AGR: As the CanWNT's depth grows, Casey Stoney continues hunt to find best XI
For the first time since early July, the CanWNT are back in action this week, as they take on Switzerland and the Netherlands in a pair of European-based friendlies.
After falling 3-0 to their rivals, the world #2 USWNT, in their last match, Canada will be hoping for a big bounce-back against the 24th-ranked Swiss and 11th-ranked Dutch.
With the 2026 Concacaf W Championships now just over a year away, Casey Stoney’s side are continuing to inch towards the next step of their journey, having already completed four windows together. 
At the same time, despite now having helmed this team for nine matches, Stoney is still figuring out what her best team looks like - and a big reason for that is that she’s yet to see what a Canadian camp looks like when she has everyone at her disposal.
Due to a litany of injuries and other absences, Stoney hasn’t had the chance to work with key players like Kadeisha Buchanan, Cloé Lacasse and Sydney Collins at all, and has even had limited time with other important pieces such as Olivia Smith, Simi Awujo, Jayde Riviere, Jade Rose and several others, who have all missed time through injuries.
Just this window alone, Buchanan remains out, and she’s been joined by Awujo and Vanessa Gilles on the injury list - plus, Lacasse wasn’t called in as she works up to full fitness after returning from her long-term injury, although Collins has finally returned into the Canadian squad for this window after a lengthy absence.
Our #CANWNT Roster for the October International Window is HERE! 🇨🇦 🆚🇨🇭🇳🇱
— CANWNT (@CANWNT) October 13, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/KVNyg5X7hT
Join CanadaRED today to continue to support our Women’s National Team: https://t.co/zoBsGKSZMF pic.twitter.com/zEbRLgmxfl
Of course, while those injuries aren’t ideal from a Canadian perspective, it’s important to note that the timing of it all could be a lot worse - Canada is in a period where they’ve had no competitive games since the 2024 Summer Olympics, and are still a year away from playing games that matter. 
Because of that, this period has offered a good opportunity for new players to step up, and that’s led to the emergence of new young players like Holly Ward and Zara Chavoshi, along with older players like Emma Regan, Marie-Yasmine Alidou and Marie Levasseur. Plus, in this window, we’ll see some more new youngsters get an opportunity to impress Stoney, such as Kaylee Hunter and Florianne Jourde, which is exactly the sort of players Canada will want to see more of long-term.
Heading into the 2027 World Cup, there’s no doubt that Canada will want to begin a bit of a generational shift, especially with the recent emergence of several Canadians who have hit the professional ranks earlier in their careers, such as Smith, Hunter and Jourde.
After having long relied on players who went to college before going pro a little later, Canada is starting to benefit from a reality where players are foregoing the NCAA (or at least spending less time there) to immediately jumpstart their careers, and that’s key for the long-term development of this side.
Ultimately, there will be no perfect path for each player, who will all develop at different timelines - and it’s not as if the NCAA has stopped producing Canadian talent, with players like Jade Rose, Jayde Riviere, Zara Chavoshi, Holly Ward, Annabelle Chukwu and Kayla Briggs all proving to be good examples of players who have or are still benefiting from that route - but it helps to have players that are testing themselves at the professional level earlier and earlier in their careers.
Yet, while those players have certainly helped Canada’s depth grow quite significantly, stepping up in a big way with all the injuries, it’ll be hoped that Stoney can start to work with her full squad sooner rather than later in 2026.
One big benefit of having everyone available is that it can further stoke the competition that is growing in the squad, as it’ll help give a better idea of how close some of these young players really are to pushing some of the key veterans for spots ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
Are we about to see a generational shift on the #CanWNT? 🤔
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 25, 2025
With a wave of young Canadians impressing domestically and in Europe, Casey Stoney will have to make some tough squad and lineup decisions in the October window and beyond 👀
FULL SEGMENT▶️https://t.co/fnD40wWZFs pic.twitter.com/k88i0m0SMT
While it’s been great for those young players to earn these opportunities, some of which might’ve been otherwise hard to come by in normal circumstances, they’d benefit significantly from also being around the players whom they’ve stepped up and replaced.
Perhaps, though, that explains why Stoney has been a bit more reluctant to fully fill her squad with new names for this upcoming window, despite calls to do so. For example, look at Nichelle Prince, who is a bit of a surprise inclusion given that she has no goals and one assist in 20 appearances (699 minutes) of action for the KC Current this year.
Given Stoney’s call in the summer for her players to be earning more regular minutes, Prince seemed like a prime candidate to drop out for this window, making it a surprise to see her in ahead of some other options, such as Clarissa Larisey (who has 1 goal and 1 assist since joining the Houston Dash this summer), Cloé Lacasse (who also has 1 goal and 1 assist for the Utah Royals since her return from injury), Delaney Baie Pridham (who scored a whopping 18 goals in the Northern Super League for the Ottawa Rapid) or Latifah Abdu (who had 9 goals with the Montréal Roses and the Vancouver Rise in the NSL).
In particular, the exclusion of Pridham seemed the biggest surprise - given her absolute dominance of a league from which this Canadian team has drawn a few players, such as Ward, Regan, and now Hunter, it was a shock to see someone as dominant as Pridham excluded.
Yet, with Prince, what Canada does get is someone who knows this team quite well, having earned 109 caps, playing in two World Cups and three Olympics during her time on the team.
On a team without key leaders like Buchanan, Gilles and others for this camp, Prince can certainly fill that void, while pushing the young attackers who will be battling her to earn minutes this camp, such as Hunter and Jourde.
What that shows, though, is that this window will be crucial for someone like Olivia Smith, who has actually only played 211 minutes under Stoney, as there is every opportunity for her to step up and show how big a role she can actually play in this team going forward.
This week, the CanWNT 🇨🇦 return to action vs. Switzerland 🇨🇭 and the Netherlands 🇳🇱
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 22, 2025
As Olivia Smith continues her rapid rise for club, how can Casey Stoney get the most out of her star forward? 📈 pic.twitter.com/PWIN0LInoG
On paper, everyone knows how key Smith can be in a Canadian shirt, but it’ll now be up to her to show what that looks like in practice.
Until Canada has their full squad to choose from, however, they’ll want to push younger players like Smith to prove that they’re capable of leading this team, so keep an eye on players like her, Jade Rose, Jayde Riviere and Emma Regan, who, despite already being key players on this team, still have another level to hit within this side going forward.
What that does, though, is serve as a reminder that while this year has been for Canada to widen their player pool, it’ll be good for them to have their full complement of players back sooner rather than later - that’ll be the best way to truly embark on a generational shift. As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron, after all. 
So now, look for them to continue to navigate that balance of wanting to push newer and younger players into bigger roles, while ensuring her veteran players battle to keep their spots, stoking the sort of competition that will only grow as everyone gets back into action.
Ultimately, the World Cup remains the big goal for this team, so most decisions will be viewed through that lens - and they’ll look to keep that long-term outlook even as the short-term questions of what this team’s best version looks like remains ahead of another important camp.
