Canadiens Roy and Struble Making Most of Chances
Also, Ylonen and Barren struggling to stay relevant
The Montreal Canadiens, once again, have been hampered by a barrage of injuries to top players. Kirby Dach was hurt and ruled out for the season in the second period of the second game, Alex Newhook missed 27 games, and Christian Dvorak was ruled out after just 25 games. David Savard, Arber Xhekaj, Kayden Ghule and Jordan Harris all missed time due to injuries on defence.
With all these injuries, the Habs have had to call a few players up from the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL) to fill spots and round out the lineup. Some of these players have included Emil Heineman, Brendon Gignac, Mitchell Stephens, Lucas Condotta, Joshua Roy and Jayden Struble. Two players have made the most of their chances in the NHL, so they probably will not see Laval again this season.
Joshua Roy Proving He Could Be a Top-Six Forward
When the season started, many fans hoped to see Roy play for the Canadiens at some point. He had a solid rookie and training camp, which continued into the preseason games. Many thought he would be one of the last players cut and were surprised when he was cut in the middle of the preseason. This benefited Roy as he had a solid start to his AHL career, leading the league in points for the first 15 games. He hit some dry spells but maintained almost a point-per-game (P/G) pace, scoring 32 points in 40 games before being called up to Montreal.
His 32 points rank him 17th in rookie scoring in the AHL, and his 13 goals are 15th even though he has missed 11 games. Since his call-up to the Canadiens, Roy has not missed a beat, and he fits in quite comfortably with the team and the pressures of a French Canadian playing in Montreal. In 14 games with the Habs, he has scored one goal and six points, averaging just over 12 minutes of ice time (TOI). He has scored four points in the last five games, has provided the team with solid two-way play, and has been noticed as a driving force for his line offence.
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