Previous Hockey East rookies of the year include Hockey Hall of Famers Paul Kariya and Brian Leetch, as well as current NHL stars like forwards Jack Eichel, Clayton Keller, and Macklin Celebrini and defenseman Lane Hutson.
Last season was a big one for McQueen, who had played 17 games in 2024-25 because of a pars fracture in his lower back sustained while playing for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August 2023. The injury originally was misdiagnosed as a bulging disk.
He played through the pain during the 2023-24 season with Brandon of the Western Hockey League, getting into 53 games. He played the first eight games of 2024-25 with Brandon, but then was out for almost five months after being diagnosed with a fracture between the L4 and L5 vertebrae. He returned to play in Brandon’s final nine regular-season games and three WHL playoff games before the Ducks selected him in the draft.
“When he came in, one of the biggest things was making sure you put together a full season with his health because he hadn’t the year before and it was a concern for everyone, really,” Leaman said. “Just making sure he stayed with his maintenance, rehab schedules. I give him a lot of credit. He was always early at the rink to get that stuff done. I think he was very, very mature when it came to taking care of his body.”
Clearly the work paid off with McQueen’s finish at Providence and his start in San Diego. So what’s the biggest thing he needs moving forward?
“Every player needs foundation, to have checking,” Manson said. “You have to check to give yourself a good opportunity for a call-up. And if you aren’t called up, that foundation can build trust with the coaches. If a coach knows he can trust that player, that he’s going to check, he’s not going to cheat, that gives him the best opportunity.”
That ability to check also will rank high with Ducks coach Joel Quenneville, who long has been about great defense leading to offense. Quenneville won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and led the Ducks to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2017-18.
McQueen would love to play for Quenneville.
“A guy who’s coached for a while and so many people respect him, being able to have him as a mentor and help your game and be your coach would be awesome,” McQueen said.
“All the guys love him there. He’s been so good to Anaheim, so I’m excited to get to know him and hopefully just take what he gives me and try to learn the League from him a bit. I couldn’t ask for a better one.”
When McQueen gets to Anaheim remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt he’s laying the foundation.
“His potential is top-six center, just with his size, his ability to win face-offs, his playmaking. He’s just scratching it,” Leaman said. “He’s going to be one of those guys that, when he’s 27, 28 years old, he has a chance to be unstoppable.
“He’s got to get bigger. He’s got to get stronger. That’s part of it. He’s still learning the game away from the puck. But as far as upside, there’s just so much upside.”
