After a dominant 102-point campaign and QMJHL title, the Chicoutimi sniper joins elite company as a dual Rookie and Player of the Year winner before heading to college.
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced their 2025-26 awards on Monday morning. Chicoutimi Saguenéens forward and Anaheim Ducks prospect Maxim Masse earned the league’s top honor as the recipient of this year’s David Branch Player of the Year Award.
Masse (20) led his team to the Memorial Cup tournament in 2025-26, scoring 102 points (51-51=102) in 69 regular season games and adding 24 points (6-18=24) in 20 playoff games, as Chicoutimi won the QMJHL Championship. Chicoutimi won only one of their four Memorial Cup games, and Masse scored just one goal in the tournament.
"Just maturity," Masse told THN.com/Anaheim in February when discussing his season to date. "I’ve been in the league for four years now and (with) the same group of guys, so they know me well, I know them well. Maturity, I think, is the factor that (allows me) to play more (consistently). Game after game, I think it is the biggest difference.”
Masse became the second Chicoutimi player in history to win CHL Player of the Year, joining Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who won in 2001-02, and he became the first QMJHL player to win the award since Alexis Lafreniere won in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Masse beat out finalists Bryce Pickford from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and Sam O’Reilly from the OHL’s Memorial Cup Champion Kitchener Rangers. Pickford won the CHL’s Defenseman of the Year Award, Ryder Fetterolf from the Ottawa 67’s won CHL Goaltender of the Year, and Tommy Bleyl from the Moncton Wildcats won Defenseman of the Year.
Masse is two years removed from being drafted by the Anaheim Ducks (66th overall in 2024) and will continue his amateur career by joining the NCAA at the University of Massachusetts in 2026-27.
"It's good for the development," Masse said on the decision to jump to the college ranks. "We're only playing 30-40 games a season. Gaining some strength in my lower body and upper body, too, and just getting better with my skating. They were supporting me 100% in that."
Masse intends to fill out his 6-foot-3, 198-pound frame while playing in a more beneficial environment to do so with the NCAA’s game and travel schedules. He’s a north/south goalscoring winger who improved his offensive involvement and play-driving abilities during the 2025-26 season.
If and when he can add a bit more power to his stride and edges, he has a chance to become a quality middle-six depth scoring option at the NHL level who can forecheck and get to the opposing net.
Masse will graduate from the CHL after one of the most successful careers in the league’s history. In four years, he scored 298 points (149-149=298) in 242 games, and after winning CHL Rookie of the Year honors in 2022-23 and now Player of the Year in 2025-26, he became the sixth player ever to win both, joining an impressive list of Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Alex DeBrincat, Alexis Lafrenière, and Gavin McKenna.