Joshua Roy Was Gold For Canada

Published on by JD Lagrange

By JD Lagrange – Of course, and with reason, the 2023 World Junior Championships will be remembered for Connor Bedard’s record-breaking performances. The 17 year-old was absolutely dominant in the tournament and was a whole level above everyone else, even if he was two years younger than most. No one will ever take that away from him and he has shown, in his post gold-medal winning interview, being a quality individual as well when refusing to talk about his own performance, but focusing on the team instead.

Roy recognized

There were many heroes for Team Canada during this tournament but three players were most consistent and could be relied on game in, game out: Bedard, goaltender Thomas Milic and… Joshua Roy. And Roy received high praise from the TSN panel consisting of Bob McKenzie, Cheryl Pounder, Jeff O’Neill and anchor James Duthie, something rather rare for a Canadiens’ prospect. Even Bedard has some choice words for his linemate, saying that he is one of the most intelligent players he has ever played with.

Out of nowhere

Let’s remind everyone that Roy hasn’t always been a high prized prospect. In fact, he was passed on 149 times by NHL teams before the Canadiens made him their fifth round selection at #150 overall at the 2021 Draft. His skating was an issue, and his work ethics were questioned back then. But credit to the young man, he used that as a slap in the face. After meeting with Rob Ramage, he used that as a source of motivation and the very next season, he turned his career around.

Roy has consistently been at the top of the Canadiens’ prospects in points per game on our feature In The System, and he has continued along the same line at the World Juniors this year. But more than points, Roy has proven to be a very reliable 200-foot player and unlike many offensive juggernauts of his age, he prides himself with his play without the puck, an aspect of his game the Canadiens asked him to continue working on. He was named top-3 players for Team Canada, alongside linemates Connor Bedard and Logan Stankoven.

Future

The Canadian hero will rejoin the Sherbrooke Phoenix to finish his junior career and continue his development. What happens next fall, where he plays next season, we don’t know. The Canadiens have two wingers who are set to become UFAs and are likely not coming back, in Jonathan Drouin and Evgenii Dadonov. But they also have AHL players chomping at the bit to earn a spot in the NHL in Jesse Ylönen, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Anthony Richard, amongst others. Roy, along with Filip Mesar and Emil Heineman, will try to surprise management enough to earn his spot… and he has as good of a chance as anyone.

On Monday, we will update all Habs’ prospects performances at the World Juniors in our weekly feature “In the System”.

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