Zachary Bolduc: the player we’ve been waiting for in Joshua Roy

Dose
Crédit: EDMONTON, CANADA - MARCH 19: Joshua Roy #89 of the Montreal Canadiens warms up before the game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on March 19, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Very soon after his selection in the fifth round (150ᵉ overall) in 2021 by the Montreal Canadiens, Joshua Roy was categorized as having been one of the steals of the draft. He was simply dominant with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, and therefore, too strong for the QMJHL.

His performances in junior were very encouraging, and suggested he had great NHL potential with the Habs. Québécois fans were very excited about his arrival in the pros, and saw in him enough talent to one day potentially play on the second line.

Unfortunately, the rest is history: after doing well in his first NHL games, Roy had a job to lose this past season, and he lost it. He was very ordinary at practice in 2024, and failed to keep his NHL job, so Roy played mostly with the Laval Rocket last season, where he did well, but nothing more, with his 35 points, including 20 goals in 47 games.

Now, at 22 years of age, Roy no longer represents the top prospect we saw in him, and in a way, the disappointment he represents has been replaced by Zachary Bolduc.

[content-ads] Indeed, as our colleague Danny Potvin of Fanadiens.com explains in a very good article, Zachary Bolduc is quite the player we were expecting in Joshua Roy. At one point, we saw Roy as a potential second-line winger capable of producing 50-60 points, which is exactly what we’re expecting with Zachary Bolduc.

The difference is that Bolduc took his chance in the NHL and proved much more than Roy, so Bolduc’s arrival in Montreal indirectly demonstrates that Habs management gave up quite a bit on Joshua Roy. Because, in the end, the position Bolduc will occupy in Montreal next season represents the one Roy could/should have filled last season if he’d been able to perform and if he had a better work ethic.

And who knows, if Roy had been able to establish himself in the NHL, maybe the Habs wouldn’t have gone after Bolduc, and could have used Logan Mailloux in another deal, one to get a second center. Of course, that’s a lot of “what ifs”, but it’s interesting to note how things really could have been different if Joshua Roy had been able to seize his chance and not lost his position at camp last season.

It will now be much harder for Roy to ever establish himself in Montreal, as I don’t see him being useful in a supporting role on a fourth line. In short, it’s a shame, but that’s life. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Wow!

– Indeed.

– What do you think?