Key Takeaways
- Roger McQueen, who was a lottery pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, committed to play NCAA hockey at Providence on Wednesday.
- The CHL standout spoke to RG about leaving the junior ranks for the collegiate level.
- McQueen also discussed how excited he is to join the Ducks' young, talented core when his time in the NHL arrives.
Roger McQueen at NHL draft (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Roger McQueen isn’t tough to pick out of a crowd at six-feet-six-inches, then once he gets on the ice, his uncommon skill and grace separate him even further from the pack.
The massive pivot and 2025 lottery pick of the Anaheim Ducks officially committed to Providence on Wednesday, and immediately afterwards, he chatted exclusively with RG Media about his decision to cross from the Canadian junior ranks to the U.S. collegiate level.
“The biggest advantages are playing against bigger, better, and more advanced players that play a heavier style game, that’s huge for me going forward. Another big thing is the (training and medical) facilities,” McQueen said to RG. “I went through an injury, and the rehab stuff and the proper care is going to be better there. Another big advantage for me is not being on the bus for 20 hours.”
Overcoming Injuries
Indeed, McQueen, 18, dealt with back issues (and long bus rides) during his junior career. Initially, he was misdiagnosed with two bulging disks, but he ultimately discovered a spinal fracture that cost him most of his draft season and, quite possibly, a higher position for his selection.
McQueen had been a fixture for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL when healthy, but his draft-plus-one campaign will come as a collegian and, more specifically, as a Friar. He’ll be the first top-10 pick and sixth first-rounder to join Providence. By his side will be AAA teammate Hudson Malinowski and former Brandon captain Quinn Mantei.
Those connections helped, but McQueen said Friars coach Nate Leaman ultimately swayed him away from a multitude of competing suitors.
“I had a really good connection with their head coach,” McQueen said. “He was just one of those guys that I felt trusted by.”
McQueen said his switch of leagues would not interfere with his participation in Team Canada. The Canadians will seek to distance themselves from a disappointing showing at last year’s U20 World Junior Championships, where they failed to medal as the host nation.
Trailblazing in Pursuit of The Frozen Four
McQueen will head to the NCAA undaunted.
“It’s going to be a different league and a different feel. The goals are more personal though,” McQueen said. “I know what their expectation is for me and where they see me playing, which is at the top of their lineup and being a guy that’s tough to play against every night.”
Thanks to a new agreement between the CHL and NCAA, players who played Canadian junior hockey, once a closed route to the NCAA because of its strict definitions of amateur status, can now play college hockey in the United States. McQueen said he and his peers were enthused albeit a little fatigued by being the initial class with such an array of opportunities.
“It’s pretty cool being the first people who can do it. It’s a massive change and it really opens your eyes as to what you can do with another option there,” McQueen said. “Talking to some of the other guys about it, it’s been super chaotic for everyone.”
“For me, it almost felt like the draft again, getting recruited from a lot of places and talking to teams. It’s been a crazy experience,” he continued. “I think it’s good, I think it had to be done at some point. I think it’s going to help some people and really boost some guys.”
From Western Canada to Southern California
A Saskatoon native, McQueen has been in either Saskatchewan or Manitoba for much of his life, a far cry from the sunny shores of Orange County, where presumably he’ll make his NHL debut for the Ducks.
McQueen reportedly had dinner with General Manager Pat Verbeek at the scouting combine, and on Day 1 of the draft, Anaheim selected him with the final pick in the top 10. After a quick media scrum in Downtown Los Angeles, McQueen was whisked away to Disneyland in a helicopter, where he was later joined by his traveling party of about 30 people.
“Probably the biggest thing that stood out was how good Anaheim was to me and my family, how well they treated us and how their staff was to us, they were awesome,” McQueen said. “Then, the development camp was run so well, from the owner and GM all the way down to the equipment manager, they were awesome.”
McQueen even posed in a Ducks jersey with No. 95 and “McQueen” on the back, a nod to the Lightning McQueen character in Disney’s “Cars.” McQueen said he appeared on social media in the jersey to give kids something to relate to, but he was unsure if he’d wear No. 95 eventually in the NHL. He will wear No. 29 at Providence, he confirmed.
The Ducks drafted McQueen as a player who combined not only skill and size but also competitiveness and a little nastiness. That makeup could mesh brilliantly with a pair of 2024 first-rounders for the Ducks, Beckett Sennecke and Stian Solberg.
“They’ve done a great job drafting guys, especially guys like Sennecke and Solberg, who are tough to play against but also very skilled at both ends of the ice,” McQueen said. “Even the guys that are a little older, like McTavish and Carlsson, you look at those guys and they’re the same way. It’s a really bright future and it’s something that I’m excited to try and step into, for sure.”
