The Orléans Star

The Canadian Tire Centre may just be a 25-minute drive down the Queensway from the Earl Armstrong Arena, but for many young hockey players with aspirations of playing in the NHL it may just as well be on another planet.

Veronneau was a member of the Rangers' Junior A team for two seasons from 2014 to 2015 after which he signed a scholarship top play hockey at Princeton University.

While a member of the Rangers, Verroneau racked up 116 points in 88 games, including 55 goals. He was highly recruited by a number of Division 1 schools in the U.S. in his final year of junior despite missing more than 30 games due to injury.

After a so-so freshman season in which he scored 11 goals and six assists in 30 games, Veronneau had a breakout sophomore campaign, scoring 11 goals and 24 assists in 33 games. But it was a junior that Veronneau really made an impression, scoring 17 goals and 38 assists in 36 games. He was also a +23 and was a finalist for the Hobie Baker Award given to the most valuable collegiate player in the United States.

After being passed over in last year's draft, Veronneau returned to Princeton to continue his education and play out his four-year commitment to the hockey team.

He scored 13 goals and 24 assists in 31 games and is once again nominated for the Hobie Baker Award. His four year total of 144 points in 130 games is the fourth highest point total in the school's history.

At the end of Princeton's season on March 9, Veronneau became a hot commodity as an unrestricted free agent. According to his agent, no fewer than 21 teams inquired about obtaining his services.

Within 24 hours of becoming a UFA, Veronneau signed a two-year, entry level contract with the Ottawa Senators and was at practice the next day.

In his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues, Veronneau played on a line with Colin White and Zach Smith.

Although he didn't get on the score sheet against the Blues, he did get his first NHL point when he set up a goal by Cody Ceci against the Toronto Maple Leafs in only his second game on Saturday.

Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty is not surprised that the speedy Veronneau has made an immediate impression at the pro level.

"He's someone where you have confi-dence as a coach when he's on the ice that things are going to be done well because he's very consistent in his habits, does things extremely well and repeats that over and over again. That's why he's going to be a pro hockey player,� Fogarty told the Ottawa Sun.

Sens' GM Pierre Dorion told the Sun they signed Veronneau based solely on his talent.

"(His) talents made him one of the most highly sought-after college free agents available this year. He plays the game with tremendous pace and has terrific offensive instincts,� said Dorion.

If the NHL doesn't work out for Veronneau he will have a mechanical engineering degree to fall back on, which is the main reason why he decided to go to the Ivy League school in the first place.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)