NHL Draft-eligible forward McQueen named Tempo WHL Player of the Week

Calgary, Alta. – Brandon Wheat Kings forward Roger McQueen has been named Tempo WHL Player of the Week for the week ending September 22, 2024, the Western Hockey League announced Monday.

McQueen led all WHL skaters with four goals and two assists in the first two matches of the 2024-25 campaign.

The 17-year-old erupted for a four-goal performance in Brandon’s season-opening tilt against the reigning WHL Champion Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday. He netted the Wheat Kings’ first tally with a powerplay strike in the second period to level the game 1-1. The Warriors would pull ahead again heading into the final frame, but McQueen wouldn’t be denied as he scored three straight goals to secure the victory. He started with a short-side strike from just above the goal line and, five minutes later, pounced on an errant poke check to tally the eventual game-winner and complete a natural hat trick. McQueen sealed the deal with an empty netter and a 5-2 final score. He’s the first WHL player to rack up four goals on opening night since Stepan Novotny of the Kelowna Rockets pulled off the feat on September 17, 2009.

McQueen, who clocks in at an astound 6-foot-5, kept things rolling the following night in Regina. With the Wheat Kings leading 1-0 late in the second frame, McQueen took advantage of a powerplay with a slick cross-ice feed for Nicholas Johnson, who ripped home his first goal of the season. In the third, Johnson would complete a hat trick of his own, with McQueen dishing up the primary assist once again in a 5-1 win.

Brandon enters the second week of WHL action with a pristine 2-0 record to sit second in the East Division (Saskatoon owns the tie-breaker with more goals scored).

McQueen hopes to add many more points to his collection in one of the most important years of his young career. The Saskatoon, Sask. product is considered a top prospect ahead of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, with TSN ranking him sixth among all 2025 Draft prospects in the network’s preseason rankings.

He was selected fourth overall by Brandon in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft and has piled up 29 goals and 43 assists for 72 points in 112 WHL games.

McQueen has also averaged more than a point per game in the postseason, with four goals and an assist in four playoff matches.

Brandon is back in action on Friday, September 27 for an East Division showdown against the Prince Albert Raiders at 7:00 p.m. CST at the Art Hauser Centre.

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