The competition is sleeping at Nicolas Roy’s house.
The Avalanche forward wouldn’t say which current Golden Knights player is renting his residence in Las Vegas, but good luck finding a juicier subplot in this Western Conference Final than Roy’s full-circle trajectory over the past 11 months.
He’s gone from being a disposable asset in Vegas, which shipped him to Toronto in a sign-and-trade for Mitch Marner on July 1, to being coveted in Colorado at the trade deadline when the Avs acquired him to be their third-line center.
No Avs player knows the Golden Knights better than Roy, who said after Sunday’s practice that he’s still close with every one of his former teammates in black and gold.
“We’re going to put that friendship aside for a week or two here,” said Roy, who has logged three goals and three assists through the Avs’ first nine playoff games. “Thatap just how it goes.”
Roy said he never saw last summer’s trade coming after six seasons in Vegas, which included hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2023.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” he said. “Itap part of the business. Obviously, with the Marner situation, we knew somebody would go the other way. Thatap just how the business happens.
“As a player, you expect it more at the deadline than right there in the middle of the summer. But again, you never know. Itap part of the business. It can happen any given day. I just got surprised a little by it.”
The trade deadline is the NHL’s version of “Chutes and Ladders,” and Roy certainly knows he landed in the right spot. After 59 games in Toronto, he left a franchise heading for a last-place finish in the Eastap Atlantic division and an to join a roster that had been the NHL’s best all season.
He’s quickly proven his worth in the Avs’ deep lineup, although he wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Avalanche has “unlocked” the best version of him.
“I gotta put in the work,” he said. “I gotta feel good on the ice. Unlock — itap pretty vague … I’m in a good position right now. I’m playing with great players, obviously. I’ve been in the league a long time and can make a lot of plays. So I’m in a great situation right now. Just keep trying to do my best.”
In the Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup in 2023, a year after Colorado’s run, Roy had 11 points in 22 games — three goals and eight assists. Marner, meanwhile, has 18 points so far for surging Vegas this postseason, netting seven goals to go with 11 assists.
After an underwhelming regular season, Vegas has been on a heater since firing Bruce Cassidy with eight games to go in the regular season and replacing him with John Tortorella.
Vegas has reached its fifth conference final in its nine-year existence by reeling off 15 wins in 20 games under Tortorella, knocking off Utah and then Anaheim in the playoffs.
Under Cassidy, Roy earned a reputation as a reliable player capable of winning playoff shifts. Itap why Colorado wanted him at the deadline.
“(Coaches) give you that challenge, and you gotta step up to it,” he said. “I feel like you build your coach’s confidence through time there. Obviously, being a new guy, I’m trying to still build that so that they trust me in every situation. But I always enjoy some challenges. Play those big minutes when itap really important hockey. Thatap when I try the most.”
Nazim Kadri, another trade deadline acquisition for the Avalanche from Calgary, who was a key piece of Colorado’s championship team in 2022, said he and Roy haven’t talked at length about who hit it bigger at the trade deadline. But he said both know why they’re in Colorado now.
“This is what you look for when you get acquired at the deadline,” Kadri said. “You want to be one of the final teams standing. We’re certainly here, obviously looking for a greater goal, but itap nice to be able to contribute in big ways and ultimately help.”
Kadri also added that media narratives about players facing former teams can be overblown, but in Roy’s case, there’s certainly plenty of motivation.
“Obviously, he’s had a lot of great memories there, and now, I’m sure, that he’s here, he’s going to want bragging rights,” Kadri said.
“Obviously I know their system,” Roy said. “I know a lot of their players’ tendencies as they know mine, so, I don’t think itap a big advantage. The game is just so fast. You don’t want to overthink it. You want to play your game. Change a little bit of your game, depending on who you play. But I just want to play my game.”
