BUFFALO – At the 2015 draft, Nicolas Roy slipped to the fourth round and all NHL teams are biting their fingers today. Maxim Massé will be drafted earlier, but it would be stupid to repeat the same mistake.
The warning comes from Yanick Jean who led the two attackers with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
Just like Roy, Massé lost a few points during his draft season due to the quality of his skating and his production.
“What the observers say goes 100 feet over my head because I know my players. And I only said one thing, there is no negative with Max,” declared Jean.
“It’s immense what he does for our team, both on and off the ice. It’s fun working with him and helping him progress. He is very appreciated by his teammates,” added the coach.
Thus, Jean assures that it does not bother him to see that Massé fell – from the first round to the first third of the second round – in the draft forecasts.
“Pantout!” Because I know he’s going to make a hockey player. It’s the same thing with Roy, I knew he was going to play in the NHL and look at his career. When you know the character and the individual, his draft rank does not matter,” argued Jean, who only wishes Massé a team that will take care of his development.
Obviously, Roy is a center while Massé is a winger, but Jean sees similarities in their personalities and their desire to succeed.
When we talk to recruiters, they note that this desire to succeed is not always felt from the stands. It must be said that Massé’s greatest strength lies in his throwing so that he sometimes tends to wait for the puck to get to him.
“I have a little reluctance with players who just shoot, you understand. At some point, you want a little more,” said the first scout we joined.
“He doesn’t always display the energy I would like, but he had a game in the playoffs that, phew, he had the knife between his teeth. I said to myself, ‘My little tabarnouche, I would have liked you to make me more often like this,’” confided a second recruiter consulted.
The third opinion collected added an interesting argument.
“I believe in him because he has excellent hockey sense, he will be smart enough to understand what is happening and adapt. What can help him is a recruiter who knows him very well. In his case, the team that will take him will have close ties with the QMJHL and will have had success on that side,” predicted this Source.
The back of his skate
Skating remains the point that will cause Massé to lose a few ranks. In this regard, his coach recalls that Massé has made progress playing on Olympic-sized ice in Chicoutimi.
His agent, André Ruel, also shared information with the Journal de Montréal showing that an obstruction in the larynx – which is being corrected – could have undermined his breathing and therefore his speed.
The main person concerned is encouraged above all by a visit to a specialist.
“My technique was analyzed to see what I was doing well and what was not so good. All the information is in my hands, it’s up to me to work,” said Massé who was happy to see things more clearly.
For the moment, recruiters are not yet convinced. His performances at the U18 World Championship, on a large ice rink, did not help his cause.
“At the U18 tournament, his speed was a little bit of a gap, but you know he’s going to work on that. The fact remains that I noticed that his skate could hurt him,” confided an informant.
We therefore do not question his efforts.
“I don’t think he’s going to become one of the best skaters, but he can improve by 20-30% which will allow him to play without problems and his skills are enough to be a top-9 player in the NHL », Interpreted the second recruiter.
Sometimes, some leaders would have liked Massé to show more emotion in his reactions. The truth is that Massé has a relaxed personality and he does not exude the intensity of some colleagues.
“But it’s a marker!” He is able to find the holes offensively and he doesn’t need three seconds to put it in,” recalled a speaker.
We must also not forget that Massé constitutes one of the finest Quebec talents of the 2024 vintage. So when Jean looks at this portrait, he makes sure to convey this message.
“We have to stop finding negative things about hockey players in Quebec, we should start selling them instead. People who make money by speaking negatively about our players, I’m tired of it,” said Jean, who cannot be blamed for defending the next generation of Quebec players.
What you need to know is that when the QMJHL crop is not strong, the head recruiters of the NHL teams come less often to take their turn. It harms all the players who could be drafted and particularly those who could have convinced clubs from the fourth round.
