EDMONTON -- Olivier Rodrigue was born to be a goaltender.
The Edmonton Oilers prospect, selected in the second round (No. 62) of the 2018 NHL Draft, has the position in his genes, thanks to his father, Sylvain Rodrigue, who was a goaltender in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before later becoming a coach.
The younger Rodrigue, 18, will be coached by his dad, who was hired by the Oilers in 2015 to work with goaltenders, and will be based with Bakersfield of the American Hockey League this season.
"I always said I wanted to be like my dad and I always said I wanted to be a goalie," Rodrigue said at Oilers development camp in June. "When I started playing as a goalie, I was at his goalie camp, so we started with the basics and after moving up, maybe in peewee, he started letting me do it my own thing with my own goalie coach.
"We still talk about being a goalie after every game and every practice, but he wanted to be my dad, he didn't want to be my goalie coach. But now he has to be my goalie coach."
Sylvain Rodrigue said he did not give any inside information on his son to the Oilers, who traded up to select Oliver in the draft. Edmonton acquired the No. 62 selection from the Montreal Canadiens for the Nos. 17 and 133 picks.
"I was not involved in it at all," Sylvain Rodrigue said. "The only time I went to the Oilers hotel [at the draft] was because I had a meeting with the coaching staff. I had no clue about the scouting part and all those things they talk about in those meetings, so this is awesome."
The Oilers did plenty of due diligence, and believe Olivier Rodrigue can develop into a starting goaltender in the NHL.
"We had Oliver ranked as the best goalie in the draft," Oilers director of player personnel Bob Green said. "When you look at the draft and you see what's left, if you look at him and if you get an opportunity to get what you think is the best goalie in the draft, it made sense at the time. We feel he's got the potential to be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL."
Rodrigue was 31-16-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in 53 games last season, his second with Drummondville of the QMJHL. He had a 2.50 GAA and .891 save percentage in 10 playoff games.
Rodrigue was invited by Hockey Canada to attend the World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamloops, British Columbia, which runs through Saturday.
"I'm really happy to be with the Edmonton Oilers, but now the real work begins," he said. "I think my strength is my mobility and I'm always square to the puck so that makes things a lot easier. I know I'm not the biggest goalie (6-foot-1, 159 pounds), but if I'm stopping the puck, that's all that matters to me."
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