Last Thursday brought the news no one around the Montreal Victoire wanted to hear. The team announced that captain Marie-Philip Poulin will undergo surgery in July to repair a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee.

Let’s start, however, with the almost superhuman side of this story.

At 35, with a torn ACL and meniscus, Marie-Philip Poulin still managed to record eight points in nine playoff games. She scored two game-winning goals, averaged nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game and led the Victoire to their first Walter Cup, earning, without the slightest debate, the title of her team’s most valuable player in the playoffs.

I’ll repeat that: with a torn ACL and meniscus.

It was an exceptional performance. A display of courage, resilience and determination that will be remembered for a long time.

Now, this announcement raises several questions.

The main one: will we see Marie-Philip Poulin in a Victoire uniform next season?

Neither the organization nor the captain wanted to provide a timeline. However, I spoke with two people who specialize in this type of injury, and both came to the same conclusion: a return to play is generally recommended between nine and 12 months after surgery.

“In the past, the recommendations were more around six to nine months, but the risk of re-injury was much higher,” one of them explained.

Obviously, Poulin will have access to the best care and a first-class rehabilitation program.

“But the reality is that only time can heal the tissues,” she added.

Still, we all know the competitor Marie-Philip Poulin is. It’s easy to imagine she will want to return as quickly as possible. She also confirmed she has never considered retirement.

With the surgery taking place in July, a minimum nine-month recovery timeline would bring us to April. A return late in the season, or even in the playoffs, therefore remains theoretically possible.

“It will depend on what her long-term goals are, whether she wants to maximize her chances of playing in the next Olympic Games,” she said. “It could be earlier, but it’s not recommended.”

There are also unknowns. Will the surgery go as planned? Will surgeons discover additional damage once they open the knee? Will there be complications during rehab?

I tore my Achilles tendon myself. Because of complications beyond my control, a recovery that was supposed to take three months ended up lasting 10.

Natalie Spooner’s example is also interesting. The Toronto Sceptres forward, who was 33 at the time, tore her ACL in May 2024. She returned to action nine months later, in February 2025. That said, her production dropped from 27 points in 24 games to 13 points in 44 games.

In short, it’s not impossible that Marie-Philip Poulin plays a few games for the Victoire next season.

Personally, I wouldn’t bet on it.

And that’s not a bad thing.

She should take all the time she needs to return fully healthy, even if that means waiting until the start of the 2027-28 season so she can be 100 percent for the World Championship in Quebec City.

Should she still have been protected during the expansion process?

It’s a question many people have asked, and the answer is yes.

Unlike Hilary Knight, Claire Thompson, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Blayre Turnbull, who were all free agents at the time of the expansion process, Marie-Philip Poulin is still under contract for two more seasons.

An expansion team could therefore have selected her without her having any say in the matter, and without the Victoire receiving any compensation in return.

And I sincerely believe one team would have done it.

Even knowing she might miss the entire 2026-27 season, we are talking about the best player in the world. Maybe even the best in history. For a new franchise, waiting a season to get a player of that calibre would have been a perfectly reasonable gamble.

During her press conference, Poulin explained that everything started at the Olympic Games, before the ACL and meniscus tears officially occurred on March 15 against Boston.

In light of that information — and without trying to rewrite history — I stand by it: yes, I believe she returned to play too quickly.

Given the schedule, she probably could have afforded to manage her workload more carefully. She could have skipped the March 1 and March 3 games, in which she still played nearly 20 minutes each, and given herself more than two full weeks of rest after the Olympics.

Obviously, it’s impossible to say whether that would have changed the outcome. But knowing what we know now, it’s difficult not to ask the question.

Even if she doesn’t play, Marie-Philip Poulin will remain the captain of the Victoire.

Whether the “C” is officially given to Laura Stacey — which would be fully deserved — or not, Poulin will remain the leader of this team. Her presence around the tea, will be valuable, both in the dressing room and on a daily basis.

That said, she will also have to think about her own rehabilitation. Long trips out West or unnecessary travel may not be the best way to manage a season in which her main opponent will be time.

The announcement of Marie-Philip Poulin’s surgery came only a few days after two major acquisitions: Jessie Eldridge and Emma Maltais.

Born in Massachusetts but raised in Burlington, Ont., Maltais played for Toronto during the first three seasons of the PWHL. In 2024, she was named to the league’s all-rookie team.

At only 26, Maltais — known as one of the league’s best trash talkers — already has an impressive international résumé. With Team Canada, she has won three gold medals and two silver medals at the World Championship, along with one Olympic gold medal and one Olympic silver medal.

Quebec is not unfamiliar territory for her. Her father, Mario, is from Saint-Cœur-de-Marie, now part of the City of Alma. Her boyfriend, a prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization, is from Montreal. In 2024, Maltais launched a hockey camp for young girls in Alma, an initiative that will return this summer, this time in Jonquière.

She speaks French, is very active on social media and has a colourful personality. Victoire fans should adopt her quickly.

As for Jessie Eldridge, the 28-year-old finished fifth in PWHL scoring last season and second in goals with 14 goals and 23 points.

It was after her trade from Seattle to Boston, however, that she truly broke out, collecting seven goals and 10 points in just 11 games.

The Ontario native also wanted to reunite with Abby Roque, her former teammate in New York during the first two PWHL seasons. Both players had expressed a desire to play together again.

How can the Victoire afford two players of this calibre?

The answer is simple: they have far more flexibility than one might think.

With the departures of Nicole Gosling, Erin Ambrose, Hayley Scamurra, Maureen Murphy and Shiann Darkangelo, the Victoire have at least an additional $334,000 in salary-cap space. On top of that, Abby Roque had indicated she was willing to take a pay cut in order to remain in Montreal.

And that does not even include the additional $100,000 the Victoire just freed up on their salary cap by placing Marie-Philip Poulin on long-term injured reserve for a large portion of the season.

That said, the free-agent market is now almost dry. Very few players remain who are capable of changing the face of a team.

The real masterstroke for general manager Danièle Sauvageau would now be to convince one of three players to continue her career in Montreal: defenders Claire Thompson and Jincy Roese, or forward Michelle Karvinen.

None of the three has confirmed whether she will play in the PWHL next season. Thompson, in particular, is seriously considering continuing her medical studies. Could the Olympic silver medallist with Team Canada be convinced to join several of her national-team teammates, including Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Emma Maltais and Kati Tabin?

No matter what happens, the Victoire will have a brand-new look in 2026-27.

In total, eight players have left the organization following the expansion process and free agency: Dara Greig (Ottawa), Amanda Boulier (Boston), Hayley Scamurra (Las Vegas), Maureen Murphy (Las Vegas), Shiann Darkangelo (Detroit), Natalie Mlynkova (San Jose), Nicole Gosling (Hamilton) and Erin Ambrose (Las Vegas).

On top of that, the selection of Hailey MacLeod in the draft, combined with the signing of Megan Warrener, suggests German goaltender Sandra Abstreiter’s time in Montreal is likely over. The same appears to be true for Maya Labad, who did not receive a qualifying offer from the team.

On the other hand, the Victoire extended Nadia Mattivi for three seasons, Jade Downie-Landry for two seasons and Alexandra Labelle for one season. The team also submitted qualifying offers to Tamara Giaquinto and Skylar Irving.

In other words, despite the announced absence of their captain, the Victoire have not chosen to prepare for the future. They have chosen to keep winning, starting now.