The Toronto Maple Leafs traded forward Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional first-round pick in 2027 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2026.
The first-round pick in 2027 is top-10 protected. In that event, Colorado would send an unprotected first-round pick to Toronto in 2028. The Leafs will receive the lowest of Colorado’s three fifth-round picks in 2026.
Roy joined the Leafs last summer in the deal that sent pending UFA Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights. He has five goals and 15 assists in 59 games for Toronto this season.
This is a win for the Leafs front office, nabbing a first-round pick for a player in Roy who hasn’t quite worked out this season.
The Leafs got Roy in the summer sign-and-trade hoping he could solidify a troublesome third-line centre spot. Roy never really found solid ground though, particularly on the offensive side of things.
The Leafs talked with the Oilers about Roy and were even willing to take back Andrew Mangiapane’s contract in that potential deal. Edmonton went elsewhere, though, which worked out for the better ultimately for Toronto.
The Leafs get a good pick back without absorbing a bad contract. Time will tell how many more picks they can add with their assortment of trade chips. It’s notable that while Bobby McMann, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Scott Laughton all sat out Wednesday against the Devils, Roy was in the lineup.
What the Avalanche are getting
From an Avalanche perspective, the aim is to shore up their center depth for tough showdowns in the Western Conference playoffs as Colorado eyes a Stanley Cup run. There were some rumblings of a potential Nazem Kadri reunion, but the cost may be a little rich for Colorado and the Avalanche really only needed a third-line center as Brock Nelson and his 30 goals have looked great in the 2C hole.
Roy has had a tough season in Toronto, but he isn’t far removed from a run of solid campaigns in a bottom-six role with the always-contending Golden Knights. He had double-figure goal totals in four consecutive years and had three goals and eight assists in Vegas’ 2023 Cup run. With the Avs, he should slot in behind Nathan MacKinnon and Nelson and possibly take some of the defensive-matchup assignments off the plates of MacKinnon and Nelson.
Roy won’t need to provide much offense, but has the capability to chip in a goal here and there and that’s what a playoff team needs out of a 3C. He doesn’t have a great faceoff record over his seven years as an NHL regular but his 52.9 percent rate this season is easily his best. As a right-hand shot, that can also come in handy at playoff time.
Jack Drury has done a nice job handling the 3C spot and he’s terrific on the faceoff dot, but Roy has a little more offensive upside and is 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. Size also matters in the playoffs.