Looking Back on His Journey with Comets’ Forward Nathan Legare
Nov 20, 2025Utica, NY – We recently caught up with forward Nathan Legare who’s in his third season with the Comets and fifth year of his professional hockey career.
Legare grew up in Montreal, Quebec as the youngest of three, with two older sisters. He naturally gravitated towards hockey with Montreal being a hotbed for the sport and with his dad having played for much of his life. Legare says that according to his father, he didn’t take an immediate liking to hockey, coming off the rink in tears for the first time at the age of three. It was when Mr. Legare pointed out that all of Nathan’s friends were still out there that he gave it another shot and hasn’t looked back since.
For many Quebec natives, supporting the Montreal Canadiens is not just a hobby but a way of life, and the same rang true for Legare when he was growing up. He remembers attending his first Canadiens game when the Atlanta Thrashers were in town, a team his dad admired for their superstar forward, Ilya Kovalchuk. While tickets have always been expensive and hard to come by, Legare enjoyed the privilege of visiting the Bell Centre once a year with his dad and watching some of his favorite players like former Canadiens captain, Saku Koivu. It was Koivu, he says, who wore number ‘11’ and in part inspired Legare to don ‘11’ as a player himself.
As one might imagine, Montreal featured a competitive hockey scene during Legare’s upbringing and was also a year-round venture. He played summer hockey with a couple of his current teammates in Xavier Parent and Thomas Bordeleau. His early hockey career also consisted of several big tournaments such as the Brick Invitational in Edmonton where he played on the same team as a couple of current AHL opponents in Syracuse’s Jakob Pelletier and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Sam Poulin.
After attending high school in Montreal, Legare fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams and joined the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He was drafted in the first round by Baie-Comeau Drakkar where he spent most of his junior career before being traded to Val-d’Or Foreurs during his fourth and final season. His second season was his best, racking up 45 goals and 87 points in 68 games in 2018-19, which led to his being drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft that following summer by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Legare started his first pro season with Pittsburgh’s top affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), in 2021-22. Looking back on the transition, he said, “You have to adjust. I used to score a lot of goals in juniors, but when you turn pro, sometimes you have to find another role. It was tough at first, but I don’t regret anything. I had a great time in Wilkes-Barre. The fans were great, the organization treated me well, and it was a lot of fun.”
Part of that new role that Legare adopted was that of a fighter. He said that as a power forward, he's always played with a snarl, but fighting is something he’s done more at the pro level as compared to juniors. With 20 fights under his belt since turning pro, Legare said, “In juniors I wasn’t fighting as much, but I feel the last couple years I’ve been fighting a little bit more. I’m not a big fighter but I’m there to defend my teammates and if they need me to fight, I’ll do it for the team.”
After two full seasons in Wilkes-Barre, Legare started the 2023-24 season with the Laval Rocket. He said it was special to be able to play so close to home, but he was only there for 39 games before being dealt to Utica. While he didn’t know much about the area, he was fortunate to be able to call one of his lifelong friends, Xavier Parent, a teammate once again. Legare noted that all the great things Parent told him about the fans, the community, and the organization have manifested since settling in Utica.
Having already checked off the box of playing in the QMJHL, Legare realized his other lifelong dream of playing in the NHL the following season when he made his debut with the New Jersey Devils on December 2nd, 2024, against the New York Rangers. “It was the best moment of my life. It was really special to have all my family there. I also got to play against one of my best friends, Alexis Lafreniere. Playing my first game at MSG [Madison Square Garden] was (extra special) and just a great memory.” Legare played a total of three games last season with the Devils and has suited up in one game so far this season with the NHL club.
He remains focused on earning a fulltime NHL spot and is happy to be in Utica while he works toward that goal. Away from the rink, Legare enjoys fishing and hunting. Each summer, he takes a week-long fishing trip to Quebec with his parents and fiancé. While he isn’t able to hunt as much due to it overlapping with hockey season, he said it’s a passion of his family as well and plans to due his fair share after the conclusion of his career.
Legare and the Comets welcome the Rochester Americans to Utica this Saturday, November 22nd at 6 pm. For tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.