Sea Dogs select Roy first overall

QUEBEC CITY - The Saint John Sea Dogs selected Joshua Roy with the first overall pick in Saturday's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft at Videotron Centre.

Roy, a 5'11", 180 lbs forward from St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que., was ranked first by QMJHL Central Scouting and second by HockeyProspect.com.

Roy recorded excellent numbers with the Levis Chevaliers of the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League this past season, putting up 38 goals and 50 assists in 42 games.

From HockeyProspect.com:

Roy is great with his ability to read the play and anticipate what comes next, which allows him to excel at both ends of the rink. On the offensive side of the puck, Roy possesses an elite scoring touch, but also likes to hold onto the puck and control the pace of the game in the offensive zone. As a shooter, he possesses excellent shot velocity and accuracy with his wrist shot and snapshot, fooling goalies while subtly changing his shooting angles. Even if he is more recognizable by his scoring abilities, Roy can make high-end plays in all three zones. He will make you pay for lazy coverage in the offensive zone with cross-ice offensive zone saucer passes from anywhere. Roy is more of a cerebral player, but his lack of compete level at even-strength leaves us with question marks.

Roy can play both wing and centre, but HockeyProspect.com believes he will start his junior career on the wing - which is probably good news for the Sea Dogs.

The selection of Roy comes after 24 hours of reports and rumours that perhaps he wasn't/isn't committed to playing in the QMJHL. His presence at the Draft and on stage appearance with a Sea Dogs jersey would seem to diminish those concerns.

The Sea Dogs pick again in the second round, 21st overall (at the time of this writing).