Marquardt taking NHL draft in stride

Matt Marquardt (right) swoops in for a shot on goal during a QMJHL game last November in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Like thousands of kids in Canada, Matt Marquardt’s dream is to play in the National Hockey League. That dream could move one step closer to reality this weekend at the 2006 NHL entry draft this weekend in Vancouver.

Marquardt played this past season for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats where he registered 16 goals and 9 assists in 68 regular season games. The power forward followed that up with 5 goals and three assists in 20 playoff games (4th overall in rookie playoff scoring) as the Wildcats captured the league championship and then made it all the way to the Memorial Cup final before losing to the Quebec Remparts.

Central Scouting has Marquardt rated as a very late draft pick at 186th overall in North America. However, that rating came out before Marquardt’s solid playoff and before he scored the biggest goal of the season for the Wildcats, as he tallied the game winner in the Memorial Cup semi-final against the Vancouver Giants.

“I’m just going to go with the flow,” said Marquardt.

“It would be a dream come true to get picked but a lot of people get let down if their hopes are really high going into it and I mean like all the players I have high hopes and I hope for the best this weekend but if things don’t workout hopefully down the road there will be other shots, things happen for a reason and I tell myself that a lot so we’ll see what happens and hopefully I hear my name called.”

Marquardt has elected to stay home on the weekend and wait for a phone call instead of traveling all the way to B.C. to potentially be disappointed.

Marquardt says his agent, Larry Kelly, has heard from at least a pair of NHL clubs that may call his name on Saturday night.

“There’s some interest there and some teams have approached him with some pretty good feedback and some good information going into the draft so hopefully there’s enough there to raise my stock and come out as early as I can.”

Marquardt wouldn’t go into specifics teams that are interested but the New York Islanders appear to be a possible suitor for the power forward, as the NHL club just hired Ted Nolan, who coached Marquardt in Moncton this season and lured him to play on the East Coast instead of signing with an OHL or WHL team.

“I had a good relationship with Ted, we had a really good year and he taught me a lot and I’m sure he knows what I can do for a team and hopefully his input might help me end up with the Islanders,” Marquardt said with a grin.

Marquardt was actually eligible to be taken in the 2005 NHL entry draft but was passed over likely because he only played Junior A with the Brockville Braves in 2004-2005. However Marquardt was invited and participated in the Ottawa Senators rookie camp last summer. This summer he would like to do the same as a drafted player.

Draft Drought

If Marquardt gets drafted it would end a nine year drought as Tyler Rennette (Powassan) and Shawn DeGagne (Callander) are the last two local area players to be selected in the National Hockey League Draft and that happened way back in 1997. The 1990’s proved to be a prosperous hockey decade for North Bay as here are a few of the other local players who were drafted in the 90’s:

Steve Shields – Buffalo Sabres 5th round selection, 101st overall in 1991
Craig Rivet – Montreal Canadiens 3rd round selection, 68th overall in 1992
Mike Burman – Montreal Canadiens 8th round selection, 188th overall in 1992
Steve McLaren – Chicago Black Hawks 4th round selection, 85th overall in 1994
Ray Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers 8th round selection, 202nd overall in 1994
Richard Rochefort - New Jersey Devils 7th round selection, 174th overall in 1995
Tyler Rennette – St. Louis Blues 2nd round selection, 40th overall in 1997
Shawn DeGagne – New York Rangers 6th round selection, 154th overall in 1997