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Ottawa Citizen

NHL Entry Draft: Roger McQueen serving up a first-round wild-card

Roger McQueen — a first-round prospect in this week's NHL Draft — has been asked about many things by now. Article content Article content Roger, that. Article content Turns out his dad, Scott — a former member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies who played in the Western Hockey League with the Red Deer Rebels and Saskatoon Blades — is not only a big tennis fan, but also a big fan of tennis great Roger Federer. Article content Article content Article content 'Well, that's what my dad tells me — he's a huge Federer fan, a huge Federer fan,' stresses Roger McQueen. 'He tells me that. I'm not 100 per cent sure, but there's a great chance that I am named after Federer.' Article content When it comes to Roger McQueen, however, it's 100 per cent about hockey. Article content It's been like that ever since he grew up playing in the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association's Bobcats zone and later with the Saskatoon AAA Blazers. Article content He's gone on to star for the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings, who selected him fourth overall in the 2021 Prospects Draft, and internationally for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, World U-17 Hockey Challenge and World U-18 championship. Article content Article content However, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound McQueen enters this year's NHL Entry Draft with both an exclamation mark and a question mark attached to his name. Article content Article content Admittedly, he's a bit of a wild-card after missing most of this past season while recovering from a pars fracture of the spine, also known as spondylolysis. Article content McQueen doesn't mind being a so-called wild-card. If he is indeed considered one of those 'high-risk, high-reward' prospects, he hopes to reward the NHL team that picks him in a big way. Article content 'It's kind of cool, in a sense,' he says. 'Obviously, I wouldn't want the injury. But at the same time, it's healed and I'm excited to have a team draft me and have a healed version of me. It's exciting going into the draft and kind of being the wild-card, as everyone says.'