Maxime Comtois (born January 8, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger for HC Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes.

Max Comtois
Comtois (right) with the Anaheim Ducks in 2023
Born (1999-01-08) January 8, 1999 (age 25)
Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg; 14 st 13 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams
Dynamo Moscow
Anaheim Ducks
Carolina Hurricanes
National team  Canada
NHL draft 50th overall, 2017
Anaheim Ducks
Playing career 2018–present

Playing career

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Comtois was drafted by the Victoriaville Tigres third overall in the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft.[1] On June 24, 2017, Comtois was selected in the second round, 50th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Ducks on March 3, 2018.[2]

Comtois made the Ducks' 2018 opening night roster out of training camp.[3] On October 3, 2018, he made his professional debut in the Ducks' 2018–19 season opener in San Jose and scored his first professional goal in the first minute of the game, on his first shot attempt at goaltender Martin Jones.[4] The Ducks went on to win the game 5–2. Comtois contributed to be amongst the Ducks scoring leaders to start the season, scoring 7 points in his first 10 games before suffering an injury. On his return he was assigned to AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, before he was returned to his junior club, the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) on November 24, 2018.[5]

Following his fifth season within the Ducks organization, as a pending restricted free agent Comtois was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Ducks and was released as a free agent on July 1, 2023.[6] Several months later, on September 12, Comtois signed a professional tryout agreement with the Vegas Golden Knights;[7] he was subsequently released on October 9, after the conclusion of the preseason.[8]

On October 16, 2023, without a NHL contract to begin the 2023–24 season, Comtois opted to continue his career in the AHL by signing a one-year contract with independent club, the Chicago Wolves.[9] Contributing offensively with the Wolves, Comtois was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes for the remainder of the season on March 4, 2024.[10] He featured in one regular season game, providing an assist, and one playoff contest with the Hurricanes.

As a free agent in the following off-season, Comtois signed a one-year contract with HC Dynamo Moscow of the KHL, on July 18, 2024.[11]

International play

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Medal record
Representing   Canada
Ice hockey
World Championships
  2021 Latvia
  2022 Finland
World Junior Championships
  2018 United States

On December 25, 2018, Comtois was named captain for Canada national junior team while they competed at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[12] He is the only player to return from the 2018 gold medal-winning team.[13] On December 26, Comtois scored four goals in a 14–0 win over Denmark national junior team in the first game of the tournament.[14] Comtois became the fifth player from Team Canada to score four goals in a World Juniors game, with the last being Taylor Raddysh in 2017.[15] After Canada was eliminated from the tournament, Comtois revealed he had been playing with a separated shoulder.[16]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2015–16 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 64 26 34 60 68 5 1 5 6 4
2016–17 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 64 22 29 51 88 4 1 0 1 8
2017–18 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 54 44 41 85 79 13 4 8 12 16
2018–19 Anaheim Ducks NHL 10 2 5 7 7
2018–19 San Diego Gulls AHL 4 1 0 1 2 12 5 4 9 4
2018–19 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 25 31 17 48 32 16 11 4 15 24
2019–20 San Diego Gulls AHL 31 9 15 24 53
2019–20 Anaheim Ducks NHL 29 5 6 11 24
2020–21 Anaheim Ducks NHL 55 16 17 33 40
2021–22 Anaheim Ducks NHL 52 6 10 16 46
2022–23 Anaheim Ducks NHL 64 9 10 19 76
2023–24 Chicago Wolves AHL 65 19 25 44 109
2023–24 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 211 38 49 87 193 1 0 0 0 0

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2016 Canada IH18 5th 4 4 1 5 8
2017 Canada U18 5th 5 2 0 2 28
2018 Canada WJC   7 3 3 6 4
2019 Canada WJC 6th 5 5 1 6 8
2021 Canada WC   10 4 2 6 14
2022 Canada WC   10 3 4 7 29
Junior totals 21 14 5 19 48
Senior totals 20 7 6 13 43

References

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  1. ^ "Le plus beau jour de ma vie!". tigresvictoriaville.com (in French). June 10, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  2. ^ "Ducks Sign Comtois to Entry-Level Contract". NHL.com. March 3, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "Ducks Open 25th Anniversary Season Tomorrow in San Jose". NHL.com. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "Max Comtois first NHL goal gives Ducks quick lead over Sharks". NBCSports.com. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  5. ^ "Maxime Comtois to join the Voltigeurs!". Drummondville Voltigeurs. November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "Ducks extend qualifying offers to five restricted free agents". Anaheim Ducks. July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "Vegas Golden Knights Sign Forward Maxime Comtois to Professional Tryout Agreement". nhl.com. September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Granger, Jesse [@JesseGranger_] (October 10, 2023). "Bruce Cassidy said Max Comtois was released from his PTO yesterday without a contract. He said they were very happy with how Cotter and Dorofeyev performed in camp and preseason and "there are only so many spots."" (Tweet). Retrieved October 10, 2023 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "Wolves have signed Max Comtois to an AHL contract". Twitter. October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "Canes sign Comtois to one-year, two-way deal". Carolina Hurricanes. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  11. ^ "Maxime Comtois becomes a player of Dynamo Moscow" (in Russian). HC Dynamo Moscow. July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  12. ^ "Ducks prospect Comtois named captain for Canada at World Juniors". NHL.com. December 25, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  13. ^ Karstens-Smith, Gemma (December 27, 2018). "'We're all leaders,' says captain Comtois of Canadian junior hockey squad". CTV News. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  14. ^ Cuthbert, Justin (December 26, 2018). "Max Comtois scores 4 as Canada thumps Denmark at world juniors". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  15. ^ @TSN_Sports (December 26, 2018). "Maxime Comtois (@comtois20) becomes the 5th player in Canadian Juniors history to score 4 goals in one game! He joins Taylor Raddysh (2017), Brayden Schenn (2011), Simon Gagne (1999) & Mario Lemieux (1983)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Comtois played with shoulder injury for Canada at WJC". NHL.com. January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
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