In the year he finished 2nd Roy didn’t lose to Gretzky and Mario, he lost to Messier.Tbf, outside of maybe McDavid, I don't think any of the players in tier 2 would have an MVP if their primes overlapped with Gretzky and Mario.
Out of everyone I have in tier 2, Roy's definitely the best playoff performer, has a very high peak (when you take era into account, it's much closer to Hasek's peak seasons), and insane longevity/consistency (finished top 3 in hart voting 1 season before retirement and was still vezina calibre at 37). You can definitely argue someone else belongs at #5 but I don't think other guys have overwhelmingly stronger cases.
The year he finished 3rd he lost to Theodore.