Maxime Lajoie

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Maxime Lajoie
Lajoie at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic Game
Born (1997-11-05) November 5, 1997 (age 26)
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Former teams		 Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Marlies (AHL)
Ottawa Senators
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL draft 133rd overall, 2016
Ottawa Senators
Playing career 2017–present

Maxime Lajoie (born November 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player currently with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lajoie was chosen 133rd overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Early life[edit]

Lajoie was born in Quebec City and moved to Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario and then Calgary, Alberta by the age of seven. His first language is French but is now bilingual.[1]

Playing career[edit]

Lajoie played major junior hockey for the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2013 to 2017. He was drafted by the Broncos, 95th overall, in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft.[2] Lajoie played one game in 2013–14 and earned a roster spot in 2014–15. He increased his points per game over his three seasons with the Broncos and was selected by the Ottawa Senators in his first season of eligibility, going 133rd overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Lajoie's coach until 2016, former Senator Mark Lamb, considered the selection of Lajoie a "steal" at 133rd overall, noting he was the team's No. 1 penalty killer, No. 1 shut-down defenceman and assistant captain.[3]

Lajoie signed a three-year, entry level contract with the Senators on October 3, 2016, and attended their training camp,[4] before returning to the Swift Current Broncos as an alternate captain for one final season in junior.[5]

In 2017, he became a professional, joining the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL) in September 2017. In November 2017, Lajoie was assigned to the Brampton Beast of the ECHL, returning to Belleville after one game at Brampton. In 2018, Lajoie made the jump to the NHL, earning a roster spot in training camp. He made his NHL debut on October 4, 2018, scoring a goal and an assist in a 4–3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.[6] Lajoie became the second Ottawa defenceman (after Wade Redden) to score in his NHL debut.[6]

After attending the Senators training camp for the delayed 2020–21 season, on January 12, 2021, Lajoie was traded by Ottawa to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Clark Bishop.[7] He was directly assigned by the Hurricanes to join AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. On August 6, 2022 the Hurricanes re-signed Lajoie's to an additional one-year contract.[8]

Following three seasons with the Hurricanes organization, Lajoie left as free agent and agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, 2023.[9] He attended the Maple Leafs 2023 training camp, but failed to make the team and was placed on waivers. After going unclaimed Lajoie was assigned to the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies to start the 2023–24 season.[10][11] He was recalled by the Maple Leafs on November 4 after an injury to Timothy Liljegren and made his season debut against the Buffalo Sabres that night.[12] He was returned to the Marlies on November 9.[13]

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Calgary Royals AMHL 28 1 10 11 12 5 1 2 3 0
2013–14 Calgary Royals AMHL 32 7 10 17 10 — — — — —
2013–14 Swift Current Broncos WHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2014–15 Swift Current Broncos WHL 72 7 33 40 22 4 1 2 3 0
2015–16 Swift Current Broncos WHL 62 8 29 37 28 — — — — —
2016–17 Swift Current Broncos WHL 68 7 35 42 26 14 1 8 9 10
2017–18 Belleville Senators AHL 56 1 14 15 12 — — — — —
2017–18 Brampton Beast ECHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2018–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 56 7 8 15 20 — — — — —
2018–19 Belleville Senators AHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Belleville Senators AHL 48 4 13 17 24 — — — — —
2019–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2020–21 Chicago Wolves AHL 27 6 15 21 24 — — — — —
2020–21 Carolina Hurricanes NHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 2
2021–22 Chicago Wolves AHL 60 4 29 33 10 18 4 4 8 18
2021–22 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Chicago Wolves AHL 63 11 34 45 58 — — — — —
2022–23 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2023–24 Toronto Marlies AHL 51 4 20 24 31 3 0 0 0 0
2023–24 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 77 7 9 16 20 2 0 0 0 2

Awards and honours[edit]

Award Year
AHL
Calder Cup (Chicago Wolves) 2022 [14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kennedy, Ryan (February 9, 2016). "Prospect Need to Know: Max Lajoie has stepped up in Swift Current - TheHockeyNews". The Hockey News. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "SC BRONCOS: Sign Lajoie to WHL Contract". whl.ca. August 31, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Fraser, Callum (June 30, 2016). "Maxime Lajoie Has a Hockey Mind and a Heart of Gold". Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "Sens sign Maxime Lajoie to an entry-level contract". NHL.com. October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  5. ^ "Broncos Announce Leadership Group for 2016-17 Season". scbroncos.com. October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Warren, Ken (October 5, 2018). "Lajoie makes smashing NHL debut with family in the house". canoe.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  7. ^ "Canes acquire Max Lajoie from Senators". Carolina Hurricanes. January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "Canes Re-Sign Lajoie To One-Year Contract". Carolina Hurricanes. August 6, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  9. ^ "Maple Leafs sign four players". Toronto Maple Leafs. July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  10. ^ "Maple Leafs goaltender Martin Jones, five others clear waivers". Sportsnet. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  11. ^ Barden, Nick (October 8, 2023). "Maple Leafs Waive Martin Jones and Others to Clear Cap Space Ahead of NHL Regular Season Roster Submission Deadline". The Hockey News. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  12. ^ "Matthews' hat trick not enough as Sabres down Maple Leafs". Sportsnet. The Canadian Press. November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  13. ^ Alter, David (November 9, 2023). "Why the Maple Leafs Called up Pontus Holmberg From the Marlies and Sent Down Max Lajoie". The Hockey News. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  14. ^ "Chicago is Calder City again". American Hockey League. June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.

External links[edit]

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