Reports, beginning on Saturday, Aug. 2, have indicated that Anaheim Ducks top prospect Roger McQueen (18) has committed to play the 2025-26 season for Providence College of the NCAA.
McQueen has stated he’s fully recovered from a fracture in his vertebrae (Spondylolysis) caused him to miss all but 17 regular season games and three playoff games while playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL in 2024-25.
McQueen was the Ducks' top selection (10th overall in 2025) in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and was a full participant in their development camp that ran between June 30 and July 2.
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“I think a lot of kids are being asked to (swap the CHL for collegiate hockey). We'll leave that up to Roger,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said minutes after the first round of the 2025 draft. “It'll be his decision, and I don't think that we really can interfere with that too much. He can ask us our opinion, but at the end of the day, it's his decision, what he's going to do. Will he get opportunity? I'm sure he will get opportunity. The toughest part is trying to understand his scenario and where he wants to go.”
McQueen was selected to represent Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase on July 27, but was listed as “invited, but unable to participate.”
After having missed so much hockey over the last 12 months, and a new CHL/NCAA deal in place, allowing CHL players to opt for the NCAA in 2025-26, McQueen had to weigh the pros and cons of each and come to a decision that he and his camp felt was best for his development.
McQueen has every skill and tool to become a dominant two-way center in the NHL, but like most recently-drafted prospects, he will need to add strength to his 6-foot-5.25, 198-pound frame. He will also need to ensure full recovery from his back injury and build strength in his stabilizing muscles to avoid injuries from overcompensation, as a muscle strain upon his return to the 2025 WHL playoffs forced him out of the lineup for all but three playoff games.
"From all the [doctors] we've talked to, they've all said it's not something that continues," McQueen told NHL.com at the NHL Draft Combine in early June. ”It's like breaking your arm, and then the chance of breaking it again. It's a healed bone. So, yeah, it's been awesome, and I feel 100 percent.”
The NCAA schedule allows for ample practice and gym time throughout the season, as Division I teams will typically play a total of 35-40 games, mostly on weekends.
Missing so much ice time will have undoubtedly affected his timing and reads while on the ice. A CHL schedule that consists of up to 68 regular season games and up to 28 playoff games would have offered him abundant opportunities to regain those aspects. However, it would seem strength and quality of competition were of higher priority, as McQueen will now be playing with and against older, more developed players in more pro-style systems.
McQueen will join a Providence College team that most recently had a successful 2024-25 season with a 21-11-5 record, but lost in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament to the defending 2024 champion Denver University.
He will be one of seven NHL-draftees on the Providence roster, but by far the most high-profile, joining Tomas Machu (221st in ’21 to NYI), Hudson Malinoski (153rd in ’23 to TOR), John Mustard (67th in ’24 to CHI), Julius Sumpf (98th in ’25 to CHI), Logan Sawyer (78th in ’24 to MTL), and Philip Svedeback (117th in ’21 to BOS).
The 2025-26 season will be head coach Nate Leaman’s 14th behind the Providence bench, leading them to four NCAA Tournament appearances and two “Frozen Four” finishes.
Leaman served as the United States head coach at the 2021 and 2022 World Junior Championships, coaching notable current and past Ducks Drew Helleson, Jackson LaCombe, Sam Colangelo, and Trevor Zegras to a 2021 Gold Medal and returned to coach Ian Moore and Sasha Pastujov to a quarterfinal loss in 2022.
Leaman’s systems are said to resemble ones regularly deployed in the NHL, relying on heavy forechecks and quick stretch passes to generate offense.
McQueen will have the opportunity to simultaneously learn pro habits and add to his frame before eventually making the jump to the professional ranks. He won’t likely be an immediate contender for the Hobey Baker Award in his freshman season, as there will almost certainly be an adjustment period for the talented center, and unless he exceeds expectations in his physical and on-ice development, he will more than likely spend more than one season in the NCAA ranks.
“We'll see. We can afford to take our time with Roger, so I think that's the good thing about it. We can take our time with him and let him progress in his own natural timeline,” Verbeek said.
There will be plenty of opportunities for Ducks fans to watch McQueen until then, as Hockey East, the conference in which Providence College plays, has its games broadcast on ESPN+, and if healthy, McQueen will likely represent Canada at the 2026 World Junior Championships.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images