New surroundings
Roberts relishes new role with IceDogs
KITCHENER — The math didn’t add up for Elijah Roberts.
Meaningful minutes seemed slim when the former Kitchener Rangers defenceman dissected the team’s back end.
Recently acquired Winnipeg Jets draft pick Logan Stanley would command the lion’s share of ice time. Veterans Connor Hall and Doug Blaisdell were back from season ending injuries and ready for a regular shift.
Toss in the emergence of Giovanni Vallati and promising first-round pick Grayson Ladd, and suddenly it was crowded on the blue line. That left Roberts battling for shifts with Kyle Gentles, Alex Peterson and Jack York.
It’s not exactly an ideal scenario for a player looking to catch the eyes of NHL scouts.
So Roberts pushed for a move. And last month he was traded to the Niagara IceDogs for a trio of draft picks.
“With Kitchener, we kind of came to an agreement,” he said. “They were able to get good value back for me and it’s an opportunity to play a lot and up my career a little more.”
Roberts won’t have to wait long to face his former club. The IceDogs (0-1) take on the Rangers (1-2-0-1) in a home-and-home exhibition series beginning Friday at Beamsville Arena and concluding Saturday at the Aud at 2 p.m.
“It will feel weird walking in there,” he said of his return to town. “But it’s something I’ve been looking forward to for awhile. I kind of marked it on my calendar.”
The Rangers selected Roberts in the second round of the 2015 Ontario Hockey League draft and raved about his speed. The Brampton native collected 14 points as a rookie and went on to represent Canada at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.
Last season he took a step back.
Roberts had 18 points and saw his role diminished with the Rangers. He slipped in prospect rankings and was bypassed in the NHL draft.
“I was hoping to get drafted,” he said. “I probably didn’t have the season I wanted to.”
And so a change of scenery seemed in order.
Rangers coach Jay McKee can relate. Like Roberts, he too was stuck behind veterans when he manned the blue-line for the Sudbury Wolves in the mid 1990s. The pack was making a run for the Memorial Cup and traded him to the Niagara Falls Thunder, which was one of the youngest teams in the league at the time. “I thought it was the worst thing that happened,” recalled McKee. “I remember I was in tears. I thought it was going to be brutal. It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me careerwise.”
McKee, who was in his NHL draft year, said he was rated to go in the eighth round before the swap.
He ended up being selected 14th overall by the Buffalo Sabres.
“I got to play a lot and showed what I could do,” he said. “I think Elijah is also a guy that thrives with more ice time. That was my message to him.”
The IceDogs squeaked into the playoffs in the eighth and final spot in the OHL’s eastern conference last season and return a young group. Roberts gives the squad some experience and stability in the back end.
“He’s someone that I’ve really coveted since his draft year,” said IceDogs general manager Joey Burke. “We like to do everything here fast-paced. In my mind he has some of the best feet coming from the back end in the league. We felt like he’d be a perfect addition.”
Roberts says he feels like a rookie again as he tries to make a good impression on Niagara’s coaching staff.
And, while he’ll look back at Kitchener with fondness, Roberts is excited about his new surroundings. “It was really hard to leave,” he said.
“When you go to a place you think of spending the rest of your career there. But that’s not always the way it works.”