Changes paying off for Chris Paquette
Leads Petes in scoring after disappointments of last season
Peterborough Petes head coach Rob Wilson eyed overage forward Chris Paquette as a bit of a reclamation project this season.
Paquette’s stock fell significantly in a disappointing 2017-18 season. He came to the Petes as a Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick in a 2017 deadline deal where they paid a hefty price to pry him loose from the Niagara IceDogs.
After scoring 19 goals and 48 points with a +8 rating in 2016-17, Paquette dipped to 16 goals, 29 points and a gaudy -36 ranking last season. His drop-off was emblematic of the team’s fall from Eastern Conference finalists two years ago to missing the playoffs last season.
It led to the Lightning not offering Paquette a contract, making him a free agent at the pro level.
Wilson pulled the six-foot-two, 210-pound Paquette aside at the start of training camp to try to hit the reset button.
“I said, ‘Listen, you’re a young guy. The whole world is in front of you. You’ve got a pro body. You can skate like a pro. You can shoot like a pro,” Wilson said.
“We have to clean up some areas of your game but there are a lot of positive things with you as a player here.”
Seven games into the season the Petes, who host the Erie Otters at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at the PMC, sit atop the OHL’s East Division and second in the Eastern Conference with a 5-2 record. Paquette sits atop the team’s scoring table with five goals, eight points and a +4 rating.
It all started for Paquette with his off-ice commitment in the summer as evident from strong fitness testing results, Wilson said.
“I don’t care who you are it’s disappointing when you get drafted and don’t get signed,” Wilson said. “He’s come in in good shape and he’s carried on. He’s listening. He’s buying in. He wants to do the right things.”
Paquette wasn’t surprised when Tampa didn’t offer him a contract.
“It’s disappointing, obviously,” said Paquette, “but that’s what happens when you have a season like I did last year. I wasn’t surprised.”
He said he’s tried to follow Wilson’s advice and it’s helped.
“I’m keeping it simple,” Paquette said. “That’s how Rob wants me to play. Bring the puck up and no complicated plays. When you have a chance, shoot it on net and just play smart. He says I have a good shot and to use it.”
Paquette was invited to the Vancouver Canucks development camp in July. He felt he could have performed better than he did there but he said it was a good experience and helped his confidence.
His early success along with the team’s success has also buoyed his confidence. The atmosphere around the club is dramatically different than it was last season, he said.
“It’s night and day,” Paquette said.
NOTES: The Petes also visit the Oshawa Generals at 7:30 p.m. Friday before hosting the Windsor Spitfires, featuring defected Petes first-round draft pick Will Cuylle, on Saturday at 7:05 p.m…. It’s also Petes Alumni Homecoming Weekend. They’ll honour their 1979 Memorial Cup championship squad prior to Saturday’s game. More than 65 Petes alumni are expected to attend…. The Petes will wear specialty jerseys designed by PTBO Northern Originals that will then be auctioned off online to support muscular dystrophy research, along with funds raised through the chuck-a-puck. The Trent Music Society will perform the national anthem.