The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't keep Nicolas Roy around very long.
They traded for him from the Vegas Golden Knights and then sent him away to the Colorado Avalanche in another trade less than a year later.
Now on Saturday, they'll get to see Roy again.
Roy and his Avs will take on the Maple Leafs for the first time since Toronto traded him away.
It's been a lot of moving in Roy's recent past, but he's hopeful to have settled in with Colorado to start putting together a steadier NHL career.
The Maple Leafs will get a look at the player they sent away.
The Maple Leafs dealt Roy because they were having a miserable 2025-26 season and wanted to return future value for him.
The Avalanche sent a conditional first-round pick as well as a conditional fifth-round pick.
Given that a bunch of quality players were moved around at the deadline for less than first-rounder, that was a logical deal for the Leafs to take.
Roy had put up five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 59 games for the Maple Leafs in his lone season with Toronto.
The Avalanche wanted another center, and picking up an established performer like Roy gave them that.
Roy played 15 games to end the regular season with the Avs and had three goals and two assists. He then got 13 games in the postseason while scoring three goals with three assists.
So far in the 2026-27 season, Roy has begun fast — he has two goals and an assist through four games.
Roy had played his first two NHL seasons for the Carolina Panthers , then six for Vegas, before his fast stint in Toronto led him to Colorado.
Roy also has a fascinating role in Maple Leafs history because of his spot in the deal for Mitch Marner.
The Leafs knew Marner wouldn't sign a new contract in Toronto after the 2024-25 season ended, and so they worked out a sign-and-trade to send him to Vegas.
As part of the reward for getting Marner the extra year on his contract, the Maple Leafs received Roy in return from the Avalanche.
It's not an equal-value kind of thing, because a sign-and-trade is a pseudo-courtesy move with the ability to add a little bit for both sides.
The Golden Knights got an eighth year on Marner's contract, while the Leafs got Roy.
They then turned Roy into a couple of draft picks, and now for the first time they'll see him on Saturday.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Why Maple Leafs Traded Nicolas Roy to Avalanche appeared first on HEAVY .
