2026 Hobey Baker Winner Max Plante Chats 'Last Dance' with UMD Before Going Pro

Most teenagers would pack their bags the second they win the Hobey Baker Award, especially when faced with the potential of graduating to the NHL and playing for an Original Six franchise.

But when Max Plante was faced with the option of turning pro and playing for the Detroit Red Wings or returning to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he made a somewhat surprising decision and stayed home.

So why did Plante decide to come back? Well, the opportunity to play another year with his brother, Zam, and younger brother Victor, certainly tipped the scales.

“That was definitely a big factor,” Plante said in an interview with The Hockey News. “I knew the team we were going to have coming back this year was going to be good. I think it weighed on me heavily just knowing that I had that good of a year … that hockey-wise, I probably could’ve been ready to turn pro, but I don’t think there is a big need to rush and I knew the opportunity might never be there to play with both brothers. Especially at this high of a level; and not only those two but the group of guys we have.”

Though Plante is staying put in Duluth, he is not out of the Red Wings' attention. The highly coveted prospect is still subject to regular check-ins, who are so far loving Plante’s progress at Minnesota-Duluth.

“So far, during those meetings, (I am asked) just to keep (continue) doing what I am doing,” said Plante.

Plante might not have originally been viewed as as a highly coveted prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft, but Detroit took a chance on him as a playmaker with elite passing skills and wound up picking him 47th overall in the second round. That is a far cry from the elite goal-scorer he is now as his 25 goals topped the highly competitive NCHC conference in the 2025-26 season.

“A big testament to why I am scoring more goals is the guys whom I’m playing with pass me the puck a lot, so I’m put in situations to score more,” said Plante. “Obviously, just keep working on my shot. My shot’s definitely been getting better (after) putting in the time and hours and … that’s been a big thing for my game.”

Two years ago, Plante suffered a wrist injury in his UMD debut against Bemidji State , causing him to miss 11 games in the 2024-25 season. He came back strong, scoring nine goals and 26 points in the remaining 22 games, including five points in a losing effort to Arizona State in the opening round of the NCHC tournament. At the end of the season, he was voted to the NCHC All-Rookie Team.

But Plante was fighting another battle with irregular heartbeats — known as an arrhythmia — during his freshman season. However, after missing over a month of hockey at the beginning of the year, Plante opted to wait until after the season to receive treatment.

In March 2025, Plante underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure known as cardiac ablation. This is where small, flexible tubes are inserted through a blood vessel into the heart that create scars that block the electrical impulses that cause the irregular heart rhythms.

Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful.

Plante then went to see cardiologists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he underwent a second heart procedure which proved to successful.

Despite missing the Detroit Red Wings Prospect Development Camp and USA Hockey World Junior Summer Showcase later in the summer due to recovery, Plante kept his spirits high in what was a remarkable — and shocking — Hobey Baker-winning season.

“For me, I’ve had a lot of injuries and obviously last summer with a couple of surgeries, I didn’t really get to do much so it was kind of a big summer of rest,” said Plante. “I was just trying to be back healthy for the season and I think that mental strain of working out every day … kind of made me a little bit more hungry coming into last year.

"Obviously, with the season we had in my freshman year, I wanted just our team to be better. I think that’s a testament to obviously having that rest over the summer. It just built hunger, not having been able to do much.”

Plante was born and raised in Duluth, not far from the UMD campus. His Hobey Baker win is the university's record-setting seventh, blowing past Boston University, Harvard, and cross-state rivals Minnesota, which are tied for second with four apiece.

“Yeah, I think it’s just the belief they’ve had not only in me but with everyone on our team,” said Plante “We show up every week and it doesn’t matter how we did the week before, our coach makes sure we’re ready to work on Monday and if we’re not, he’ll let us know, so I think it is just the continued pushing. My dad used to coach here at UMD and would tell us that once (UMD head coach Scott Sandelin) gets good players, he makes them better if they’re willing to work. 

"That’s the group we have here and myself, I like the work part of it because (I know) I’m getting better and coach Sandelin is perfect for that because he is so competitive.”

Just recently, the Red Wings named Shawn Horcoff as interim GM. While Plante has to work hard to impress Horcoff for an entry-level contract, he also has to do so while occasionally competing against Shawn’s son, Will Horcoff who plays for the Michigan Wolverines.

Not surprsingly, there's been a bit of friendly chirping between Horcoff and Plante whenever Michigan and Minnesota-Duluth play one another. 

“A little bit of that,” said Plante, laughing. “Obviously Michigan beat us last year (in the Frozen Four Regional Finals), but I know (Shawn) was at the game and called me after and said ‘Wow, what a season.’ So, pretty cool for him to get that job. Sure, it’s a lot of people’s dreams to play in the NHL like he did but now he is managing an Original Six organization."