Penguins goaltending prospect Gabriel D'Aigle learned to have fun from Marc-Andre Fleury

Gabriel D’Aigle and Marc-Andre Fleury won’t be confused for one another.

D’Aigle is a stout 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds as a goaltender, and Fleury was listed at a sinewy 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds.

Polite but shy, D’Aigle is something of a wallflower compared to the giddy and effervescent Fleury.

And while D’Aigle had reason to celebrate June 29 when the Pittsburgh Penguins picked him in the third round (No. 84 overall) of the NHL Draft, that accomplishment doesn’t stack up to the Penguins drafting Fleury as a franchise savior with the top overall selection in the 2003 draft.

But D’Aigle does share one prominent trait with Fleury beyond their shared hometown of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec.

Swearing in casual conversation.

Such was the case when D’Aigle was asked to relive the moment when he was drafted during the Penguins’ recent prospect development camp in Cranberry.

“I watched it on the TV,” D’Aigle said. “I (saw) my name. I was like, ‘Oh (shoot), that’s me!’ I was surprised.”

Just based on a casual look at D’Aigle’s 2024-25 season, some might be surprised he was drafted fairly high. Or at all.

In 55 games, he had a 16-33-2 record, 4.52 goals-against average, .883 save percentage and one shutout.

Those are weak figures to be sure. But they lack context.

D’Aigle’s team, the Victoriaville Tigres, was the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s worst squad last season. And by a wide margin with a 17-43-4 record.

All but one of the Tigres’ wins were recorded by D’Aigle, who faced a league-high 1,940 shots last season. (Joshua Fleming of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan was a distant second with 1,699.)

“I grew the mental side of my game, especially,” said D’Aigle, who will return to a presumably improved Tigres squad next season. “It’s sometimes hard mentally to always get a lot of shots, (give up) a lot of goals. But I built something in my sports psychology. I think I’m stronger with that. I learned to never give up and always work hard.”

That perseverance under constant duress impressed Penguins management.

“He had a ton of work,” Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza said. “He got thrust into a situation where he played a ton. Played, basically, every night on a bad team and got faced with a lot of shots. Now that we have him in the roost, we’re going to try to help him with his technical game. The athleticism and size is there. Now, it’s just kind of building his game up with some structure.”

Another prolific figure for D’Aigle is assists. He set a franchise record for goaltenders with eight assists last season.

He isn’t hesitant to play the puck.

“When we have a (power play), I like to do a long pass to the (far blue line),” D’Aigle said. “Things like that, I like it.”

D’Aigle also likes to display his infatuation with the position. As such, he has become something of a minor social media celebrity with a YouTube channel that boasts just over 6,000 followers.

Most of his videos — including one that has registered 1.7 million views — show him going through the technical aspects of his position on a sheet of artificial ice in the basement of his family’s home.

“Just for fun with my father,” D’Aigle said of his motivation for creating the videos.

One video includes a workout session with that other goaltender from Sorel-Tracy.

“He wrote to me (in a text message), ‘Do you want to practice with me?’” D’Aigle said of Fleury. “That’s how it started (in 2022).”

Like the recently retired Fleury, D’Aigle is eager to employ a poke check to break up offensive chances.

“Of course,” said the left-catching D’Aigle. “I always watched him when I was younger. That’s a play that I like from him.”

Check out #Tigres goalie Gabriel D’Aigle’s old school classic #POKECHECK in the shootout. #TopProspect #2025NHLDraft ⁦@OctagonHockey⁩ pic.twitter.com/5Zt9BLiBIg

— Allan Walsh???? (@walsha) February 17, 2025

Fleury hasn’t offered much in the way of technical instruction to D’Aigle — “He said that’s why we have a coach,” D’Aigle quipped — but one bit of profound guidance has clearly become a shared attribute.

“He gave me a lot of advice,” D’Aigle said. “Like, always have fun during the game.”