The Red Wings selected US NTDP alum and incoming University of Minnesota-Duluth freshman Max Plante with the 47th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a profile of Plante…
Plante played this past season for the U.S. National Team Development Program. “Max plays with a lot of pace,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, who oversees USA Hockey’s national teams. “Very good IQ and a lot of courage. He’s a winning hockey player who comes from a great line of great hockey players. He is a fun-loving kid.”
Plante says his dad [NHL’er Derek Plante] probably “taught me pretty much everything I know about hockey.”
He offered two bits of advice for Max in preparation for his draft year. “Be yourself,” Plante recalled his dad saying. “And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Max and [brother] Zam are making it easy for the family to watch them play next season because they are both playing for Minnesota-Duluth. Of course that’s where their dad played, scoring 96 goals over his four seasons at the school.
“I’m really excited to go play with Zam,” Plante said. “Two years off of playing with each other. I think we probably miss playing with each other, playing give and go hockey together. Hopefully we get to play together this year at Duluth. It’s really special that we’ll be able to play together, a dream come team to play for the Bulldogs.”
As did the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood:
Almost all his life, Max Plante was a short king.
When he tried out for the U.S. National Team Development Program, Plante was barely 5-foot-6 and 127 pounds. Even before then, he was always among the smallest players in his age group. It’s a big reason why Plante loves Brad Marchand, the undersized agitator who has been one of the NHL’s stars for most of his career. Marchand finds a way to overcome his height, and Plante had to do much the same thing.
Consider his height a blessing. When the Red Wings picked Plante 47th overall in Saturday’s 2024 NHL Draft, the pick came because of the skills and competitiveness that being undersized developed. “Growing up” is a key phrase there, because Plante isn’t a small player anymore. True to his name, he grew like a plant, measuring in at 5-foot-11 and 177 pounds now with room to keep growing over time.
“Coming into the Program, I was a short, skinny guy and I went to work the last two years,” Plante said at the NHL Draft. “And I mean, I’ve still got a lot of room to grow in my game and score more goals and get stronger. But over the 17 summer, I thought I got faster and played with more pace.”
