St. Albert product 'excited' about free-agent invitation to Edmonton Oilers rookie camp

Marc Lajoie received a text from his agent two weeks ago with an offer to attend Edmonton Oilers training camp.

The St. Albert product, who is pegged to patrol the blueline for the University of Alberta Golden Bears starting this fall after a five-year run in junior hockey, was "excited" to say 'yes' to the free-agent invitation.

"(I've been) looking forward to it since then," the 21-year-old defenceman told media at Rogers Place on Wednesday, the day rookies reported to Oilers camp for fitness testing.

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Lajoie is familiar with Edmonton's arena as he played last season, his last in the Western Hockey League as an overager, with the Oil Kings, who call it home alongside the National Hockey League squad.

And, of course, he grew up in the area and played minor hockey in both St. Albert and Edmonton before making the jump to the WHL with the Tri-City Americans in 2019.

Four years later, prior to his final WHL campaign, the Amerks dealt Lajoie to the Oil Kings, with whom he says he got a chance to showcase his offensive skills.

He put up the best offensive numbers of his junior career in 2023-24, besting his previous top output by 20 points by scoring 26 goals and 58 points in 68 games.

"I think a lot of it was the opportunity that I was given in Edmonton," Lajoie said. "I think I always had a bit of an offensive side to my game. When I came here, I got put in the right situations and kind of capitalized on those opportunities."

In early April, at the end of the WHL campaign, the Oilers signed Lajoie to an amateur tryout and sent him to Bakersfield, home of their American Hockey League affiliate the Condors, with whom the rearguard got into a game of action.

And now, the invitation to Oilers camp for the six-foot-six, 223-pounder and a chance to play in the Young Stars Classic pre-season rookie tournament in Penticton, B.C., where the Oilers rookies will face off in the annual showcase event against their counterparts from the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets and the host Vancouver Canucks.

"I think just being a bigger guy, I had a good offensive season last year, but I don't think that's how my game is going to be if I want to play at the next level," said Lajoie, whose father, Serge, has a long coaching history in the university and junior ranks, having served at the University of Alberta, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and more recently the Oil Kings, among other programs, in assistant and head-man roles.

"Being a big defensive defenseman that's good in his own zone and makes quick plays up to the forwards — we have a good forward group here — so just getting the puck (to them) as quickly as possible and being sound in my own end."

And what if ... he gets a professional chance? Will Lajoie make the jump before the Year 1 Arts enrollee suits up for the Golden Bears?

"Just taking a day at a time," Lajoie said. "Obviously, it's the first day here, and we just got fitness testing now, so haven't really thought about that yet."