Joshua Roy and Connor Bedard still keep in touch.
“He texted me last year after I got my first game in the NHL and my first goal,” the Canadiens’ Roy said during a recent training-camp interview about Bedard, who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 NHL Draft. “We’re not like best friends, but sometimes we text each other.”
Roy and Bedard were linemates when Team Canada won the IIHF world junior championship in 2023. Bedard led the tournament in scoring with 9-14-23 totals in seven games, while Roy had 5-6-11 totals.
“He was unreal,” Bedard told reporters at the tournament in Halifax about Roy’s performance. “He’s one of the smartest players that I’ve got to play with.”
Roy and Bedard were both No. 1 overall picks in their respective junior leagues. The Saint John Sea Dogs took Roy with the first pick at the 2019 QMJHL Draft, while the Regina Pats took Bedard with the first pick at the 2020 WHL Draft after he was granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada, which made him eligible to play in the junior league at age 15.
Roy had some struggles during his first season in the QMJHL, posting 16-28-44 totals in 60 games, while Bedard had 12-16-28 totals in 15 games as a 15-year-old with the Pats and followed that up with 51-49-100 totals in 62 games the next season.
In Roy’s second junior season, the Sea Dogs traded him to the Sherbrooke Phoenix after he had 9-8-17 totals in 15 games. Roy had 13-5-18 totals in 20 games with the Phoenix after the trade, but his stock was dropping. The Canadiens decided to take a chance on the Saint-Georges-De-Beauce native, selecting him in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
That’s looking like a very smart decision.
“We see the skill that he has,” Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens’ former assistant general manager, said after drafting Roy. “He has natural scoring ability and we think with our guidance he’s going to be able to progress his game on and off the ice.
“We feel that he’s going to be a late bloomer and he’s got natural ability,” Timmins added. “I think this summer just really realizing what it takes to be a pro.”
Dropping to the fifth round of the NHL Draft was a wake-up call for Roy, who realized he could no longer get by on natural talent alone and would have to work much harder on his off-ice training. He did that and posted 51-68-119 totals in 66 games with the Phoenix the season after the Canadiens drafted him.
Roy had a successful rookie year in the AHL last season, posting 13-19-32 totals in 41 games with the Laval Rocket, and also played 23 games with the Canadiens, posting 4-5-9 totals. He is expected to start this season with the Canadiens and also have a spot on the power play.
The 21-year-old Roy said playing with Bedard highlighted how it takes more than talent alone to be successful.
“What impressed me the most is he doesn’t take anything for granted,” Roy said about Bedard. “He’s still working hard. He’s always the first on the ice, the last off the ice. It’s very remarkable.”
Roy’s hockey sense is the strongest part of his game and it allowed him to get by mostly on skill alone when he had 38-50-88 totals in 42 games with the midget Triple-A Lévis Chevaliers in 2018-19 before being the No. 1 pick at the QMJHL Draft. He said the trade from Saint John to Sherbrooke helped him.
“I think I learned just to focus on myself and just work hard and never give up,” he said. “I worked a lot on my body and I think that helped me a lot. I saw the difference right away and since then it’s been pretty good.”
Roy has impressed Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis both with and without the puck. St. Louis calls Roy a “very intelligent player.”
“He’s always ready for what’s next,” St. Louis said. “He doesn’t kill the play. He’s playing the game. If it’s time to chip a puck to speed he’ll do that. You can see he’s got poise to buy a little time and hit the guy who’s going to be free. He lets the play evolve.”
Veteran defenceman David Savard has also been impressed by Roy.
“I think he’s more and more comfortable every game,” Savard said. “You see him making more plays, making better reads. He’s still really young, but he’s just making good plays out there. You want players like that on the ice. He’s creating without giving you turnovers and stuff like this, which sometimes as a young guy is hard to do.
“I think he’s really fitting in and he’s really into the system and he’s playing well for us,” Savard added. “So it’s good to see a young guy come in like this.”