Montreal Canadiens: Joshua Roy Shows Why He is One of QMJHL’s Top Scorers

Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy had a couple of negative narratives surrounding him as he headed into 2021 NHL Draft weekend.

The big, skilled, scoring winger had shown a lot of promise on the ice, but he was bound to fall to the later rounds based on questions around his work ethic and compete level.

If his draft slot was purely due to skill, he would have been taken in the first round for sure. Roy scored 22 goals and 35 points in 35 QMJHL games last season for the Saint John Sea Dogs and Sherbrooke Phoenix. This season, he is off to a much better start than the point per game pace he set last year.

Roy headed into an afternoon contest with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armade yesterday as one of the league’s top scorers and finished the game as the QMJHL’s top point getter thanks to a four point outing.

Roy started off his offensive evening with a quick goal off a Faceoff. He lined up pretty much directly behind centre Julien Anctil, and the draw was won directly to Roy who one-timed the puck into the net. There is video of it below but it happened so quick it is tough to see what happens. What is certain is Roy used his rocket of a shot to fool a goalie who barely reacted before the puck was in the back of the net.

It was Roy’s 11th goal of the season which puts him just outside the top ten in the QMJHL. He is an even better playmaker than goal scorer and he was about to prove that to the Armada. After the big win on Sunday, Roy is now up to 19 assists which trails only Xavier Simoneau, who is also a Canadiens prospect, in the QMJHL.

Roy’s first assist on Sunday was a beautiful setup. The puck was cleared ahead from the Phoenix zone to Roy in the neutral zone. He gains the offensive zone with speed and masterfully stickhandles around the defender, first making it look like he will make a backhand pass, then pulling the puck to his forehand and hesitation for a second to make the defender and goalie think a shot is coming, and finally he feeds a perfect saucer pass across to Xavier Parent who finishes the play.

Just five minutes later, Roy would set up Parent for another goal. This time Roy got the puck on the power play on the left wing and quickly fired a cross-ice pass rink wide to Parent who hammered home a one-timer for his 12th of the season.

Roy’s third and final assist of the afternoon was yet another incredible pass. He gets the puck in the same spot as his previous assist on the power play. This time, instead of going across the ice to Parent, he immediately fires a laser pass to his centre, Anctil who is standing at the edge of the crease. Anctil just has to let the puck hit him right on the tape and bounce into the net.

After scoring plenty of goals last season, but only having 13 assists in 35 games, Roy had a bit of a reputation as a goal scorer who needed someone to get him the puck. This season, he is still among the best goal scorers in the league, but he already has 19 assists in just 16 games. Not only has he proven to be a good playmaker, but he is one of the best setup men in the entire league.

The Canadiens took a chance on him in the 5th round of the 2021 NHL Draft and many teams must already be regretting letting him fall that far.