 26 total points placed her fourth in the league. She earned both PWHL Forward of the Year honors and the Billie Jean King MVP Award as the league’s most valuable player.
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Key Additions & Departures
Additions
Shiann Darkangelo, F
Jessica DiGirolamo, D
Jade Downie-Landry, F
Maggie Flaherty, D
Nicole Gosling, D
Abby Roque, F
Hayley Scamurra, F
Departures
Cayla Barnes, D (SEA)
Abby Boreen, F (VAN)
Elaine Chuli, G (TOR)
Claire Dalton, F (TOR)
Clair DeGeorge, F (TOR)
Jenn Gardiner, F (VAN)
Mikyla Grant-Mentis, F (SEA)
Mariah Keopple, D (SEA)
Kristin O’Neill, F (NYS)
Anna Wilgren, D (SEA)
OFFENSE
The Victoire have Poulin. Next question.
Kidding, kidding. The Victoire were the league’s second-highest scoring team last season, thanks in large part to the success of Poulin and Laura Stacey, who both cracked the 10-plus goals and 20-plus point marks. However, the remaining three of their top-five point producers — Gardiner, Borreen and Barnes — were scooped up by the league’s two expansion teams in the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent.
The additions of Darkangelo and Roque, each finishing with 17 points in 2024-25, should provide much-needed depth beyond Montreal’s top stars. Roque’s physicality and relentlessness was on full display with the New York Sirens, and her style should fit nicely in the Victoire’s middle-six. Expect her to become an immediate fan favorite.
One thing to watch: the departure of Barnes, who recorded 14 points in her rookie campaign, leaves a hole on a blueline that Montreal relied on for offense. Can Gosling, the team’s 2025 first-round pick, step in and fill that hole?
DEFENSE
Speaking of Gosling, there’s a good chance the Clarkson alumnus will replace the 21:48 of ice time Barnes averaged last season. We’ll focus more on that in our rookie section.
Erin Ambrose remains one of the game’s best defenders, finishing last season with 13 assists, fourth among rearguards. She’ll be expected to carry the load of responsibilities as Gosling finds her footing.
Flaherty joins the Victoire after winning back-to-back championships with the Minnesota Frost. Averaging 14:43 of ice time last season, the 25-year-old Flaherty will have a chance to expand her role in Montreal.
One player who could make an immediate impact is the 5-foot-9 DiGirolamo, who was fourth among defenders with 41 hits last season. She brought an edge to the Boston Fleet’s lineup the Victoire desperately need.
GOALTENDING
Ann-Renee Desbiens was last season’s Goaltender of the Year, and the stats back it up, as she posted a 15-2-2 record with a .932 save percentage (SV%) and 1.86 goals against average (GAA) — leading the league in every category — through 21 appearances.
Since there were only six teams in the league’s first two seasons, fans were spoiled to world-class goaltending every single night, so it can get lost just how good these athletes are. But if you want context for Desbiens’ 2024-25 campaign: She never allowed more than three goals in a single game all season, and she only allowed more than two just once after the first two games of the season.
The departure of backup Chuli opens the door for Sandra Abstreiter, who served as the team’s third netminder last season then signed a one-year contract in the summer. She hasn’t appeared in a PWHL game since 2023-24, but has been a standout for the German National Team, posting a 3-0 record and .967 SV% in the 2026 Olympic qualifying tournament.
ROOKIES
As mentioned earlier, Gosling has a chance to make an immediate impact on a Victoire group that’s in desperate need of youthful energy, especially after the departure of Barnes, their 2024 first-round pick.
The 5-foot-7 blueliner recorded 12 goals and 39 points in her fifth season at Clarkson University, closing out her collegiate career with 148 points in 176 games. She also has international experience, joining the Canadian national team at the 2024 World Championships, winning gold.
Gosling inked a three-year contract last month, but Montreal’s other 2025 draft picks — Natalie Mlynkova, Maya Labad, Skylar Irving and Tamara Gaquinto — entered training camp unsigned. Mlynkova is coming off her third 30-plus point NCAA season, and Labad finished with 51 goals and 97 points through four seasons at Quinnipiac.
COACHING
Kori Cheverie returns for her third season behind the bench, fresh off of being named PWHL Coach of the Year. It’s hard to dissect her first two seasons with the Victoire, as she led the team to second- and first-place regular-season finishes, but followed by disappointing early exits in the postseason.
Pundits and fans often demand teams with similar results play a more “playoff style” of hockey through the regular season, but what that really means is to play more boring and disregard the things that made you successful in the first place. Montreal finished with the second-most goals in the regular season and allowed the fewest. If they were able to score a few more times in the playoffs, we’d be having a different conversation.
If there’s one area Cheverie and her coaching staff can improve on in 2025-26, it’s the power play, which ranked fifth with a 15.5% success rate. It was their second-straight season with a power play percentage under 16, which seems mind boggling when you have players like Poulin, Stacey and Ambrose. If they can get that closer to 20%, there’s no reason they can’t go into the playoffs with home-ice advantage.
PREDICTION
When you write about teams with a player of Poulin’s caliber in the lineup, don’t overthink it; the Victoire are damn good and should compete for the Walter Cup. The loss of some of their more productive players will sting, with coaches and management hoping the players they brought in, along with their rookie on the blue line, will make the difference.
The Canadian National Olympic trio of Poulin, Stacey and Desbiens signing two-year contract extensions keeps the championship window open through 2026-27, but there’s no point in waiting if you’re Montreal. Give me a second-place regular-season finish and a PWHL Final appearance.