Montreal Canadiens: Huge Development Season About to Begin Already For Joshua Roy, Riley Kidney

The Montreal Canadiens previous management team headed by Marc Bergevin could reasonably be questioned on their overall draft record.

While they added a couple of good players in the second round, like Artturi Lehkonen and Alexander Romanov, and the odd late round steal like Jake Evans in the 7th round, their first round choices were mostly duds.

Time will tell, but they seem to have finally found a few first round gems with Cole Caufield and Kaiden Guhle in the first round of the 2019 and 2020 drafts. But, their final draft, in 2021, may go down as one of their best.

A big part of that is the selection of Joshua Roy in the 5th round. The winger was a decent point producer before the Habs selected him, but he exploded offensively last season, scoring 119 points in 66 games.

An earlier pick in the 2021 draft was Riley Kidney, taken in the second round. He also had a breakout offensive season in the QMJHL, scoring 30 goals and 100 points. While Roy was the QMJHL leader in points, Kidney was tops in the league in assists.

Both Roy and Kidney are heading into a massively important season for their development, and it is going to begin very soon. While neither of them were on the 2022 World Junior team when it was originally scheduled to be played in December, both have made Team Canada for the rescheduled event that begins next week.

With Connor Bedard and Mason McTavish on the team, Kidney will be battling for third line ice time down the middle. But, he is the perfect option for a depth role at centre. While his playmaking is incredible, he is also a great face-off guy, penalty killing option and defensive centre. He could take on a defensive role, but on a team like Canada he will have great wingers and they will benefit from Kidney’s playmaking ability.

Roy will be looking for a role further up the lineup. Canada has a lot of options for scoring wingers, but Roy just lead the QMJHL in scoring and doesn’t turn 19 until this weekend, so he clearly has the skill to play alongside Bedard or McTavish.

Speaking of age, both Roy and Kidney are eligible to play in the 2023 World Juniors this coming winter as well. That event will be held in Moncton and Halifax (a short drive from Kidney’s hometown of Enfield).

That means we could be seeing the start of a very long, and important season for both Roy and Kidney. They are both going to play in two World Junior tournaments four years apart, look to add to their impressive 18 year old seasons by scoring well over 100 points each, and also go on a lengthy playoff run in the QMJHL.

The 2021-22 season was a breakout campaign for both of these Habs prospects and now even more is expected in 2022-23. It all begins for them next week as Canada will play the 2022 World Juniors from the 9th-20th of this month.

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