Maple Leafs' new player Nicolas Roy expresses his feelings about teaming up with Auston Matthews and John Tavares
Nicolas Roy Joins Toronto Maple Leafs, Brings Depth Scoring
Nicolas Roy, a versatile forward with a career-best 31 points in 71 games for the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2024-25 season, has joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs acquired Roy in a sign-and-trade deal that saw Mitch Marner move to Vegas.
Roy, 28, spent the last two seasons with Vegas, where he played alongside Ryan Reaves. Before his tenure in Vegas, Roy had stints with the Carolina Hurricanes organization in North Carolina and Chicago.
In Toronto, Roy is expected to take up bottom six duties, with Dakota Joshua and Bobby McMann as his potential line-mates. The trio is known for their physical presence on the ice, adding an extra edge to the Leafs' roster.
Though the detailed statistics for Roy's performance with the Leafs for the 2025-26 season are not available yet, his prior NHL performance indicates a steady contributor rather than a star player. His career-best season was with Vegas, where he scored 15 goals and 16 assists in 71 games.
Roy has expressed excitement about playing with Auston Matthews and John Tavares, the bona fide leaders of the Leafs. However, despite strong regular-season performances, the Leafs have not made significant strides in breaking their trophy drought since 1967.
The acquisition of Roy is part of a broader roster change following the departure of Mitch Marner, who was a franchise cornerstone for Toronto. Marner's player rights were transferred as part of the deal.
Nikhil Parshy, a baseball and ice hockey journalist who joined the website in November 2022, is excited about the new addition. Parshy's favorite baseball moment is the Chicago Cubs breaking the 108-year curse in 2016. His favorite player is Shohei Ohtani.
Nicola Roy, having excelled in hockey with career-best statistics in football during his time with Vegas Golden Knights, may find an opportunity to showcase his skills in lesser-scoring positions when he plays football with bottom six duties for Toronto Maple Leafs, alongside potential line-mates Dakota Joshua and Bobby McMann.
Despite his anticipated contributions in football, Roy's performance with the Leafs for the 2025-26 season may fall short of earning him the status of a star player, as was evident from his career-best season with Vegas where he scored 15 goals and 16 assists in 71 games.
