(Bromont) As you read these lines, players from 30 of the 32 NHL teams have all the time in the world to play golf, get married in Italy or watch the final of the Chiefs!
Member of the Canadian, Joshua Roy therefore falls into this sadly popular category, which may explain why he appeared radiant in the gray on Monday morning during a charity golf tournament organized by the Fondation l’Originale.
“I’ve had a good month off since the end of the season, so I’ve been playing golf almost every day. It should be fine! », Launched the young Canadian winger, in the press scrum before the departure.
However, the holidays are coming to an end. Monday, Roy took to the greens; this Tuesday, he will be expected at the CN Sports Complex for the more official start of his summer training. “I got myself a loft, I’m going to stay there. I’ve been here for two summers and I like it, so I’m going to continue,” he describes.
It is therefore in the Canadian’s facilities that he will get back into shape, a practice recommended by the house. “It’s fun. You create chemistry with the guys, he describes. Last year, I wasn’t on the team yet, but just being around the guys, the coaches, the staff… It helps once you get to camp. »
The competition is there every day. It’s better than going back home and skating with junior guys. Training all summer with NHL guys is good for your development.
Joshua Roy
Roy has just had a rather successful first professional year. Productive in Laval (32 points in 41 games), he was therefore entitled to a 23-game audition in Montreal, an audition interrupted by an injury to his right hand.
A rewarding year, but also exhausting. “We play a lot of games in a short time and it’s a lot of travel, on the plane in the National League or on the bus in the American League. It’s really asking. It’s a lot less easy than junior when you’re exhausted. »
A member of the Sherbrooke Phœnix, he was fortunate to have several division rivals (Drummondville, Victoriaville, Shawinigan) within a two-hour drive or less. Quite the opposite of the Rocket, whose closest opponent, Belleville, is located three hours away.
This is why he saw fit to take a “mental break” at the end of the season. “Mentally and physically, it feels good. […] It’s not that things weren’t going well. It’s just to take my mind off things. Now, I’m really looking forward to starting again, so it felt good to drop out and do something other than hockey. »
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Joshua Roy
A position to win
It has often been said, but the Canadian is not full of high-level offensive prospects.
The development of Filip Mesar (1er tour, 2022) stalls, and Sean Farrell (4e tour, 2020) did not have the expected professional debut. Oliver Kapanen (2e tour, 2021) has just reached an agreement with the team, but everything indicates that he will spend the next season in Europe.
Owen Beck (2e tour, 2022) and Luke Tuch (2e tour, 2020) will play their first season among the pros in 2024-2025, but their offensive potential seems limited. Ditto for Emil Heineman (obtained in a trade). However, these three players have in common that they play a style that would fit well into a fourth line.
This is not the case for Roy, this style of player who is said to absolutely have to play within the first three lines in order to help the team, because his identity fits more or less with that of the fourth lines such that we know them in the NHL.
He played each of his 23 games on the second and third lines last season, with Alex Newhook and Sean Monahan as centers.
Joshua Roy’s challenge will now be to prove that he can occupy this role from the start of the season, in a healthy squad. Injuries to Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak, even though they are centers, have opened up the game for some unexpected candidates.
In a healthy lineup, we can assume that Dach, Newhook, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Joel Armia have their place in these first three lines. Here are six positions taken. Where will top earners Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Dvorak fit in? Will Rafael Harvey-Pinard be able to bounce back after a less brilliant season? And most importantly, will Kent Hughes make a trade to get a forward, like he did the last two summers?
By knowing a good camp, Roy will have the chance to add a layer of complications to the puzzle. Does he already see himself as an NHL player?
“It will be up to me to prove that I am capable. When I arrive at camp, I will have had a big summer of training and I will be ready. My goal is to make my way to get a job,” he says.
Play in the top 9, “that’s the goal. I’m going to put all the chances on my side with a big summer of training and what happens will happen. I’m not worried, they will make the right decision for me. But my mentality is to make my place.”