On Thursday night, Joshua Roy was given a great opportunity by Martin St-Louis. Not only was he dressed for a second game in a row, but he was also on the first power play unit with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Mike Matheson. Furthermore, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t even dress any of their best players; it was Roy’s opportunity to make a statement.

Much like the rest of Martin St-Louis’ men, he missed that opportunity. The Montreal Canadiens gave a subpar effort in a 7-2 loss to the Leafs’ B or C team, and you could count on one hand the players who looked good. In his post-game conference, the coach identified Matheson and Filip Mesar as two players who performed well.

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Roy was even given some reps on the penalty kill, a sign that the organization is willing to give him opportunities to find a spot. On that, St-Louis said:

Of course, there are roles that we need to fill; we need to find players who can execute penalties effectively. It’s by giving opportunities that you can evaluate.

Asked if he found Roy’s performance in the role convincing, the coach replied he would have to look at it, that’s part of his lengthy to-do list in the video room following Thursday night’s debacle.

From a statistical standpoint, Roy didn’t make much of an impact. He saw 17:45 of action, including 5:34 on the power play and 2:20 on the penalty kill. He has one shot on net and another that was blocked while also landing three hits.

Those hits didn’t stand out to me from the press gallery’s bird’s eye view. What I saw was a player who didn’t battle very hard on the boards and was sometimes in a hurry to pass the puck to avoid getting hit. On the power play, he managed to launch a one-time from the bumper position, which was his highlight of the night. For the rest of the game, he wasn’t really a threat. Although he may not be used to playing the bumper position, considering how important the game was for him, I would have liked to see more effort and attempts to get in space.

Granted, Roy worked hard in the gym this offseason, but what we’re seeing on the ice right now is not a player who’s NHL-ready and who could play the kind of game Martin St-Louis needs from the player who will skate alongside Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc.

Time is running out for the fifth-round pick who’s playing the last year of his entry-level contract. For me, his place is with the Laval Rocket this season, whichever way you look at it. Oliver Kapanen, Owen Beck, and Florian Xhekaj have all made a bigger impact.

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