Why the Montreal Canadiens should consider an emergency recall of Joshua Roy

With all of the injuries plaguing the Habs, they may need to use the ability to temporarily recall a junior player.

For the past few games, the Montreal Canadiens have been icing 11 forwards, and while they sport a surprising 3-2 record in their last five contests, this is a situation that will soon become untenable. They can scarcely afford to lose more players to injury, and the constant double shifting is bound to take a toll sooner than later.

Nick Suzuki played over 25 minutes against the Toronto Maple Leafs the other night. I shudder to think what this team would look like if he ends up joining his winger Cole Caufield on the IR…

As was reported by Montreal Hockey Now, the Canadiens’ current situation fits within the agreement between the CHL and NHL as it pertains to the emergency recall of a junior-level player. They can therefore bring up someone to help out for a short period, hoping that one or more of their injured players make some progress during that time.

If I had a say in the matter, I’d be sending a car to pick up one Joshua Roy just a couple of hours down the highway in Sherbrooke, QC.

Roy is one of the most accurate shooters you’ll find at the junior level. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, if you hung a dime from a string off the crossbar, I’d bet he could hit it more often than he misses. It makes him a big offensive threat, and he also uses that threat intelligently by selling his shot to freeze defenders, and executing some pretty passes to set up his teammates.

But his shot in particular was always a well-known asset. If you read the pre-draft scouting reports on him from 2021, you could be led to believe it is his only asset. And for a time, it was really the bread and butter of his game — shooting, and beating junior-level goaltenders from wherever he pleased.

But there have been some major developments in Roy’s game since his draft year. His skating, while still short of wow-factor in terms of speed and elusiveness, has improved significantly. He can push the pace more as a result, and has become more effective in transition.

He has also become far more tenacious and physical in all three zones, something that stood out in a big way during his gold medal run with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship. He was relied upon heavily in penalty killing, something that was never a standout aspect of his game, and delivered some eye popping work during the tournament.

Roy has mentioned numerous times in interviews that the Canadiens had asked him to work on developing more of a “pro” game, being better in all three zones. He has done that, and while he may not yet be ready to play a full season with the Tricolore, he has done enough to earn his first taste of NHL hockey.

Coming up and playing for the Montreal Canadiens straight from Junior mid-season is no easy task. Doing so for these Canadiens would be even tougher. But when I consider his development — the rapid improvement of his 200-foot game, his skating, and his defensive acumen — I can’t see how it would hurt his progress to test that development against the best in the world.

I believe he has earned an opportunity, and though it would be a short one given that the maximum number of games allowable under the CHL/NHL agreement is five, he deserves it.

And win or lose, if he comes up and performs well, the fan base would get something to be excited about in this difficult year.