Maxime Lajoie

Maxime Lajoie (born November 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Lajoie was chosen 133rd overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2016 NHL entry draft. He has also played for the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Early life 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 he is now bilingual.

Playing career Junior career 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. 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. He returned to Swift Current as an alternate captain for his final season in junior.

Professional career Lajoie was selected by the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL) 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. Lajoie signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Senators on October 3, 2016, and attended their training camp.

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 with 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. He played in 56 games with the Senators in the 2018–19 season, scoring 7 goals and 15 points. He also appeared in three games with Belleville, registering just one assist. The Senators assigned Lajoie to Belleville to start the 2019–20 season. He was recalled by Ottawa in November and made his NHL season debut on November 22 in a 4–1 victory over the New York Rangers. He was returned to Belleville in December after playing in six games with Ottawa, going scoreless.

After attending the Senators training camp for the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 season, on January 12, 2021, Lajoie was traded by Ottawa to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Clark Bishop. He was directly assigned by the Hurricanes to join AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. He played in 27 games with Chicago, scoring 6 goals and 21 points. and made his Hurricanes and playoff debut in Game 3's double overtime 5–4 loss to the Nashville Predators on May 21. He played in the following game, another double overtime loss, but was replaced by Jaccob Slavin who returned from injury for Game 5.

Lajoie was assigned to Chicago for the 2021–22 season. He was recalled by Carolina along with Jalen Chatfield on November 29, 2021. He and Chatfield made their NHL season debuts on November 30, replacing defencemen Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo in the lineup. The Hurricanes lost the game 4–1, though Lajoie played well. He appeared in five games with Carolina before being sent back to Chicago on December 13. In 60 games with the Wolves, he scored four goals and 33 points. In the 2022 Calder Cup playoffs, he added four goals and eight points. On August 6, 2022 the Hurricanes re-signed Lajoie's to an additional one-year contract. Named captain of the Wolves for the 2022–23 season, Lajoie was selected to play in the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic. In 63 games with Chicago he scored 11 goals and 45 points. 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. 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. He was returned to the Marlies on November 9. He spent the majority of the season with the Marlies, appearing in 56 games, scoring 4 goals and 24 points. He also appeared in seven games with the Maple Leafs, registering one assist.

An unrestricted free agent in the offseason, Lajoie signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 1, 2024.

At the completion of his contract with the Kraken, Lajoie left as a free agent and opted to pursue a career abroad by signing a one-year deal with Russian club, Avangard Omsk of the KHL, on July 22, 2025.

Career statistics 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 — — — — — 2024–25 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 70 4 34 38 32 6 1 0 1 0 2025–26 Avangard Omsk KHL 68 11 30 41 18 17 4 2 6 12 NHL totals 77 7 9 16 20 2 0 0 0 2

Awards and honours Award Year AHL Calder Cup (Chicago Wolves) 2022