Trudeau-Paquet on his way to scoring championship

By Sam Laskaris

NOELVILLE – Greg Trudeau-Paquet is proving he just might have what it takes to win a league scoring championship this season.
But if the 18-year-old right winger from Wikwemikong keeps producing at his current pace, he might not get the chance to do so.
Trudeau-Paquet is in his sophomore season with the French River Rapids, members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
He’s racked up 17 points (eight goals and nine assists) in his first 10 matches this season. As of Tuesday, Trudeau-Paquet was leading all NOJHL pointgetters, four ahead of runnerup Dayton Murray, a defenceman with the Powassan Voodoos.
Former National Hockey League player Ken Strong, who is the Rapids’ head coach, believes Trudeau-Paquet will not finish the season with his squad. That’s because Strong is confident a franchise from the higher calibre Ontario Hockey League (OHL) will soon come calling for his services.
“I’d like to be here all year,” Trudeau-Paquet said of Noelville, the village located about an hour’s drive southeast of Sudbury where the Rapids play their home contests. “But at the same time I’d like to go to the OHL as soon as I can.”
Though he was never drafted by an OHL squad, Trudeau-Paquet did recently get a brief taste of the league. He was invited to the Barrie Colts’ training camp but was cut after just two days.
By not participating in any of the Colts’ exhibition contests and because he left the club’s camp within 48 hours, Trudeau-Paquet has retained his NCAA eligibility, if that is indeed a route he wishes to pursue.
Reps from a handful of American universities have expressed some interest in him. But he would not be eligible to go to the NCAA ranks if he does end up playing for an OHL squad this season.
“If I go to the OHL I don’t want to just play some games,” he said. “I’d want to sign a contract for the rest of the season.”
In part because of the start he has had this year, Strong believes Trudeau-Paquet will be an appealing player for squads in the OHL.
“They’ll be knocking on his door soon,” Strong said.
The OHL regular season kicked off on Sept. 21, two weeks after the NOJHL campaign began.
“Once the season gets going (OHL teams) are going to be happy with what they have,” Strong said. “That’s until 15-20 games before they start looking to see if they need to make changes.”
At the rate he’s racking up points it won’t be long before Trudeau-Paquet surpasses his stats from last season when he was a rookie with the French River franchise. A broken wrist limited his action to 27 games, in which he earned 22 points (eight goals and 14 assists).
The Rapids are also enjoying considerably more success this season as well. The club managed to win just three of its 56 regular season outings during the 2016-17 campaign.
As for this year, French River has already surpassed its win total of a year ago, registering five victories in its first 10 games.
“We’re obviously a stronger team than last year,” Trudeau-Paquet said, adding his early-season scoring production can also be attributed to the fact he’s playing with more talented players this year.