Despite slipping to the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, forward Joshua Roy has emerged as one of the Montreal Canadiens’ brightest prospects.
In the midst of his first AHL season with the Laval Rocket, the 20-year-old earned his first Canadiens call-up earlier this month, looking solid with a goal and an assist over six games. Now back with Laval, Roy, a Saint-Georges-De-Bea, Quebec native, called the opportunity a dream come true.
“It was very good news for me. It’s a dream growing up to one day receive a call to go play in the NHL,” Roy told Daily Hive after practice Tuesday. “So I was very happy and excited.”
Nevertheless, going from dominating the QMJHL to joining the Canadiens in less than a year’s time admittedly took some adjusting.
“The play is a little bit different, the execution. The guys are way stronger, too,” Roy explained. “I was trying not to think about it a lot. My two first games over there, I was stressed a little bit, but after that, I got used to it.”
Once comfortable, Roy’s third game with the Habs also saw him net his first NHL goal., which, along with joy, brought the rookie winger a sense of relief.
“It was a great feeling, just a weight off my shoulders, to enjoy that moment. The guys were very happy for me.”
Despite its brevity, Roy was not surprised to be sent back down this past weekend, revealing that he and Montreal’s management team left on a good note.
“I wasn’t really surprised to get sent down. I knew one day it was going to happen,” he said. “They were very happy with what I did. And I was, too.”
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis also left the youngster, who found success on a line with veterans Sean Monahan and Joel Armia, with a few pointers.
“When I was there, I was not talking much with St. Louis, but when he talked to me at the end, we spoke about what I have to work on,” he explained. “I know what I have to do to, one day, maybe, become a regular NHL player.”
With Roy, who has logged 30 points over 36 games, back with the Rocket, head coach Jean-Francois Houle is happy to have one of his best players in the lineup again.
“He’s a skilled player that can produce for us at a pretty high pace. For a 20-year-old, that’s a good thing. He makes plays… so whoever plays with him usually gets points,” Houle said. “He’s got very good hockey sense. He just needs to get his pace up to keep up with the game over 200 feet.”
Houle also argued that a preview of life in the NHL can help Roy’s game down the line, comparing the situation to the Canadiens calling up fellow forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard in 2022.
“I think they just wanted to give him a taste of it. They did that with Harvey-Pinard two years ago… By doing that, it gives him the opportunity to see where he’s at in his career, and he can assess himself,” he said. “Now he knows because he saw it, he felt it, he was there.”