(Sherbrooke) It’s hard to find a more positive moment for a young hockey player than the signing of his first professional contract.
Posted yesterday at 3:03 p.m.
This is an opportunity for the young person to thank those who have helped him on his journey. Joshua Roy, who signed a contract with the Canadian this week, immediately named his family. “I thought of my parents. I have two older brothers who played hockey and our parents made a lot of effort for us, they spent weekends at the arena,” said the young man.
Roy met the media at the Palais des sports Léopold-Drolet on Thursday morning, the day after another victory for the Phoenix, which sits alone at 1er rank of the Western Association of the QMJHL.
Three television stations were represented. Media from outside Sherbrooke joined the press briefing virtually. The team was off, but we brought Roy to the arena to meet the journalists. It was HIS day.
The tone of the conference is light. Towards the end, he was asked what number he would like to wear with the Canadiens. “I can’t take 10, so I’ll go with 19 if it’s free,” he replies, before being reminded that the number is retired.
” Oh ! I’ll have to think about that first! »
Precedents
Joshua Roy is 18 years old. He will be 19 next summer. At that age, unless it’s a choice of 1er turn, an NHL career is all but guaranteed. Next season, he should also be back in the QMJHL.
On the other hand, Roy has shown good progress since his arrival in Sherbrooke in January 2021. With 94 points (37 goals, 57 assists) in 51 games, he is fighting with William Dufour for the title of the league scorers’ championship.
However, Dufour is 20 years old. 18-year-old players, like Roy, who finish a season at 1er rank of the circuit are rare. These players then experienced varied fates. Here are the most recent cases of players who finished 1er or 2and standings at age 18.
(For exercise purposes, we excluded Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin, who also had sensational seasons at 17 and whose potential was already well known.)
2016-2017: Vitaly Abramov. Drafted on 3and tour by Columbus that summer, the Russian scored 104 points in 66 games. The Blue Jackets traded him to the Ottawa Senators in 2019 to get Matt Duchene. But Abramov only plays five games in the NHL and is now playing in the KHL.
2014-2015: Conor Garland. Ignored in his first year of eligibility, in 2014, he proved recruiters wrong by exploding with 129 points in 67 games in Moncton. A second or third line forward with the Vancouver Canucks, he has 132 points in 228 NHL games.
2014-2015: Ivan Barbashev. Drafted at 2and tour by the St. Louis Blues in 2014, he finished 7and, but in just 57 games, with 95 points. With as many games as the players ahead of him, he would have ranked in the top 3. An important support player for the Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup, he is currently enjoying a good first offensive season with 45 points in 65 outings.
No big star here, then. Garland and Barbashev are good, but they took off in their mid-twenties.
big names
Surveyed recruiters are more enthusiastic, but their comments are more about style of play, and are not career predictions either!
One sees a resemblance to Islanders forward Brock Nelson, who became a permanent NHLer at age 22, who would have had his first 30-goal season at age 28 (he had 26 goals when the pandemic hit in 2020). “Good offensive IQ, very good scoring skills,” he summarizes.
A hockey man from the QMJHL mentioned, for his style of play, Brad Richards. We repeat: for the style of play. Not to predict him 1100 games, 900 points and a Conn-Smythe trophy!
And Joshua Roy, realistically, who does he see himself becoming?
I would tell you that the player I think I resemble is John Tavares. He has a good hockey sense and is not necessarily going to create his games with his skating.
Joshua Roy
Stéphane Julien, the Phoenix head coach, smiles when Roy’s answer is reported to him. “Tavares… Every guy wants to look like Crosby!”
“I think he looks like Tyler Toffoli, or Elias Pettersson in Vancouver. They are not incredible skaters, but they are shooters, they have the offensive flair to score big goals. »
From Abramov to Pettersson, the margin of error is wide, the pollsters would say. Either way, the mere fact that he goes to the NHL would be a good move for the Canadiens, who drafted him in the 150and rank.
The famous physical condition
Stéphane Julien does not hesitate to shower his protege with compliments. “Defensively, he was pretty stiff when he came in from Saint John. It looked like he wasn’t tempted in his territory, but in fact he was lost. We taught him, we now use him at a disadvantage, he had never done that in his life! »
In fact, Julien brings only one downside. “He needs to improve his skating. But with his recent fitness, Roy has proven he can put in the effort.
On this subject, Julien however wants to put the dots on the “i”. Roy had drawn strong reactions when he claimed he had lost 20 pounds in one summer.
“It wasn’t a disaster either. The story grew a bit, but he didn’t roll into the locker room! There was an upgrade to be made and he made it. We held it tight, we made a plan and the Canadian will have to do the same. I talked to Rob Ramage about it last week.
“He’s a natural. He shows up for all optional training. He cannot fail. He’s the perfect guy to play in Montreal. He’s not stressed, that guy. It’ll help him deal with the pressure. »