Max Veronneau passes — and braces for — test in active Senators debut

Mark Suleymanov

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Max Veronneau passes — and braces for — test in active Senators debut image

In the future, the answer to "Who was the third star in the Senators' 2-0 win over the Blues on March 14, 2019" will be Ottawa's own Max Veronneau.

Unfortunately, that particular trivia about stars will not be helpful to Veronneau, who has an astronomy exam Friday.

"No, I am not," Veronneau said after his NHL debut on Thursday, referring to his preparation for the exam. "I should probably study tonight."

Not many college students face the daunting task of playing on a line with Brady Tkachuk the same night they have to cram for an exam. Veronneau, however, will need to do exactly that after a debut in which the 23-year-old notched five shots on goal and showed both speed and aggressiveness.

MORE: 'It was really fun': Senators win Erik Brannstrom's debut

“Veronneau getting the amount of shots that he got, it’s good," interim head coach Marc Crawford said. "We need people who are shooters. He’s got a good sense to get open and he’s got good speed. That was against a pretty good St. Louis club."

It was just last Saturday when Veronneau concluded his collegiate career at Princeton University, which lost in the ECAC Tournament's first round in triple overtime to Brown. In 31 games, the Tigers' alternate captain had 13 goals and 24 assists. Veronneau is Princeton's fourth all-time leading scorer with 144 points and second in assists with 92.

Four days later, Ottawa signed the hometown product to a two-year, entry-level NHL contract. Ottawa has notoriously gone for local products and with Veronneau's addition, the Senators' roster boasts four Ottawans, including Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Cody Ceci and Mark Borowiecki.

Even in familiar surroundings, with 30-plus family and friends in attendance at the Canadian Tire Centre, Veronneau admitted the nerves got the best of him at the start.

"The first period, I was pretty nervous out there, I couldn’t handle the puck well or anything," he said. "The boys helped me out, told me to relax and to play your game. The second period was so much better."

Indeed, the two-time (2018, 2019) nominee for the Hobey Baker Award given to the top NCAA men's ice hockey player, settled in, and that became apparent to his coach.

"I just thought as I started watching him a bit more . . . his speed was jumping out," Crawford noted. "When you recognize he has jump and recognizes how to jump past people, it probably helps us get our best chance to score."

Veronneau was not the only Senator making his NHL debut Thursday; defenseman Erik Brannstrom joined him for a pregame rookie lap. Both rookies made an impression in the victory, which made the night memorable for Veronneau.

"It was awesome, it was a phenomenal experience sharing it with Erik, too," he said. "It was a lot of fun and that much better that the team won, too. The mood postgame is that much better."

Veronneau passed his first NHL test; now, he has to pass one in the classroom.

Murray Pam contributed to this report.

Mark Suleymanov