Jun 28, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; A general view in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

NHL Draft: Is Roger McQueen A Unicorn?

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI
By Tyler Major-Mcnicol | Last updated May 11, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Roger McQueen of the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings has every tangible that an organization would seek in a first overall selection.

The 18-year-old from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, stands six-foot-five, and weighs in at just under 200 pounds. McQueen is also a center, and if not for a back injury that limited his draft year to just 17 games, he may very well be in the conversation for the first overall selection.

But that is not the case, and scouts way be wary, and label McQueen with a caution sticker, however, that could serve as a tough lesson. Organizations oughta know better then to let elite talents slip, it has bit many general manager's, and McQueen feels like the 2025 draft's unicorn talent.

McQueen shows flashes of a power forward who has cornerstone number-one centre potential. I can't help but think of Tage Thompson, though Thompson is one of the NHL's elite center talents. Scouts are divided on McQueen, but two more seasons in the WHL should right any questions there.

I asked Roger McQueen who his #NHL comparison is! He said this Stanley Cup winner pic.twitter.com/sknf4LmHqj
— The Prospect Don (@TheProspectDon) May 9, 2025

Two more seasons in the WHL will allow McQueen to hit his stride, but also work on getting stronger - adding muscle and strengthening his lower-body should serve him well. Adding 10-15 pounds of muscle to his frame will only aid him when the professional hockey conversations begin.

It's historically tough to gauge when prospects, who are much bigger than their fellow draftees, will arrive at the NHL level. Sometimes they fizzle out, or take much longer, and teams give up. But if you look at the Los Angeles Kings, they were patient with Quinton Byfield, and the same can be said about Juraj Slafkovsky in Montreal, and both organizations are glad they were.

McQueen, like Porter Martone of the Ontario Hockey League's Brampton Steelheads, is projected to be a big-bodied forward who has the intelligence and adaptability to be coached into an elite top-line NHL forward.

These types of players don't grow on trees, and Martone is expected to be off the board early on draft night. McQueen could conceivably slide, and a general manager who has confidence in his organization's player development team could swoop in and get a high-quality top prospect who just needs a little bit of time.

He is 18 years old and has tremendous potential. This year's playoffs will serve him well developmentally, and if he can build some confidence on that, then he should be ready to tear the WHL apart next season.

I'm finding it hard to pick a reason why he wouldn't be a fantastic option if he slips out of the top 10.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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