Roman Will

Roman Will (born 22 May 1992) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has formerly appeared in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche.

Roman Will
Born (1992-05-22) 22 May 1992
Plzeň, Czech Republic
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
KHL team
Former teams		 Traktor Chelyabinsk
BK Mladá Boleslav
Colorado Avalanche
HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
Rögle BK
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present

Playing career

As a youth, Will played with BK Mladá Boleslav and later made his professional debut in a Czech Extraliga relegation game after the 2010–11 season.[1] With an ambition to be drafted and play in the NHL, Will was drafted 29th overall by the Moncton Wildcats in the 2011 CHL Import Draft and subsequently moved to North America for a season of major junior hockey with the Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2011–12. As the Wildcats starter, Will appeared in 63 games for 29 wins and was selected to the 2012 QMJHL First All-Star Team.[2]

Undrafted, Will returned to the Czech Republic signing a two-year contract to newly relegated BK Mladá Boleslav of the 1. národní hokejová liga.[3] In the 2012–13 season, Will shared starting duties and appeared in 44 games. Although just a 20-year-old, he led the league with a 1.87 goals against average.

After helping Boleslav gain promotion back to the Extraliga he was re-signed to a one-year contract on 2 May 2014.[4] However, on 15 May 2014, Will's NHL ambition was further realised when he was signed to a two-year entry level contract with the Colorado Avalanche.[5][6]

In his first North American season in 2014–15, Will was initially assigned to backup the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. He made his debut with the Monsters on 17 October 2014, against the Chicago Wolves. He later recorded his First career AHL win against the Toronto Marlies on 30 November 2014, before he was assigned to earn more time in the crease with secondary affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. Will shone with the Komets and earned his first accolade as the ECHL's goaltender of the week from 5 January 2015. He recorded 17 wins in 29 games, leading all rookies in goals against average, and played in all 7 post-season games with Fort Wayne to be selected in the ECHL All-Rookie Team.[7]

In the following 2015–16 season, after attending his second Avalanche training camp, Will was assigned to new AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. On 26 January 2015, with the Rampage's starting Goaltender Calvin Pickard already promoted to the NHL, Will was recalled to the Avalanche on an emergency basis in order to backup Pickard due to an unavailability with starter Semyon Varlamov.[8] With Pickard struggling with illness, Will made his NHL debut in relief with the Avalanche that same night, appearing in 18 minutes of ice time and stopping 2 of 3 shots in a 6-1 defeat to the San Jose Sharks.[9] Will was returned to the Rampage following the game on 29 January 2016.

At the completion of his second professional North American season, Will in search of more playing time left the Avalanche organization to return to the Czech Republic in agreeing to an optional two-year deal with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga on 10 May 2016.[10]

Will matured and performed as a standout statistically for three seasons in the Extraliga with Bílí Tygři Liberec. Following the 2018–19 season, Will left the Czech Republic as a free agent and agreed to a two-year contract with Swedish club, Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, on 9 May 2019.[11] Securing the role as starting goaltender, Will registered an impressive 23 wins from 34 games, helping Rögle finish the regular season in third place, their highest position in franchise history.

On 15 April 2020, Will was released from his contract with Rögle in order to take up a lucrative two-year offer from Russian club, Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.[12]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2011–12 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 63 29 25 7 3592 166 1 2.77 .913 4 0 4 205 19 0 5.56 .843
2012–13 BK Mladá Boleslav Czech.1 44 — — — 2477 77 6 1.87 .935 10 — — 630 15 1 1.43 .952
2013–14 BK Mladá Boleslav Czech.1 21 — — — 1264 34 6 1.61 .934 10 — — 539 15 2 1.81 .920
2014–15 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 11 2 6 1 576 34 0 3.54 .869 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Fort Wayne Komets ECHL 29 17 8 4 1745 70 1 2.41 .921 7 4 3 417 19 1 2.74 .914
2015–16 San Antonio Rampage AHL 29 10 13 3 1527 87 0 3.42 .896 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 Colorado Avalanche NHL 1 0 0 0 18 1 0 3.25 .667 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 30 17 13 0 1772 50 7 1.69 .935 7 3 4 296 10 2 2.03 .914
2016–17 HC Benátky nad Jizerou Czech.1 5 2 3 0 307 14 1 2.74 .923 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 45 23 22 0 2536 99 6 2.34 .913 10 6 4 603 17 1 1.69 .941
2018–19 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 51 32 19 0 2941 111 5 2.26 .916 17 10 7 1083 34 0 1.88 .929
2019–20 Rögle BK SHL 34 23 10 0 1985 70 4 2.12 .922 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 18 1 0 3.25 .667 — — — — — — — —

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2010 Czech Republic WJC18 6th 3 1 0 0 123 10 0 4.89 .796
Junior totals 3 1 0 0 123 10 0 4.89 .796

Awards and honours
Award Year
QMJHL
First Team All-Star 2011–12 [2]
ECHL
All-Rookie Team 2014–15 [13]
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References
  1. "BK Mlada Boleslav team stats 2010-11". eliteprospects.com. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  2. "Roman Will named to QMJHL First All-Star Team". protekgoaltending.com. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  3. "Who will play in the preliminary matches?" (in Czech). BK Mladá Boleslav. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. "Excellent leaders remain with Boleslav" (in Czech). BK Mladá Boleslav. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  5. "Another Czech goalie heads to NHL! Will signed by Colorado". nova.cz. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. "Colorado signs five players to entry-level deals". Colorado Avalanche. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  7. "Despite playoff loss, K's season a success". Journal Gazette. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. "Big push on Avalanche agenda". Colorado Avalanche. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. "Former Komet Roman Will makes NHL debut". WANE. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  10. "Goalkeeper Roman Will heading home with the White Tigers" (in Czech). HC Bílí Tygři Liberec. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  11. "Czech national team Goalkeeper to RBK" (in Swedish). Rögle BK. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  12. "Roman Will signs contract with Traktor" (in Russian). Traktor Chelyabinsk. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  13. "ECHL announces 2014-15 All-Rookie Team". ECHL. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
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