For a prospect, that's far from ideal. But that's all in the past now.
Roger is back in action with the London Knights, where he's once again enjoying day-to-day life at the rink after the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the entire 2020-21 OHL season.
"It feels really nice to get back into things and get back into the season groove," Roger said. "Having pre-game practices, the light and hard practices as well, getting ready for games, the cool down, the preparation, it's been a lot of fun."
It's been even more fun for the Knights this year who own the best record in the OHL at 11-2-1 and began the season on a nine-game winning streak. In 14 games, Roger has two assists and 12 penalty minutes. His 17 shots on goal this season already matches his season total from 2019-20.
"It's been great," Roger said of his team's start. "Anyone who ever plays hockey loves to win so when a team is winning, everyone is happy, everyone is having a good time. The chemistry is high so we're looking to keep that going."
Not known for his offensive prowess - Roger has two career OHL goals in 50 games - the d-man prides himself on being a defensive stalwart and bringing physicality to the table.
With an 18-month gap between competitive games, Roger had a lot of time to work on his skillset and those defensive aspects of his play were the areas he wanted to hone in on the most.
"A big goal of mine is to be hard to play against and make forwards not want to come into my corner and box guys out in front of the net," Roger said. "I think that's one of the big improvements I've had in my game this year because I haven't done that in the past."
A large part of that improvement came from his time at Senators development camp in September. After being selected 49th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, the Brighton, Ont., native spent nearly two weeks in Ottawa working with the team's development coaches. He also appeared twice in the Sens' two rookie contest victories against Montreal.
"I was definitely able to pick up and learn a lot of things like defending on the rush, where to place my stick, defending on my feet," Roger said. "Also, a big thing I learned was all the preparation that goes into games and practices and treating your body right and seeing the pros there doing that to make sure they continue to play at a high-level."
The 19-year-old is part of a growing list of Knights in the Senators organization. Michael Del Zotto, Alex Formenton, Victor Mete, Chris Tierney and Austin Watson all spent time in London during their OHL careers.
And like Formenton and Mete in the past, Roger was rewarded with an 'A' on his jersey this season.
"London is a storied franchise and to be recognized as a leader by them is a really great feeling and I feel honoured and privileged to wear that letter on my chest," Roger said. "I'm happy I can do it for this team."
