I should note that I have no hate for Roy or, for that matter, any other player. But I am somewhat charmed that you seem to need my approbation of Roy to justify your determination of this player’s potential upside. The fact is, due to his mediocre foot speed and somewhat lackadaisical approach to his craft, I have never thought Roy’s game translated well to the NHL.
As a fan, I hope I’m wrong.
While no one can question his hand skills, Roy’s chances of becoming a core player on the Canadiens are increasingly being undermined by the simple aspect of the numbers’ game. If you assume going forward that 5 forward spots will be taken by Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Dach and Newhook and that two more spots should be taken by Demidov and Hage, that leaves only 5 forward positions to be filled long term. Roy will be facing stiff competition for those positions having to compete with a number of the team’s existing, established players and other promising forward prospects that include: Beck, Florian Xhekaj, Kapanen and Tuch. That competition will only be intensified when you factor in that over the next two years the Canadiens will have three first round draft choices (including, most probably, a top 10 choice in 2025) and 3 second round choices and that as Montreal approaches competitiveness, Hughes will probably acquire one or two established scoring free agent forwards.
One therefore has to ask whether there will be room for the speed challenged Roy? If he can’t make the top three lines, Roy will not play for Montreal. There will be better options. Hence, my opinion that Roy is not among Montreal’s most promising players.
As for Guidon, when he and David Goyette played for Eastern Ontario Wild AAA , they were both considered among the best two prospects of their age group playing in the Ottawa area. Some players’ development continue unabatedly and become legitimate prospects. Others, sadly plateau. Regrettably, Guindon has fallen into the latter class. He won’t be the first prospect to disappoint. Nor will he be the last.
