The 27-year-old has two years of pro experience and was a multi-award-winning goalie during his NCAA career. Last season Marotte split time between the Allen Americans of the ECHL and the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Marotte made his professional debut with Allen in the 2021-2022 season, after signing with the New York Islanders and also went on to play twice for their AHL farm-team, Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
He made 12 appearances for the Americans in the same season, posting a record of 8-3-1, with one shutout and a goals against average (GAA) of 2.54 and a save percentage of .917.
Last season, Marotte joined San Diego on a two-way contract with Allen and whilst making eight appearances for the Gulls and backstopping them to three wins, he also iced 20 times for the Texas club, with a 6-7-3 record in the regular season.
The resident of Boucherville, Quebec also had an outstanding collegiate career which began with Robert Morris University in 2016, where he played alongside former Star, Spencer Dorowicz for two seasons.
The six-foot-one-inch tall, left-handed catch, keeper was a Colonial for three years and in that time, he was the starting goalie for all three seasons at RMU, won 50 games and was named to the NCAA (Atlantic Hockey Association) All-Rookie Team in his debut season.
He was also named to the Third All-Conference Team in 2018-2019, before in his final collegiate season, Francis transferred to Clarkson University, where he went 23-8-3, with a save percentage of .938 and a GAA of 1.78 across 34 appearances. During that time he picked up the NCAA (ECAC) Goaltender of the Year award and was named to the conference Second All-American and First All-Star Teams. In total, the Canadian played in 141 NCAA matches and held a record of 73-52-11, with 12 shutouts, a .922 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA.
Once the addition of Marotte was confirmed, Stars General Manager and Head Coach, Jeff Mason said: “We have been working hard as a team defensively to cut down our goals against and this was an opportunity strengthen our team defence and deepen our goaltending position.”
“This is something that will helps us as we have a lot of games coming up and I believe it will give us a boost and create more of that healthy competition.
“From everything I have seen of Francis, he is a very calm goaltender and pucks tend to stick to him. He has had a lot of success in his career posting some very good numbers whilst also possessing the ability to steal games.”
“Our goal as a group is to continue to get stronger and improve our game, and be a very difficult team to play against and I believe adding Francis to the group with Anton and Brython helps us do that. As with all positions a little healthy competition is a good thing and I expect it will bring out the best in all three.”
“After signing his deal to join the Stars, an excited Marotte said: “I think the biggest thing for me since I left college was that I wanted to play games and as soon as I talked to Jeff, there was a great opportunity for me to come here and play games and help the team win, which is the biggest thing.”
Francis has crossed paths with a few former Stars players during his career and he shared how they helped him to choose Dundee as his next team.
He explained: “I played with Doro(wicz) back in college, I also know Anthony Beauregard too, I played against him growing up as he is from close to my hometown and also Nic Riopel, who is an agent back home and I have talked to him a few times, but everyone I have asked had great things to say about Dundee, so that got me really excited.”
Finally, Marotte explained his motivation for pursuing a move to the Stars and said: “I like the format of the league.
“One of my goals in college was to get to the Frozen Four Tournament and win a national championship, and I finally got a chance in my last year but then COVID shut it down and we were actually fifth in the country when I was playing at Clarkson.
“Then, Jeff told me the format of the playoffs here is similar to what it is in college, that one-game elimination type and the final four weekend, so that was something else that got me excited to come to Dundee, because I did not get to do it at college.
Francis’ former teammate, Dorowicz then shared a few words, adding: “He is a great goaltender and even better guy!
“It was a good time, Francis was a reliable goalie and always gave us a chance to win, which is why we were such a good team because of the confidence he instilled in the rest of the group.”
In his career so far, Marotte has featured in 334 matches, has 122 career wins and 14 shutouts, whilst also making 11 playoff appearances and holding a record of 2-6-0 and average save percentage of .916 and an average GAA of 2.98.
Marotte will wear the #40 Stars jersey this season and be in the line-up for this weekend’s matches, pending international clearance.
We are going to open up tomorrow’s practice to the public and everyone is welcome to come along and watch Jeff put the guys throiugh their paces in preparation for this weekend’s double header away.
To view Francis’ career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
