Max Véronneau

Max Véronneau
Born (1995-12-12) December 12, 1995 (age 28)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
SHL team
Former teams		 Leksands IF
Ottawa Senators
IK Oskarshamn
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2019–present

Maximilian Cross Véronneau is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Véronneau played junior ice hockey in his hometown of Ottawa, then joined the Princeton University Tigers. After completing his senior season at Princeton, he signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL.

Playing career

After playing junior 'A' ice hockey in Ottawa, Ontario, with the Gloucester Rangers, Véronneau entered Princeton University in 2015. In his junior year 2017–18, Véronneau placed second in NCAA Division 1 scoring 17 goals and 38 assists for 55 points in 36 games. In 2017, Véronneau attended the Vegas Golden Knights' development camp.[1] After four seasons with the Princeton Tigers, Véronneau was regarded as one of the top NCAA free agents. He signed as a free agent with his hometown Senators in March 2019, signing a two-year entry-level contract.[2] He made his NHL debut on March 14, 2019, against the St. Louis Blues. Véronneau was named the third star of the game.[3] He finished his first season with the Senators playing in 12 games and scoring two goals and four points.[4]

At the beginning of the 2019–20 season, Véronneau was assigned to Ottawa's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Belleville Senators.[5] He struggled in the AHL but was recalled on November 18, 2019.[4] Véronneau was sent back to Belleville on November 28 after playing in four games with Ottawa.[6] He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 19, 2020, in exchange for Aaron Luchuk and a conditional 6th round draft pick (depending on how many games Véronneau played for the Maple Leafs).[7] He played in just three regular season games with AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, before the season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

As a free agent from the Maple Leafs, and with the 2020–21 North American season delayed due to the pandemic, Véronneau opted to sign his first contract abroad in agreeing to a contract for the remainder of the season with Swedish club, IK Oskarshamn of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), on December 21, 2020.[9] In the top Swedish tier, Véronneau regained his offensive confidence, potting 12 goals through 25 regular season games with IK Oskarshamn.

On April 21, 2021, Véronneau opted to transfer to fellow SHL club, Leksands IF, agreeing to a two-year contract.[10] In the following 2021–22 season, he established himself as one of the top offensive players in the SHL, and was signed to a further one-year extension with Leksands through 2024 during the season on November 20, 2021.[11] He completed the season, leading the league with 34 goals through 51 games and was named the SHL's most valuable player.[12]

On April 14, 2022, Véronneau used his NHL out clause to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the San Jose Sharks.[12] Véronneau was assigned to begin the 2022–23 season with AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. He was never recalled by the Sharks with his season largely affected by injury and limiting Véronneau to just 1 goal and 9 points through 31 regular season games.[13]

As a pending free agent, Véronneau opted to return to Sweden and resume his contract with Leksands IF of the SHL on May 18, 2023.[13]

Personal

Véronneau's parents are Marc Véronneau and Pamela Cross. Véronneau's sister Sophie plays ice hockey for Yale University. Véronneau is a graduate of École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité in Ottawa, where he also played football and lacrosse.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Ottawa Canadians EOJHL 58 37 49 86 8 — — — — —
2012–13 Gloucester Rangers CCHL 4 1 2 3 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Gloucester Rangers CCHL 61 41 39 80 10 — — — — —
2014–15 Gloucester Rangers CCHL 27 14 22 36 6 6 3 1 4 0
2015–16 Princeton University ECAC 30 11 6 17 2 — — — — —
2016–17 Princeton University ECAC 33 11 24 35 4 — — — — —
2017–18 Princeton University ECAC 36 17 38 55 12 — — — — —
2018–19 Princeton University ECAC 31 13 24 37 2 — — — — —
2018–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 12 2 2 4 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Belleville Senators AHL 33 5 5 10 2 — — — — —
2019–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Toronto Marlies AHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2020–21 IK Oskarshamn SHL 25 12 6 18 8 — — — — —
2021–22 Leksands IF SHL 51 34 26 60 14 — — — — —
2022–23 San Jose Barracuda AHL 31 1 8 9 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 16 2 2 4 0 — — — — —
SHL totals 76 46 32 78 22 — — — — —

Awards and honours

Award Year
College
All-ECAC Second All-Star team 2017
All-ECAC First All-Star team 2018
AHCA East All-American team 2018
SHL
Guldhjälmen (MVP) 2022
Håkan Loob Trophy (Most Goals) 2022

References

  1. ^ Pothier, Jason (March 12, 2019). "NCAA Free Agents VGK Might Have Interest In". Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  2. ^ "Ottawa Senators sign college free agent forward Max Veronneau" (Press release). Ottawa Senators. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  3. ^ Suleymanov, Mark (March 15, 2019). "Max Veronneau passes — and braces for — test in active Senators debut". The Sporting News.
  4. ^ a b Warren, Ken (November 18, 2019). "Warrenspiece: Veronneau returns, Ryan's health a concern, Rudolfs shines, Brown and Tkachuk bring back memories". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "Senators' Max Veronneau: Assigned to Belleville". CBS Sports. September 25, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "Veronneau reassigned to Belleville". Belleville Senators. November 28, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Senators acquire centre Aaron Luchuk from Toronto". Ottawa Senators. February 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "AHL cancels remainder of 2019-20 season". Reuters. May 11, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Max Veronneau klar för IK Oskarshamn" [Max Veronneau ready for IK Oskarshamn] (in Swedish). IK Oskarshamn. December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Max Véronneau ansluter till LIF" [Max Véronneau joins LIF] (in Swedish). Leksands IF. April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Véronneau förlänger ytterligare ett år" [Véronneau extends another year] (in Swedish). Leksands IF. April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Sharks Sign Forward Max Veronneau". San Jose Sharks. April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Hallå där, Max Véronneau" [Hello there, Max Véronneau] (in Swedish). Leksands IF. May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  14. ^ "Max Véronneau - Men's Ice Hockey - Princeton University Athletics". goprincetontigers.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.