- Roger McQueen wants a Ducks roster spot after a seven-game AHL cameo in San Diego
- The 6-foot-5 forward won Hockey East Rookie of the Year at Providence last season
- Read below for what McQueen said about playing for Joel Quenneville
Roger McQueen already looks the part at 6-foot-5. His college coach thinks the scary part is still in front of him.
Providence coach Nate Leaman had the Anaheim Ducks prospect for one season, and he laid out what he sees coming in an interview with NHL.com:
“His potential is top-six center, just with his size, his ability to win face-offs, his playmaking. He’s just scratching it. He’s going to be one of those guys that, when he’s 27, 28 years old, he has a chance to be unstoppable.”
McQueen turned 19 last October and just finished a freshman year that ended with the Hockey East Rookie of the Year award. He put up 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 36 games and finished second on the Friars in scoring.
Anaheim signed him to an amateur tryout on April 1, then handed him a three-year entry-level deal on April 18. In between, the No. 10 pick from the 2025 draft got seven regular-season games with San Diego of the AHL and two more in the playoffs, finishing with a goal and two assists.
His first pro goal was not a soft one either. Watch McQueen pick the top corner on Bakersfield:
Getting to that point cost him almost two years. McQueen suffered a pars fracture in his lower back at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and it was first misdiagnosed as a bulging disk.
He played through the pain for 53 games with Brandon of the WHL in 2023-24. Once doctors found the fracture between his L4 and L5 vertebrae the following season, he lost almost five months.
Gulls coach Dave Manson got his first look at McQueen this spring and came away impressed by how much room is left:
“He’s a big man but he’s a young fella. He’s going to fill out. I thought for a first viewing, he skated very well, did a lot of things very well.”
Manson was asked what McQueen needs before Anaheim trusts him, and the answer had nothing to do with points. He pointed straight at defense, saying a young player has to check if he wants a call-up and that coaches need to know he will not cheat for offense.
That is the same box Joel Quenneville makes everyone check. Quenneville won three Cups in Chicago and pushed the Ducks into the playoffs last season for the first time since 2017-18, and McQueen sounds ready to sign up:
“A guy who’s coached for a while and so many people respect him, being able to have him as a mentor and help your game and be your coach would be awesome. All the guys love him there. He’s been so good to Anaheim.”
The number on Roger McQueen’s back is still a placeholder. He wore No. 95 at the rookie showcase in Chicago, and earning one that sticks in Anaheim is the whole job this fall.
