The Newest Ducklings: C Kevin Roy
By Sean
This is the fourth part of my “The Newest Ducklings” series on the 2012 draftees by the Anaheim Ducks. The third part of the series was on D Andrew O’Brien. This part of the series is on C Kevin Roy.
Kevin Roy is a 19-year-old from Lac-Beauport, Quebec. He was born on May 20, 1993 and shoots left-handed. He is much smaller than the other Ducks’ draft picks, 5’10”-170 lbs. Kevin Roy was taken by the Ducks in the fourth round, along with Andrew O’Brien, but Roy was pick 97th overall while O’Brien was picked 108th overall.
Roy is coming off of his first year in junior hockey. Previously he played hockey for his high school team, Deerfield. He joined the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and took the league by storm. He broke all kinds of offensive records that season, including being the first player in USHL history to reach 100 points in a single season and being the first player in the league’s current format to reach 50 goals. In total, Roy tallied 54 goals and 50 assists for 104 points in 59 games played. He also registered 50 PIM and was +44. His Lincoln Stars advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season, but lost out to the Waterloo Black Hawks. Roy recorded 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points in 8 playoff games, with 4 PIM. For his record-breaking season, he was named the USHL Player of the Year. Next season, Kevin Roy is to attend Brown University, but has not completely enrolled yet.
Roy has some incredible offensive ability. Click on this link and you will see what made a famous young hockey player on youtube. In that video, he is participating in an all-star game shootout competition. He is also only 13-years-old in that video and is displaying some incredible dangles. He has great hockey instincts and a very high hockey IQ. He has a knack for scoring a lot of goals and creating a lot of goals with his very good passing ability as well. He is just an overall offensive dynamo. However, he does not have break away speed that many offensive stars have. To be successful at the NHL level, he will have to develop more of a break away type of speed so he’s not getting crushed every time he receives the puck. Also, he can be a defensive liability. He is small and not very strong, so doesn’t win many battles in his own zone. He will definitely need to bulk up if he wants to play in the NHL. There’s no question that Roy has the skill set to reach the NHL, but it will all depend if he’s willing to work more on his body strength. He is comparable to NHLers Mike Ribeiro of the Washington Capitals and David Desharnais of the Montreal Canadiens. He will most likely spend next season with the Brown University Bears, but that’s not finalized just yet.
Next up is goaltender Frederik Andersen.
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