{"id":126110,"date":"2025-08-07T10:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T10:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126110\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T10:38:09","slug":"what-does-roger-mcqueens-ncaa-signing-mean-for-ducks-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126110\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Roger McQueen’s NCAA signing mean for Ducks development?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE, R.I. \u2013 There\u2019s a new path forward for one of the Anaheim Ducks top prospects, as Roger McQueen makes the jump to the NCAA.<\/p>\n

The 2025 No. 10 overall pick\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> commitment was made official on Wednesday, as Providence College announced that the Saskatoon native signed his athletic aid agreement with the men\u2019s hockey program for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old, who played three seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League, will be the first top-10 pick and sixth first-round pick to play for the Friars in program history.<\/p>\n

This is the latest step in a shifting landscape for player development. With all the recent changes to NIL (name, image, likeness) deals at the American college levels, players that played Canadian junior hockey are now eligible to play in the NCAA beginning with the 2025-26 season. Previously, such an action was blocked due to the NCAA\u2019s prior amateurism clauses, as the Canadian junior leagues compensate their players.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s all a wash, paving the way for players like top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna to sign with Penn State or McQueen to sign with Providence College.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at what this move means for McQueen this season, and what it means for the Anaheim Ducks going forward.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

What Does This Mean for Roger McQueen?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like most young draftees, the first thing they all mention for what to improve on is getting stronger.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly no different for McQueen, as he looks to fill out his 6-foot-5 frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is probably just growing into my body,\u201d McQueen said at the Draft in June. \u201cI’m pretty tall and kind of built like the branches of a tree and not like the trunk there.\u201d<\/p>\n

That came into focus again at the Ducks development camp last month, where McQueen noted just how \u201cbuilt\u201d some of his fellow prospects were, even those just a few years into the system.<\/p>\n

Building up the strength for McQueen is doubly important to try and finally quiet all concerns about his previous back injuries. Two seasons ago, McQueen played through pain of what was initially misdiagnosed as a bulging disc, and last season, McQueen missed most of the season with a correctly identified spinal stress fracture.<\/p>\n

McQueen then suffered a setback just before playoffs with a muscle strain in his back, likely from overcompensation. It\u2019s the kind of injury that can be avoided with the proper attentive strength training program.<\/p>\n

When asked at both the NHL Combine, NHL Draft and Ducks development camp, McQueen has repeatedly assured everyone that his doctors have said he\u2019s healed and that\u2019s all done.<\/p>\n

While of course Canadian junior teams have their own strength programs, they also play what amounts to a regular pro schedule of over 60 games. At the college level, NCAA teams play roughly 40 games with most occurring on weekends.<\/p>\n

McQueen\u2013who only played 20 games last season and did not participate in Team Canada\u2019s summer World Junior Showcase\u2013had to make the decision between staying in WHL Brandon for more games reps against younger competition or going to Providence for less game reps but against older and stronger competition with more mid-week physical development.<\/p>\n

McQueen obviously went with the latter and joins a competitive Friars program that made the NCAA tournament last season, but lost in the first round to powerhouse Denver University.<\/p>\n

Head coach Nate Leaman is in his 14th year at Providence College and has brought the Friars to two Frozen Fours. Leaman also coached Team USA at the World Juniors twice, including to the 2021 gold medal.<\/p>\n

McQueen will be one of seven NHL draftees on the Providence roster this season, including his former Saskatoon Blazers U18 AAA teammate Hudson Malinoski, who was a fifth-round pick by Toronto in 2023.<\/p>\n

Providence College plays in Hockey East, which broadcasts its games on ESPN+. Ducks management and fans will easily be able to keep tabs on their 2025 first-round pick.<\/p>\n

McQueen is also still eligible to play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n

What Does This Mean for the Ducks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In terms of his development timeline with Anaheim, it doesn\u2019t change a lot of the immediate outlook, but it will be interesting to see how McQueen\u2019s college season affects his standing next fall.<\/p>\n

This season, McQueen\u2019s only options were going back to junior hockey or taking the NCAA route, as he\u2019d yet to complete four junior seasons to be eligible to play anywhere else.<\/p>\n

McQueen will be 20 years old on Oct. 2, 2026, which means he\u2019d be AHL-eligible for the 2026-27 season. At that point, he and the Ducks would have to decide if another year in Providence or starting his professional journey in San Diego would be the best option.<\/p>\n

Assuming things go absolutely to plan with McQueen and his first season at Providence College in terms of on-ice output and strength goals, McQueen very well be in the mix for a spot on the Ducks roster next fall, which leaves all options open for the No. 10 overall pick.<\/p>\n

Despite his jump from Canadian juniors to the NCAA, Anaheim still retains McQueen\u2019s draft signing rights for four seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PROVIDENCE, R.I. \u2013 There\u2019s a new path forward for one of the Anaheim Ducks top prospects, as Roger…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[20680,3115,77461,50,293,77460,66941,44043,62,77462,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-126110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-joel-quenneville","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-pat-verbeek","14":"tag-providence-college","15":"tag-roger-mcqueen","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-tst-los-angeles","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114987054297558424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}