Victor Plante is stepping into a spotlight that comes with a built-in comparison, but he doesn’t sound like a player trying to outrun it.
This season, Victor and Max Plante - both Red Wings draftees - will be on the same Minnesota-Duluth roster in NCAA hockey. Their older brother Zam, a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect, will be there too. So while Victor is following a familiar family path, he’ll be doing it in full view, with his own name and game under the microscope.
That comes with obvious attention, especially because Max just put together the kind of season that turns heads everywhere in college hockey. He won last season’s Hobey Baker Award as the sport’s most outstanding player, and Victor was quick to credit what went into that run.
“The year he had this year, I could have seen it coming, just how hard he works all the time,” Victor said of Max. “So he earned it.”
The easy assumption is that Victor is living in Max’s shadow. But the people around him don’t seem to see a copy. They see a player with his own edge, his own presence, and plenty of confidence in where he fits.
Some hockey people believe Victor might even have the cleaner pure skill package. More importantly, those who know him best describe him as his own man - proud of what his brother has done, but not rattled by the idea of being measured against it.
Max sees that too.
“Even though he was my brother, I feel like he was kind of the player that kind of stuck out to you,” Max said. “Not only on the ice, but just like in the locker room, too.
“I feel like getting to know him, obviously he’s my brother, but just listening to people talk about him, he’s a great kid.”
Victor’s profile has already started to show up in prospect circles. Red Wings Prospects noted that Victor Plante, a 2026 second-round pick, picked up a secondary assist to close out the WJSS.
And there’s a broader sense around him that he’s not just riding along on the family name. USA World Junior coach Adam Nightingale said the family itself helps explain why.
“I know the family a little bit,” Nightingale said. “They’re great, grounded people, and I think they’ve instilled that in their kids.”
That’s the foundation Victor is carrying into Minnesota-Duluth. He’s not trying to be Max. He’s trying to be Victor - and people around him are already treating that as a real distinction.
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