Photo courtesy of unhwildcats.com

Fantasy Summary

A once-promising offensive defenseman with great size. His NHL future is looking increasingly doubtful.


Observations

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July 2023 – Gildon, 24, has signed a one-year contract with Adler Mannheim in the DEL, Germany’s top professional men’s league. His path to the NHL is looking increasingly dim. Ben Gehrels

February 2023 – Earlier this year, Gildon was loaned from Florida’s AHL affiliate in Springfield to Bakersfield (Oilers affiliate). No reason was officially given but presumably the intent was to shake things up a bit for the once-promising defender. He is now 24 and continues to trend downwards, holding minimal fantasy value at present. His ten points in 28 games so far with the Condors does not inspire confidence. Ben Gehrels

June 2022 – Gildon took a step back in his second year in the AHL. His scoring rate declined by almost half a point per game, and then an injury ended his season in January. For the second year in a row the Panthers shared their AHL affiliate with another NHL team (Seattle Kraken); the increased competition for opportunities on defense appear to have negatively impacted Gildon. It is too soon to make any judgements about whether or not he still has a future as a solid depth defenceman with a scoring touch but he will have to turn in a more dominant performance in 2022-23 to earn time on a crowded Panthers blue line. Ben Gehrels

April 2020 – The big left-shot, defenseman can play both sides of the ice and shows flashes of offensive dominance. If Gildon is sent to AHL Springfield to start the 2020-21 season, I doubt it’d be for very long. He could develop into a valuable fantasy option. Keith Fries

December 2018 – Gildon didn’t get invited to USA’s World Junior Championship camp. This was his last year of eligibility for the tournament, and it is a bit surprising he didn’t get invited because he’s having another strong season at NCAA.  Jokke Nevalainen

November 2018 – Gildon has had a great start to his NCAA season as he’s scored ten points in ten games. Quinn Hughes will be the top dog for the Americans at the World Juniors but Gildon should be one of the players getting an opportunity to play second fiddle behind him.  Jokke Nevalainen

April 2018 – Gildon finished his first college season with 23 points in 36 games which was sixth best among rookie defensemen in the NCAA. Gildon will most likely stay in college for another season but could be ready to turn pro after that. Jokke Nevalainen

December 2017 – Max Gildon is an offense-minded defenseman who is having a very strong start to his NCAA career with seven goals and 15 points in 17 games playing at the University of New Hampshire. Gildon’s skating and offensive tools are at a good level already, and he has ideal size for a modern defenseman. If he can improve his defensive game and decision-making, he could become a point-producing top-four defenseman at the NHL level. Jokke Nevalainen

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 5.0
NHL Certainty 4.0
Country USA
Position D
Roster Type Europe
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth May 17, 1999
Height 6‘3”
Weight 192 lbs
Drafted 2017 Round 3; Overall: 66

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2008-2009 Minnesota Blades Brick Invitational5 2 24 8|        
 2013-2014 Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAAT1EHL 16U31 6 1319 22|        
 2014-2015 Team Forest USA-S155 0 33 -|        
  Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAAT1EHL 16U24 7 815 32|Playoffs4 2 13
 2015-2016 USNTDP JuniorsUSHL35 0 77 34|        
  U.S. National U17 TeamNTDP58 1 1819 52|        
  USA U17WHC-175 1 23 6|        
 2016-2017 USNTDP JuniorsUSHL26 5 914 28|        
  U.S. National U18 TeamNTDP63 11 2132 56|        
  USA U18WJC-187 4 26 4|        
 2017-2018 Univ. of New HampshireNCAA36 8 1523 47|        
 2018-2019 Univ. of New HampshireNCAA31 6 1521 45|        
 2019-2020 Univ. of New HampshireNCAA34 7 2229 40|        
 2020-2021 Bakersfield CondorsAHL32 2 1719 27|Playoffs6 0 33
 2021-2022 Charlotte CheckersAHL22 1 45 6|        
 2022-2023 Charlotte CheckersAHL6 0 22 2|        
  Bakersfield CondorsAHL41 2 1012 46|        
 2023-2024 Adler MannheimDEL43 4 59 26|        
  Adler MannheimChampions HL8 0 11 0|        
 2024-2025 HC KosiceSlovakia25 2 2022 82|        

Highlights