Avalanche acquire Nicolas Roy from Leafs for draft picks
The Colorado Avalanche acquired forward Nicolas Roy from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday in exchange for a conditional 2027 first-round pick a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick.
TRADE: We’ve traded forward Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche ℹ️ shorturl.at/jLjxI
The first-round pick is top-10 protected, which means they would send the Leafs their unprotected 2028 first-round pick if they finish in the bottom 10 in 2026-27.
Colorado also holds three fifth-round picks in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft; the lowest of the three will be given to the Leafs at the end of the season.
Roy was in the midst of his first season with the Maple Leafs after getting acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Mitch Marner deal last June. The 29-year-old has scored five goals and 20 points in 59 games this season, putting him on pace for 27 points. It would be the first time he has failed to reach the 30-point threshold since 2020-21, when he had 15 points in 50 games during the COVID-19 impacted campaign.
Drafted 96th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015, Roy would spend two seasons with the club before joining the Golden Knights in 2019-20. It was there where Roy would go on to play his best hockey, highlighted by his 13 goals and 41 points in 2023-24. Roy was part of the lineup when they won the 2023 Stanley Cup, serving as an aggressive center who wasn’t afraid to get in the way of opponents.
To date, Roy has 73 goals and 186 points in 428 career regular season games over nine seasons. Roy is set to become a UFA after the 2026-27 season, with his contract holding a $3 million AAV.
The Avalanche are 41-10-9 with 91 points, the best record in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Leafs are 27-24-11 with 65 points, seventh in the Atlantic Division and eight points back of a playoff spot.