Kevin Roy has proven once already in his career that he can play at the NHL level.
This season for the Tucson Roadrunners, he’s doing it again.
Brought to Tucson this offseason on a tryout deal to compete for a veteran role on the American Hockey League club’s roster, the fifth-year forward from Quebec City has been arguably Tucson’s most important player — a steady presence playing some of the best hockey of his career. He’s been a plus, even though the Roadrunners have sputtered for much of their 2021 schedule.
“He’s a huge bright spot,” Tucson coach Steve Potvin said of Roy, who has been within the AHL’s top 10 in goals and points virtually all season. “The fact that he’s able to perform as well as he has, that’s obviously helped our team and impacted us in a positive way.
“But his biggest impact has been his leadership — his style of leadership,” Potvin added. “He takes complete ownership of the moment, of what he’s doing right and wrong, and he fixes it.”
It was just three years ago, in only his second pro season, that Roy earned a steady spot playing with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. He stuck with the Ducks during the 2017-18 season for 25 games, scoring six goals in the process. He finished out the year with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, and was primed to return to Orange County in 2018-19.
“I spent almost half the season there in Anaheim,” he said. “I had almost a point a game in the AHL when I was there. So in my third year I was ready to pick it up and really take the next step and be a regular in the NHL. But I had a really tough break there.”
During the Ducks’ 2018 training camp, Roy suffered a fluke injury to his right wrist. He was be sidelined for months, not making his AHL debut with the Gulls until February before eventually getting a three-game stint with the Ducks in March.
After the season ended, Anaheim let Roy walk with the expiration of his two-year entry-level contract.
“Being out that long, I felt like my game was a little behind everyone playing through the whole year,” he said, adding that it even carried even into last season. “I was still having issues with my injury and I was trying to get everything back together.”
Roy split his 2019-20 AHL season with the Springfield Thunderbirds and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The professional sports pause that began last March ended up helping his career get back on track.
“The whole break (during the AHL shutdown), I got to get everything taken care of and get back to 100%,” he said.
Entering Friday’s 7 p.m. matchup against his old team, the Gulls (16-11-0-0), Roy’s 10 goals lead the Roadrunners (8-12-1-0) and are tied for seventh, league-wide. His 19 points are tied for 11th in the AHL.
And as much as how much Roy’s been scoring, it’s when he’s deposited the puck that’s had just about as much of an impact, with six of those 10 goals coming in the third period or overtime.
“I think that’s just when my best game comes. It’s always kind of been that way. I try to get it done in big moments. Big, important goals are fun to be a part of,” Roy said. “(People) don’t usually ask how; they ask how many, really most times. But it’s important for a team to have players that take a step in leadership at the right time.”
Roy, who flipped that aforementioned professional tryout with Tucson into an AHL contract for the 2021 season, said going in that he was just happy to have another shot.
“It wasn’t about the money or anything,” he said. “Whatever the contract was, I was ready to take it. I take it as a blessing and I just take it as an opportunity and I’m grateful to the Roadrunners and Coyotes gave me another shot.”
The Arizona Coyotes haven’t yet given Roy that shot.
But if in a pinch for a veteran to fill a void at the NHL level, who’s to say they won’t make that call? They recently recalled Roy’s early-season linemates, Michael Bunting and Lane Pederson. The 2021 campaign was Bunting’s fifth with Tucson, while Pederson had been with the Roadrunners the last four seasons.
Roy said he was happy for his teammates getting that chance, and lauds their success since. Pederson scored his first NHL goal in his first career game, while Bunting picked up a hat trick this past weekend and now has four goals and five points over the last 10 days.
Roy is cognizant that with his amount of service time, and his age — he turns 28 next month — he may not fit the profile of a prototypical NHL up-and-comer. But the window’s not closed yet, either, he noted.
“The athlete’s reality is you usually have a short window where you are seen as a prospect or you are seen as the ‘future,’” he said. “But I think more and more you see late bloomers coming through.
“I don’t think it matters — my age,” he added. “I’m not 32, either. So there’s a good window to prove myself and prove that I’ve got my game back and I can move forward with it. It’s a reality, but I’ve got to make them forget about that and prove that I’ve got something to offer for the next seven years to come.”
