DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today the team has acquired forward Nicolas Roy (pronounced WAH) from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a conditional first-round draft pick in 2027 and a conditional fifth-round draft pick in 2026.
Roy, 29, was in his first year with the Maple Leafs and comes to the Avalanche having recorded 20 points (5g/15a) in 59 games in 2025-26. He’s also won 52.9% of his face-offs on a Maple Leafs team that enters today pacing the circuit at 55.9%. This season, Roy skated in his 400th career game on Dec. 20 at Nashville and notched his 100th career assist on Oct. 24 at Buffalo.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound center has competed in 428 career regular-season games and recorded 186 points (73g/113a) with the Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes from 2017-26. He’s spent the bulk of his NHL career with the Golden Knights (2019-25) where he posted his single-season career-highs for goals with 15 (2021-22 and 2024-25) as well as his 28 assists and 41 points in 2023-24. Roy has produced 30-plus points four times in his career, all of which occurred in the previous four campaigns entering 2025-26.
In postseason play, Roy has registered 32 points (10g/22a) in 79 Stanley Cup Playoff contests. He’s played on five different teams that have qualified for the playoffs, all with Vegas, including each of the last three seasons and was in the lineup for each game the Golden Knights contested in during that span. Roy suited up in 22 games for the Golden Knights in 2023 and chipped in 11 points (3g/8a) en route to capturing the Stanley Cup. During the 2021 playoff run, Roy set personal-bests for goals (4), game-winning goals (2) and face-off percentage (56.9%).
Roy also won the 2019 Calder Cup Championship with the Charlotte Checkers where he was teammates with Martin Necas. The centerman recorded 15 points (6g/9a) in 19 postseason contests that spring. In his American Hockey League career, Roy tallied 96 points (35g/61a) in 168 regular-season games over parts of the 2015-16 and 2017-20 seasons with Charlotte and the Chicago Wolves. He also picked up 18 points (6g/12a) in 27 playoff showings.
Prior to turning pro, Roy spent four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2013-17 with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, serving as team captain during his final season. He collected 261 points (116g/145a) in 247 career QMJHL games with Chicoutimi and was selected to the 2015-16 First All-Star Team when he paced the league in goals (48). He followed that up earning First All-Star Team honors again the next season as well as winning the Guy Carbonneau Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward. Roy totaled 35 points (13g/22a) across 32 career postseason games, winning the QMJHL Gold Cup championship in 2012-13.
Internationally, the Amos, Quebec, native represented his country at the 2022 IIHF World Championship and the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, earning silver at both events. He also took home a bronze medal at the 2015 IIHF Under-18 World Championship.
Roy was originally drafted by the Hurricanes in the fourth round (96th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.
