Catching The Torch: CHL Update – Joshua Roy, Riley Kidney, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar and Jared Davidson

Welcome back to Catch the torchwhere we keep tabs on the Montreal Canadiens’ North American prospects and how they’re evolving week-by-week.

This time we take a look at the local junior circuit and break up the blistering start of the Habs’ only two current QMJHLers – Joshua Roy and Riley Kidney – and head west. We’ll stop in Mississauga and Kitchener for Owen Beck and Filip Mesar and end our trajectory in Seattle where Jared Davidson will play the final season of his WHL career.

Joshua Roy, LW/C – Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)

First off, how many points has Joshua Roy picked up in seven games with the Sherbrooke Phoenix this season without cheating?

If your answer was anything under 17, think rationally, but unfortunately you are wrong.

After all, last year was no coincidence. Carrying his experience from training camp into his (hopefully) final season with the Phoenix, Roy used his physicality against the walls extremely well to start and build possession for his team in all three zones.

He’s also added a level of patience and awareness with the puck that has made him an even more dangerous threat on offense. So far, the Ave Mary passes to the slots that were common for him in the final third are much, much less common.

Fifth-round picks just don’t offer those kinds of performances at the junior level. They don’t win scoring titles by the age of 18-19, and they certainly don’t prepare to win two of them in a row. What Roy has done with the Phoenix so far post-draft is exceptional by definition.

Well, Roy is not without his limitations. He has yet to iron out his skating stride and work on playing and initiating within contact rather than capitalizing on the QMJHL’s poor defensive coverage to find open spaces. NHL defensemen will not be so generous.

The skill, especially the ability to shoot, is undisputed. Roy has the versatility and shooting speed to become a great NHL scorer.

Riley Kidney, C/LW – Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

Kidney is also back in the Q for another year, despite signing his entry-level contract, this time with an A for the Titan in a leadership role appropriate for how much of her offense he single-handedly carried last year.

With 12 to 9 games this season, he again leads the roster in points, although his current pace of 90 would put him 10 points behind his overall from last year. He is also one of only six players in the squad not in the minus column, despite having played the most of any forward to date.

His goal in the clip above shows some internally driven tendencies that just didn’t show up last year. Head tricks, pace and direction changes, and quick handling moves allowed him to find a gap to access the slot and release a shot on the move.

While all of these individual abilities were already part of Kidney’s arsenal, he had very rarely, if ever, combined them in this particular way to gain access to highly dangerous ice this past season. Most often in 2021-22, Kidney used these tools to open up a fast lane while staying on the fringes.

When this clip repeats, it greatly affects Kidney’s ability to project. His biggest setback, the main reason he was difficult to project, was how unwilling he was to cut onto dangerous ice with the puck. A larger sample size is required, but so far so good.

Owen Beck, C — Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)

Beck got off to a quiet start, having left his calling card in an eye-opening preseason run and going scoreless in his first two games despite playing more than well enough on both sides of the puck. He remains second row behind Luca Del Bel Belluz in a shutdown role and has performed admirably in that role so far.

Beck then scored twice in the 5-4 win over the London Knights, including the winner in extra time, appearing uncharacteristically shy defensively while focusing on developing offense. Since then he has scored in his last two games and brought his tally to three goals in five games without providing any assists so far.

He continues to use speed differentials and his excellent workmanship to solve problems on the fly, charge through defenders with ease, and find gaps in cover to exploit. While his puck skills aren’t the best themselves, he’s benefited from power-play time to stretch the box, pull in a rock and make room for his teammates, showing how much of his game flows through his elite brain .

During my last guest appearance on the Game over: Montreal Podcast following the Habs’ 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Marc Dumont compared Beck to current Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern, a defensively gifted center who had a quiet, illustrious career, including a season with the Canadiens 2010- 2011 roster.

Halpern posted career-highs with 21 goals in 2000-2001 and 46 points in 2003-2004, both with the Capitals, while ensuring his longevity in a supporting role as a face-off taker and penalty kick specialist. The comparison is apt – Beck’s consistency of effort and performance, as well as his multi-faceted game should ensure a similar level of longevity – but I believe Beck is a better version of the forward who has spanned 14 seasons in the NHL.

Beck should be able to score more points than Halpern because he’s so good on offense while starting his NHL career at a younger age because his game is already so refined. Stylistically, and in terms of adaptability and longevity, the two are pretty similar – but Beck has untapped offensive potential that would be well served on the Steelheads’ powerplay, but would be even better served on their topline.

A note on Filip Mesar

After playing a few minutes in the fourth row of Rocket and not seeing overtime, Mesar was sent to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL to continue his development. The forward should resolve his IIHF transfer issues in time to play on October 21. after Jeff Marek.

Rangers present a more appropriate learning environment for a first-round pick, who will need significant time on the puck to further develop his ability to conquer dangerous ice with possession. In my last scouting report video on Mesar, I pointed out how intelligent his moves off the puck are and how impressive his perimeter play can be, but the main flaw in Mesar’s play is the lack of an internally controlled play.

He plays well from the periphery and finds impressive space in dangerous areas off the puck, but rarely combines his understanding of distance and ability to get loose pucks over the rink to drive the center lane and challenge goaltenders from the slot.

Despite much protest from those who contemplate and shudder at its overwhelming size (5ft 9in, 168lbs), I maintain my stance that Mesar is a natural center and will excel in that position. He’s too smart and too transitional to stay on the wing. Boosting his strengths will be key to unlocking his top six potential.

Jared Davidson, C – Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL

Davidson got off to a hot start with the Thunderbirds, with an A on his jersey to boot. His three goals and eight assists in six games is his team’s third-highest tally and places him in the WHL’s top 10 for points per game.

I’ve watched Davidson quite a bit since the Habs picked him up in the fifth round and there’s not much that stands out other than his ability to score. His skating is nothing short of concerning, with very little agility or explosiveness in his stride, stiff knees, poor ankle flexion, and an arched back. A lot of work is required from the bottom up.

While I’m physically capable and adept at chopping off opponents’ hands along the gang, I don’t see much in terms of high-end awareness or playmaking ability. If he’s not contributing to transitions as a center and connecting plays intelligently, he’s pretty limited.

Davidson is good in the faceoff and well positioned defensively when rushing isn’t an issue. Davidson has some secondary strengths that could serve him well, but the road to the NHL is long and paved with many improvements needed in his case.

Thank you for reading. Follow me on Twitter @HadiK_Scouting to learn more about Habs prospects and to keep up with the rest of my scouting work!