San Jose believes it has something in Gannon Laroque; it’s just taking some time to see what that is. The 2022-23 season was expected to be a breakthrough for the young defenseman. He was coming off a 2021-22 season with the Victoria Royals of the WHL in which he scored 52 points (10 G, 42 A) in 63 games.
Position: Defense
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 200 lbs.
Age: 20
Date of Birth: August 20, 2003
Draft Year: 2021, 203rd overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: San Jose Barracuda (AHL)/Victoria Royals (WHL)
In 2022-23, Laroque was set to return to the WHL, this time wearing the “C” for the Royals. However, a lower-body injury put a stop to it all. In the summer, Laroque underwent intense surgery on his hips. He did not start the season with the Royals and only appeared in four games for the team during the season. In those four games, he was impressive. He scored 5 points (2 G, 3 A) and left many people wondering what might have been.
Where Laroque plays this season is a bit of a mystery. If everything had gone to plan last season, he would certainly be on the San Jose Barracuda roster this year. However, the injury slowed his development.
The Sharks organization’s best choice may be to return Laroque to the Royals for another season. While this would be his overage season, it’s likely the best place for Laroque to rediscover his game after injury. In the WHL, Laroque would compete against lesser competition, and since he’s had success there in the past, he’ll have more confidence that he can succeed this time as well.
Like many of the prospects in the pipeline, San Jose does not want to rush things. Starting Laroque in the WHL does not mean that he can’t make the jump to the AHL at some point in the season. The 20-year-old already has a small taste of what play in the AHL can be like. At just 18, he played three games with the Barracuda to end his 2021-22 season. In those three games, Laroque collected his first AHL point, an assist against the Henderson Silver Knights. The transition should be smooth if and when it happens.
Keeping Laroque in the WHL for another season will be beneficial in another way as well. Players like Leon Gawanke, Valtteri Pulli, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Nick Cicek and Nikita Okhotiuk are already filling out the defense for the Barracuda. If he played in the AHL, Laroque would be battling them for ice time and power play time. By staying in the WHL for another season, Laroque will receive a lot more ice time.
What we like
Injury aside, there’s a lot to like about Laroque’s game. Laroque has a big body and he knows how to use it. That’s why Doug Wilson Jr. drafted the young defenseman in 2021. Wilson Jr. was still high on Laroque in 2022.
“He plays defense a lot like a Justin Braun type, where he’s just big, he’s got a good stick, he holds the d-zone blueline,” Wilson, Jr. told San Jose Hockey Now. “You couldn’t tell the difference between when he played in Victoria and when he played with the Barracuda, how he held the d-zone blue. And he’s only 18.”
Laroque isn’t afraid to shoot the puck and he’s not afraid to go to the net. So far, that part of his game has come easy to him. The true test is whether he can continue that kind of play at the AHL and NHL levels.
Even if he can’t, his intelligence on defense and strong stick will continue to make him a viable option for the Sharks in the future.
Dobber Prospects probably describes Laroque best as “A hard-nosed, physical defender with a potentially burgeoning offensive game.”
Areas of improvement
Laroque does not have the same mobility as smaller defensemen and that can, at times, hinder his ability to drive the offense or transition. The surgery last summer on his hips certainly did not help matters.
This season will be key for the young defenseman. If he can find his game quickly, the year lost to injury may not hurt him in the long run.
For Laroque, this year’s focus must be on re-establishing the game he already had before so he can build on it and develop further. Surgery knocked him out of play for an entire season. The fear here is that he tries to do too much at once and falters along the way, or worse yet, reinjures himself.
Highlights
When Laroque is on his game, he’s fun to watch. This is an older clip from his breakout season in the WHL.
Notice that Laroque isn’t the speediest of defensemen coming out of his own zone, but he can accelerate when he needs to. In this instance, he uses that acceleration to find another speed and blow by the other team’s first line of defense.
Even after distributing the puck, Laroque does not wait or circle back to his position. He recognizes the rush and continues hard at the net, never breaking his stride. Laroque has the hockey sense to look back for the shot and the quick hands to get just enough of a stick on the puck to redirect it into the net.
In case you’re wondering about how he’s doing following the surgery, here’s a highlight from one of the handful of games he played at the start of 2023.
Admittedly, this is a five-on-three power play, so the opportunity was there. But Laroque found an unobstructed lane and had just enough of a deceptive shot to get it cleanly by everyone.
While it will be tested by better players when he moves up to higher levels, Laroque has the tool kit to succeed.
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