How Panthers’ prospect/ QMJHL Champion Evan Nause almost wound up in the WHL

Florida Panthers defensive prospect Evan Nause plays for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), but had one small family work-related move not happened in 2006, he could have been playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), let me tell you the story.

Kamloops Blazers play-by-play commentator Jon Keen teed up the question to the Panthers prospect regarding his British Columbian roots. Nause was born in White Rock, British Columbia, on January 3, 2003; the important reason is that, at the time, his father was an air traffic controller in Vancouver at the Vancouver International Airport. Eventually, the Nause family found themselves back in the Maritimes, and that’s where they would stay as Nause would play hockey for Bishop’s College School Prep U16 team and the U18 Newbridge Academy.

Nause was selected fifth overall by the Remparts in the 2020 QMJHL Draft only one year after being chosen by Val-d’Or in the 2019 QMJHL Draft. However, he re-entered the draft because Nause indicated he wanted to play NCAA hockey and kept his options open; during the 2019-20 season, he played for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League (USHL). 

Now, Nause finds himself back in British Columbia with a chance to play in front of some family, “I’m super excited to be back; it’s my first time back in over 16 years. Like you (Keen) said, I was born in White Rock, and we moved away when I was three years old,” said Remparts defenseman Evan Nause. “My Dad is an air traffic controller and was based in Vancouver, and then he got transferred back to the Maritimes, and that’s where I grew up. Like I said, super excited to be back here and still got some family here.”

This past season, Nause was sidelined with an injury that kept him out for six weeks. Despite that, he tallied 29 points in 40 games and an additional nine points in 18 playoff games as the Remparts went on to win defeat the Halifax Mooseheads and win the Gilles-Courteau Trophy, advancing to the 2023 KIA Memorial Cup hosted by the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. 

Nause is in the spotlight and on one of the biggest stages for a major junior hockey player. All the focus is on winning the prestigious Memorial Cup and returning it to Quebec City for the first time since 2005-06. “You know, we are still riding that high; it’s been a great week,” said Nause. “It was awesome to get that win, win the QMJHL championship, and we are all really excited to be here, and our big goal is to win the Memorial Cup.” The Remparts dominated on the road throughout the QMJHL playoffs, putting up a 9-0 record, and now look to come into Kamloops as road dogs. “I didn’t even know we were 9-0,” Nause said as he started to laugh. “I think we as a team just feel better when our backs are against the wall, and we are the underdogs.” 

There is also some familiarity between Nause and his teammates on the opposing side of the game. Specifically, he played with Blazers captain Logan Stankoven at the 2019-2020 U17 World Hockey Championships and was roommates with Anaheim Ducks prospect Olen Zellweger. Zellweger notched 11 goals and 29 points in 14 playoff games with the Blazers. When Nause was asked how he and the Remparts would shut Zellweger down, he quickly praised the WHL Defenseman of the Year, “You obviously have to respect his game. He and Stankoven, you know, are two elite players; you got to respect their game and feel it out from there.” 

Nause plays a composed and mobile game; the 6-foot-2, 180-pound left-shot defenseman constantly scans the ice for threats, using deceptive moves and quick tape-to-tape passes to connect to teammates for offensive chances. His playmaking abilities have taken a big step; he activates into the play and looks for open passing lanes with cutbacks, look-offs and slip passes. On the defensive side of the game, he is just as strong, using his edgework and elite reverse skating to his advantage to cut off the opposition.

With family in the stands, the White Rock product will look to use his toolkit to help the Remparts win the Memorial Cup, a trophy that the likes of former legendary Remparts’ Guy Lafleur and Marc-Edouard Vlasic have won.