Léo-Gabriel Gosselin commits to RPI

Eric Lang's first RPI recruit is an extremely promising Canadian center

Just a few short months after his 16th birthday, the Engineers received a commitment from RPI legacy, Léo-Gabriel Gosselin. Léo’s father, Jean-Francois, was an Engineer in the late-90s under Coach Dan Fridgen. Coach Lang said to us on our season preview pod that they wanted to focus their recruiting efforts on 20-year-olds ready for college, but he dipped into the Canadian prep ranks to get the young Gosselin. This is clearly a testament to how the staff feels about him and the projectability of his game. With Gosselin’s commitment, the Lang administration has planted a flag in Eastern Canada as the pipeline they want to rely on for recruiting. Let’s break down Gosselin’s game and see when we can expect him to don the Cherry and White!

Projectable Size and Speed

Gosselin is just 16 years old but already stands in at 6’2, 170 lbs, well ahead of the typical growth curve for prospects. One would think by the time he arrives at RPI you could be looking at a player that is 6’4 and 200 lbs or more, providing a power forward presence RPI hasn’t had much of lately.

Neutral Zone scouting reports cite Gosselin as having well above-average speed, allowing him to possess the puck and be the first one in on the forecheck. He has powerful strides that help him enter the zone effectively and drive possession for his team. He is excellent at using this combination of size and speed on the size, which is a big reason for the offensive prowess he possesses.

Offensive Ability

Gosselin is an excellent passer and has some goal-scoring to his game as well. The goal-scoring comes a bit more from IQ and positioning than it does from his shot, which I’d argue is a good thing. I’d rather see the IQ and feel for the game be ahead at this stage than a shot, which can be developed and practiced. Neutral Zone notes him as having an excellent feel for passing and the ability to find open men with saucers and highly skilled passes.

He has good but not elite hands at this stage but does possess the aforementioned size and speed to drive possession. Gosselin does have good deking ability and uses this well-rounded offensive game to create opportunities in the opposing end.

Two-Way Game

Coach Lang wants this rebuild to be characterized by players who have excellent “hard skill” as he called it. He believes that you can’t win big without highly skilled players, but they also need to compete at a high level, hence the moniker hard skill. He also wants to be deep up-the-middle of the lineup with a wealth of centers, and I think you can already see this philosophy playing out with centers Filip Sitar, Rainers Rullers, and Ian Scherzer being cornerstone pieces of the future. Gosselin feels like the next “hard skill” center recruited by Lang.

He plays a 200-foot game with strong net-front presence and the ability to retreat on an opponent’s rush with a strong back check. He is strong on his stick which helps along the boards and with the interception of passes. The defensive awareness has some room to develop, but he seems to possess the hard skills to excel in all 3 zones of the ice.

Status

Gosselin was a 2nd-round pick of Chicoutimi in the QMJHL this summer and had a great camp with the team. Unfortunately, he did not break camp with the team and went back to school, where he has already surpassed his point total from last year in half as many games. He has been one of the best players in Quebec AAA this year and had a couple points in the one game he was called up to Chicoutimi for. It is worth noting that Chicoutimi is one of the best teams in the whole CHL this year, so it is not the end of the world Gosselin didn’t break camp with the team. Hopefully once the school season ends, he will head to the Q for the end of their season and the playoffs.

I think it is most likely that we see Gosselin in Troy in 2028. My hopes for his development are that he gets his feet wet in the QMJHL this year, produces between 30-40 points there next year, 60-80 the following year and comes in 2029. A scout told me over the summer that he has all the tools necessary, and they think his best hockey is in front of him. Obviously, Gosselin is young so there is a lot of unknown, but I think combining this size/speed/skill with the right development has a ton of potential. I can’t wait to track Léo’s development and hope to see him in Troy very soon! Congrats to Léo and family!