Roger McQueen is a dominant force of a centerman, with the dazzling skill set and spectacular offensive toolkit, wrapped up in the package of a 6’5, 192 pound beast. A back injury slowed his season to a crawl and prevented him from truly challenging for a top three spot in the draft, but there are still a lot of projectable tools that McQueen brings to the table.
If he can stay healthy and bring his playstyle to the NHL level, the sky’s the limit for one of the more naturally gifted players in this year’s draft class.
Pre-draft rankings
#9 by The Athletic (Corey Pronman)
#5 by Elite Prospects
#8 by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
#6 by FloHockey (Chris Peters)
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Roger McQueen possesses a combination of size and skill that is rarely seen in someone heading into their draft year. He doesn’t have “good hands for a 6’5 monster”, he just has flat out elite hands and puck skills.
Sometimes, players with such a long and rangy reach can struggle with in-tight plays around their feet, but McQueen looks really comfortable making those moves, a testament to his innate ability to create and find spaces. As he continues to fill out his frame, McQueen’s shot will only develop further, and it’s hard to see a world where he doesn’t one day have an absolute rocket of a wrister. But as it stands, he has a good shot regardless, one that can beat goalies from a cariety of angles, and one that he can release from different spots in his stance due to his long reach.
His game really shines when he is playmaking, though. In addition to those silky mitts, McQueen can spread the puck around to his teammates, and pass and move into space at a much more advanced level than most other players his size. And keep in mind, this all comes while he is struggling to find a rhythm due to repeated injuries that have lingered; a fully healthy, motivated McQueen could even find another gear.
As a massive centerman, he hulks around the ice just looking for ways to impact the game, and is often very noticeable whenever he is on the ice, one way or another. His physicality is assertive and noticeable, and when he gets in on the forecheck as the F1, he is just free to let loose and wreak havoc wherever he goes. Just look at this shift late on in a game against Lethbridge:
McQueen is a one man wrecking crew in the offensive zone, and his naturally high motor and competitive drive makes him an asset defensively that should only improve with time. He is similar to Porter Martone in the way that he seems like a little too much for the opposition at his level to handle, except McQueen is even bigger than Martone, and as a center, will serve as a potential centerpiece for the future.
Upon returning from injury, McQueen’s production got back up to speed and he was able to finish his season in Brandon with 20 points in 17 games, which is a pretty solid return after having to sit out for such a long period of time.
What’s not to like?
Speaking of being out for a long period of time, that’s probably the only reason why McQueen isn’t a slam dunk top five pick. He suffered a Pars Stress Fracture in his spine, also known as Spondylolysis, that erased most of his past season and has scared a lot of potential evaluators. It made it impossible for him to get a full season of production in his draft year, and also caused him to miss the World Juniors where he would’ve had a chance to stack up against other prospects.
He did return and started to get back into the swing of things, but I do want to stress to Flyers fans that this means that McQueen is an injury prone centerman who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings. Ring a bell at all?
Not much else to critique McQueen for besides his injury woes, and the fact that they prevented him from really having that impact draft year that would’ve cemented a spot. It’s just that a lot of his positives are extrapolated from a pretty small sample size, and it is important to know if he can keep that up over a full season.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
In a world without injuries, Roger McQueen could very well have been the player that the Flyers have dreamed about being their number one center of the future. He is a big bruiser with silky mitts and a natural competitive edge that would fit any system, but especially Philadelphia’s, with some of the small skilled forwards that they have on the roster currently and coming through the pipeline.
He would provide a great complement to a player like Jett Luchanko as well up the middle, and has the potential to anchor all three situations, be it penalty kill, power play, or even strength.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
He is more than likely going to be available for the Flyers, even if they were to drop when the draft lottery rolls around, McQueen’s injury concerns have forced him to the outer range of top-5 discussions. But he is very enticing, and in a draft projected to have a glut of centers in the 5-10 range, he does seem to have the highest potential upside if he was to pan out.
There will definitely be discussions surrounding McQueen in the Flyers’ front office, but it all comes down to the medical reports.
What scouts are saying
“Teams are going to have a hard decision to make on McQueen at the draft because on talent, upside and pedigree he’s a top-10 pick and was viewed as a potential top-five one at one point. As a player, I like his tenaciousness/willingness to go get pucks and then stick with them when he has them. He uses his linemates well. But it’s his ability to control and manipulate pucks in tight to his body, with his length, that I think distinguishes him and gets scouts excited.” – Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
“He’s a giant of a man who has a presence. McQueen is equally adept at directing pucks on net, using his size and strength to shield opponents in the process, or extending plays and distributing the puck.” – Jason Bukala, Sportsnet
“There’s an argument to be made that if McQueen had been healthy all year, he could have broken into that consistent top-four group of players. He was recently cleared and returned to game action on March 4. With the size, skill, and skating package that McQueen offers, the potential is off the charts if he reaches his ceiling.” – Kareem Elshafey – FC Hockey
With McQueen gone, that means it’s time to add another name to the board. This time it is the big rangy Czech defender, Radim Mrtka.
“Mrtka is a giant right-shot defenseman who moves extremely well and played huge all-situations minutes for Czechia at the Hlinka. His minutes in the Czech Extraliga (and Champions Hockey League) with Trinec were quite limited to start the season, though, prompting a move to Seattle in the WHL. With the Thunderbirds, he has been phenomenal, playing to nearly a point per game on a low-scoring team, logging an average of 27 minutes and often 30, and going over the boards first on both the power play and penalty kill. There has been debate in this draft class as to who the second-best D is but for me, it’s Mrtka right now. He’s one of the most intriguing prospects in this class, period, and his upside is exciting.” – Scott Wheeler, The Athletic.
