Quick Facts
Biography
Roman Will (born 22 May 1992) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has formerly appeared in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche.
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. 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.
Undrafted, Will returned to the Czech Republic signing a two-year contract to newly relegated BK Mladá Boleslav of the 1. národní hokejová liga. 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. 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.
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.
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. 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. 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.
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 SHL, on 9 May 2019.
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 | ||
| 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 | |
| ECHL | ||
| All-Rookie Team | 2014–15 | |