It’s the start of a new chapter for Nicolas Roy. On June 30, Roy was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the sign-and-trade that sent Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights. Speaking with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Leafs Morning Take on Thursday, the 28-year-old shared that it was an unexpected turn of events.
“Really surprised, to be honest,” Roy said of his reaction to the deal. “I wasn’t expecting to be traded this summer, but really excited to be joining a team that’s trying to win right now. That’s the most important thing.”
The 28-year-old previously played in North Carolina and Chicago with the Carolina Hurricanes organization and their affiliates, before heading to Vegas. With the trade, the Quebec native is now set to play for a team in his home country for the first time in his professional career, and he’s ready to embrace all that comes with that.
“It’s gonna be a different challenge,” Roy said. “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.”
While it’s somewhat overstated that Toronto is specifically tough to play in, there is definitely an element of Canadian hockey fanbases that comes with increased attention. A willingness to embrace that pressure is always welcome for any player set to don the blue and white.
Meanwhile, Roy shared that on his way to Toronto, he got some advice about the city from a veteran of the game and the city in Ryan Reaves, who was previously his teammate on the Golden Knights.
“When I was getting back from Vegas we met at the airport,” Roy said. “We got to talk a little bit about all the guys, the city, a little bit of everything. It was nice to catch up with him and see what he thinks of Toronto and he really enjoyed it, so it was good to know.”
After Reaves recently caught some heat for advising Marner on joining the Golden Knights, it’s nice to know he’s out there spreading the good word on the Maple Leafs too.
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