On Thursday night, Joshua Roy was given a great opportunity
by Martin St-Louis. Not only was he dressed for a second game in a row, but he
was also on the first power play unit with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj
Slafkovsky, and Mike Matheson. Furthermore, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t even
dress any of their best players; it was Roy’s opportunity to make a statement.
Much like the rest of Martin St-Louis’ men, he missed that
opportunity. The Montreal Canadiens gave a subpar effort in a 7-2 loss to the
Leafs’ B or C team, and you could count on one hand the players who looked
good. In his post-game conference, the coach identified Matheson and Filip
Mesar as two players who performed well.
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Roy was even given some reps on the penalty kill, a sign
that the organization is willing to give him opportunities to find a spot. On
that, St-Louis said:
Of course, there are roles that we need to fill; we need to
find players who can execute penalties effectively. It’s by giving
opportunities that you can evaluate.
Asked if he found Roy’s performance in the role convincing,
the coach replied he would have to look at it, that’s part of his lengthy to-do
list in the video room following Thursday night’s debacle.
From a statistical standpoint, Roy didn’t make much of an
impact. He saw 17:45 of action, including 5:34 on the power play and 2:20 on
the penalty kill. He has one shot on net and another that was blocked while
also landing three hits.
Those hits didn’t stand out to me from the press gallery’s
bird’s eye view. What I saw was a player who didn’t battle very hard on the
boards and was sometimes in a hurry to pass the puck to avoid getting hit. On
the power play, he managed to launch a one-time from the bumper position, which
was his highlight of the night. For the rest of the game, he wasn’t really a
threat. Although he may not be used to playing the bumper position, considering
how important the game was for him, I would have liked to see more effort and
attempts to get in space.
Granted, Roy worked hard in the gym this offseason, but what
we’re seeing on the ice right now is not a player who’s NHL-ready and who could
play the kind of game Martin St-Louis needs from the player who will skate
alongside Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc.
Time is running out for the fifth-round pick who’s playing
the last year of his entry-level contract. For me, his place is with the Laval
Rocket this season, whichever way you look at it. Oliver Kapanen, Owen Beck,
and Florian Xhekaj have all made a bigger impact.
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