An NHL scout doesn’t think Montreal Canadiens forward Joshua Roy is an NHL forward.
Roy was battling for a roster spot this season, but he failed to make the roster and was placed on waivers. He wasn’t claimed and will begin the year in the AHL, which is disappointing.
Roy not cracking the roster is tough, and he got even worse news from an NHL scout from a rival team. Canadiens insider Arpon Basu of The Athletic spoke to one scout who said he wouldn’t recommend his team to trade for the young forward.
“One pro scout who spoke with The Athletic last week about Roy, when asked if he would ever recommend to his team that they trade for him, immediately said no,” Basu wrote. “He finds Roy’s game to be too perimeter. While he appreciated Roy’s skill, he had trouble seeing how he would translate that skill to the NHL.”
Roy was selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Canadiens.
Insider Casts Doubt on Roy’s Future in the NHL
With Roy being sent to the AHL, Basu isn’t sure the young forward will make good on making the NHL.
Roy has skated in 35 career games in the NHL, but Basu doubts he will make an impact. Instead, he believes Roy’s game doesn’t work in the NHL, and he will struggle to produce.
“Last year, he arrived in training camp with a job to lose, and he lost it thanks to an underwhelming camp,” Basu wrote. “This year, he might not have arrived in camp with a job to lose, but he definitely had a job to win, and he did not do that.
“The fact that the Canadiens did not give him a second week to prove his worth is a good indication of how far they feel he is from regular NHL duty,” Basu added. “The problem with Roy’s game remains his pace, his ability to use his high-end hockey sense to its fullest, and his reluctance to play an interior game.”
Roy is entering the final year of his three-year, $2.505 million deal with the Canadiens.
Canadiens Coach Excited About Forward Options
Montreal had plenty of options at forward, which coach Martin St. Louis was excited about.
St. Louis says general manager Kent Hughes has done a great job adding depth to the roster. The coach believes this is the deepest team he’s had.
“I feel I’m equipped with more options than I ever have in the past. Which is a good problem to have,” St. Louis said.
Although the Canadiens have to make their roster soon, St. Louis says he wants the players to know the roster competition goes all season long.
“The camp is going to be over and it’s going to feel like it’s a finish line, and it’s not,” he said. “It’s not a finish line. That finish line always moves. Can you keep sprinting, not knowing how long the distance is? Because that deadline of the first game of the regular season is a deadline, but the league keeps going. There’s still a race out there.”
Montreal opens its season at home on Oct. 8 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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