Last week the Blue Jackets signed undrafted free agent Maxime Fortier to an entry level contract. Fortier was passed over in the two prior NHL drafts. He is currently in his overage season, playing for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. He is currently tied for third in league scoring with 28 points, in 20 games.
When a player like Fortier is signed, the question that needs to be asked is why he was available. Why did every team pass on him in the prior two drafts? For the most part players go unselected at the draft because they are not very good players. They don’t have the skill or talent to play at the next level. With Fortier that is not the case.
In his draft season 2015-16, Fortier put up 77 points in 68 games on a bad Mooseheads team. Fortier was the only player on the team to clear 50 points, and one of just three players to score over a point per game. At the trade deadline the Mooseheads traded away those other two point per game players, leaving Fortier with no support. He still managed to put up 29 points in 28 games, for a team that went 7-19-2 down the stretch.
The following season Fortier was even better, he once again lead his team in scoring and finished ninth in the QMJHL with 87 points in 68 games. He has the skillset that supports this type of offensive production.
When a player with this skill and production goes undrafted you have to wonder if maybe there are some off-ice concerns. Fortier, as Scott Wheeler wrote in The Athletic, has none of those red flags.
On Maxime Fortier, passed up twice in the NHL draft without reason or explanation: https://t.co/HLgzTHzB63
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) September 12, 2017
The Jackets have put a focus on not just getting the best hockey players, but the best people as well. They have shown that if a player is a distraction off the ice they have no problem getting rid of them (see Rychel, Kerby). Fortier seems like a really good person and fits into what the Blue Jackets want their players to be.
Fortier went undrafted for two big reasons, one he's not very big, listed at 5’10, 183, and second his offensive production has been overlooked because of his line mates. In 2015-16 Fortier played on a line with Sharks first round pick Timo Meier and in 2016-17 Fortier played on a line alongside the eventual 2017 first overall pick Nico Hischier.
When you see a player putting up big numbers alongside top prospects like that, it’s usually assumed that the prospect is doing all the heavy lifting and Fortier is just along for the ride. That is not the case here, despite what people may think. Was Fortier helped by playing with those two players, he sure was, but he helped them too. Looking at that highlight video there are many plays where Fortier is the one making things happen and Hischier is the one benefiting. Fortier also has the ability to make plays by himself.
Really like the Blue Jackets' signing of Maxime Fortier (per @Aportzline). Plays with energy and tries to make things happen with the puck. pic.twitter.com/tZzSooRpa6
— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) November 5, 2017
All of Fortier’s skill is on display here. He singlehandedly transitions the puck from his own zone to the offensive zone and makes it look easy. He has the speed to out skate players and the hands to deke them if they get close. To adjust for the teammate factor I took a look at Fortier’s stats when he had Meier and Hischier in the line-up and when he did not.
In both cases he was certainly helped out by his line mates. He was still very good without Meier, putting up over a point per game, and elevating his shot production. Without Hischier it’s another story. Fortier’s production goes way down, and his shots per game rate dropped. A drop is expected, anyone playing with a special talent like Hischier is going to see a production increase. When he was out of the line-up Halifax really didn’t have anyone else who could step up and fill that role. Teams were able to focus solely on Fortier and he struggled.
This season Fortier has another talented prospect on his line. Filip Zadina is second in league scoring and is going to be a high first round pick this summer. Fortier maybe isn’t a player who can drive a line on his own but it takes a skilled player to play with other skilled players. Fortier’s situation reminds me a lot of Connor Brown in Erie. Brown put up a ton of points playing alongside Connor McDavid and people thought Brown’s production was just a by-product of McDavid. After seeing Brown put up big numbers in the AHL and score 20 goals in the NHL it’s clear that’s not the case. This is not to say Fortier is going to become Brown and score 20 in the NHL, but it shows that it’s not unheard of for a player to ride second fiddle to a top prospect and find success in pro hockey away from that player.
Signing Maxime Fortier is a really nice gamble for the Blue Jackets to make. He’s a very skilled player who was overlooked because of his teammates. He has the skill to keep up with up with his top prospect teammates and as he moves on to pro hockey every player is going to be skilled. The Jackets like their QMJHL scorers, drafting Pierre-Luc Dubois and Vitali Abramov, by signing Maxime Fortier they add another high-end talent from the ‘Q’ into their system.
You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot