It’s hard to believe that Maxime Comtois could fall so far as he has in the space of a single season. Once a presumptive top-five pick, Comtois’ star has fallen to that of a fringe first rounder.
A strong rookie season with the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres put the wind into Comtois’ draft year sails. He came into the year drawing comparisons to Rick Nash at the high end and Pierre-Luc Dubois as a comparable on the low end. He was the preeminent power forward to watch in this year’s class.
All Comtois had to do was take even the slightest step forward to maintain his position among the top of the class.