What does a successful 2025-26 season look like for Nicolas Roy?

The Toronto Maple Leafs were able to bring back a body when they did the Mitch Marner sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on June 30th.

While adding Nicolas Roy doesn’t come close to filling the massive void left behind by Marner, the incoming centre does fulfill some needs that will do wonders towards improving the overall depth of the Leafs. His arrival gives them a massive boost down the middle on the third line, bringing quality depth at the position that has not been seen since Nazem Kadri was on the roster back in 2019.  There is little suggesting that he won’t make up one-third of an effective shutdown line that can be responsible defensively while chipping in for the occasional goal or two.

Roy also brings a championship mentality that never hurts to add, as he was a member of the Golden Knights’ 2023 Stanley Cup win and played a pivotal role with his two-way play in the bottom-six that shifted the momentum in his team’s favour. It results in a guy who is willing to embrace the pressures of playing in a Canadian market as he takes on a new quest: helping the Leafs end the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history.

“It’s gonna be a different challenge,” Roy said during an appearance on Leafs Morning Take on August 7th. “Really excited to play for a Canadian team. A bigger market, obviously there’s gonna be maybe a little bit of pressure. But I think that’s a privilege as a player. When you have pressure that means the expectations are high. That’s when you wanna play your best hockey.”

The goal: Provide solid 200-foot play on a nightly basis

Roy is considered an aggressive power forward who is big, strong, and can dominate on the forecheck. It not only makes him effective on the offensive side in regards to net front presence and the battles down low, but also makes him a threat on the defensive side with his ability to wear down the opposition and use his reach to disrupt the play. This results in a player who can be just as effective in a supporting role in the top-six as he is leading the charge on a bottom-six line.

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy noted during his appearance on Leafs Morning Take on July 8th that he and the coaching staff always valued his team-first attitude and his ability to adjust to what his team needs from him. Whether it was a shift on the power-play or in the final seconds protecting a lead, the Golden Knights knew they were in good hands with Roy on the ice. Cassidy also mentioned that he believes Roy has another gear in him that could be unlocked in Toronto, though you shouldn’t expect him to suddenly become one of the team’s leading scorers.

For Roy to be a positive contributor for his new team, he simply needs to keep doing his thing by being reliable at both ends of the ice and he should have no trouble doing it. Who he slots with is a question only head coach Craig Berube knows, but there is a good chance Roy will see the bulk of his minutes alongside Dakota Joshua and one of Bobby McMann or Steven Lorentz. No matter what combination is utilized, there is a good chance that it will result in an effective third line.

The expectation: Maintain his consistent pace of a 15-goal, 30-point campaign

The aforementioned numbers were roughly what Roy was able to amass more often than not throughout his career. His career high was 41 in 2023-24 and finished two points shy of the 40-point plateau in 2021-22, but he is usually a player who will hover around 30 points. In other words, the prototypical production of a bottom-six two-way forward.

That’s not to say the Leafs shouldn’t hope to see Roy improve on his previous career-best, but it would be foolish to expect him to suddenly emerge as one of the team’s leading scorers because that’s not the type of player he is. The value will come from his all-around play, and that means getting utilized in all special teams as well as his shutdown role. Combine that with his knowledge of what it takes to win it all, and the Leafs should be more than happy with what he will bring to the table on a nightly basis.

There will be some that compare how his season goes to how Marner’s maiden voyage in Vegas unfolds, and that would be a tad unfair to Roy because the two could not be any more different as players. His arrival won’t replace all the offensive output going to Nevada, but he can play a key role in improving the Leafs’ bottom-six and making the depth of the team the best it has been in over half a decade.