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2025 NHL Draft Rankings: #8 Roger McQueen

May 24, 2025 by Pensburgh

Regina Pats v Brandon Wheat Kings
Photo by Jonathan Kozub/Getty Images

A tall, skilled center with injury concerns..

Welcome back to our feature on draft profiles for projected top picks in the upcoming 2025 NHL draft. Catch up with the previous ones here:

No 1: Matthew Schaefer
No 2: Michael Misa
No. 3: Porter Martone
No. 4: Anton Frondell
No. 5: James Hagens
No. 6: Caleb Desnoyers
No. 7: Jake O’Brien

For the rankings, we have turned to the venerable Bob McKenzie from TSN for his listing of players. McKenzie’s list is typically in-tune with the NHL, because his rankings are an average that comes from surveying 10 active NHL scouts. As such, the list is set as follows for players we will look to profile in the coming weeks to spread some awareness and knowledge for Pittsburgh NHL fans to get to know some of the top prospects.


No. 8: Roger McQueen, 6’5” 197 pounds, C, Brandon (WHL)

If there’s one wild card for how the top of the NHL draft will play out this season, it has to be Roger McQueen. As seen from his Elite Prospects profile, McQueen’s rankings are all over the board depending on the source; as high as 5th and as low as 17th.


On the plus side, McQueen has the size and skill profile that makes NHL teams drool. He’s 6’5” and has elite hands when it comes to producing offense. He seems to think the game well and sees the ice to create plays. He’s got a good motor and can cause havoc on the forecheck. His impact in the middle of the ice at the junior level is undeniably impressive.

On the negative side, McQueen missed most of his draft-1 season with a back injury. The Athletic summed it up:

McQueen’s injury is believed by some to be a bulging disc, although other sources claim it is a stress fracture, which is what McQueen has said in interviews. Despite mixed medical evaluations on Lindstrom — some teams’ doctors cleared him, while others hesitated and advised their clubs not to pick him. He just recently returned to playing for his WHL team after the back injury concerns started in the fall of 2023. An NHL executive bluntly summarized the dilemma, saying, “Our doctors’ opinions are going to be just as important as the hockey people’s.”

The risk associated if the back injury derails McQueen’s playing career could be too strong for some at the top of the draft. Despite scouts ranking McQueen high for the Bob McKenzie list, most of them had qualms about actually taking him there.

At this particular moment in time, none of our scouts surveyed said they would be comfortable taking McQueen where they currently rated him — eight of the 10 had him between Nos. 3 and 10 with two more saying they’ve already red flagged him due the spectre of injury.

The majority of those eight scouts who see the towering centre, if healthy, as a bona fide top 10 prospect said the final decision would ultimately rest with their team’s doctor.

That could sound damning but shouldn’t, though it does show the uncertainty surrounding this player at this time. The trouble with McQueen will be the conflict where the tape and the ability says one thing but the worries about his health and future wash it out. Drafting almost any player can be a huge risk but McQueen’s issues there put him in a different category.

They said it

The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)

When he was younger, he lacked strength, and his skating dragged behind/never properly loaded because he was trying to cheat his mechanics to keep up, but it has started to come, and there’s belief it will continue to develop as he adds strength (he moves well now) if he can stay healthy. 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. He can carry pucks into traffic and problem-solve in ways that players his size typically struggle to do. He can also go to the net and make tuck plays/rebounds with good dexterity, which has helped him play the net front successfully on the power play, a translatable role for him. His shot is pinpoint accurate around the home-plate area and even from tough angles. There are the makings of a really unique player there, and the payoff could be significant, especially given how quickly his skating has improved. When he’s on the ice, he looks like a potential top-six center with some really unique attributes. Teams want to make sure the medicals are square and the back problems won’t linger, though, making him a real wild card in this class.

Scouching

He’s a very big kid, he’s likely going to be putting on more weight from here which adds to spinal concerns. Hockey is a physical sport with plenty of spinal attacks, and twisting motions that are known to aggravate the vertebrae. I didn’t think McQueen was particularly elite in the summer watching him last year, when he was apparently battling injury. I didn’t think he was particularly great before missing time to this injury, and I haven’t thought he’s been great since returning, and all in all, for me it’s just too much risk to really put him higher on the board. Behind him, there are players with risks to hit upside, or pitfalls that might really limit NHL potential, and it’s hard to ignore what McQueen could become if all goes well. He’s a physical player with some great pass vision and moments of high end skill for a big man, but I’m not sure what his projection really is, and it may be because I haven’t seen him play fully healthy in a very very long time.

Daily Faceoff (Steven Ellis)

McQueen might be the riskiest pick given he played just 20 games between the regular season and the playoffs. But he was productive, physical, and brought so much to the table that very few else possess in this draft. McQueen has a big 6-foot-5 frame and plays with the skill of a 5-foot-11 speedster. He can shoot, pass and intimidate all in one shift. A back injury is a tough one to overcome fully, but his pure talent is undeniable. Few players have the pure upside that McQueen does.

Sportsnet (Sam Cosentino)

It’s never been about how talented the player is, but rather about whether or not he can rebound from a season marred by injury. It will be absolutely fascinating to see where he ends up going in this draft. Like Bear, McQueen may end up being selected by a team with more than one first-round pick.

—

McQueen might be the first prospect we’ve profiled so far that the Penguins will have a decent shot at selecting at No. 11 on draft day. Craig Button even made the connection in a mock draft sending McQueen to Pittsburgh. Without clearance from the medical staff, the Pens likely wouldn’t consider him, which would also be the only reason he would still be around at 10.

It will be a great storyline to see if some team out there in the top-10 gets a report or trusts an opinion that McQueen will move past his back injury and could be the next Tage Thompson or something as a big-time NHL player. With risk comes reward but a lot of the decision on McQueen will come from doctors more than scouts.

Filed Under: Penguins

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