The Toronto Maple Leafs just confirmed what Auston Matthews and company feared. Sending Nicolas Roy to Nathan MacKinnon‘s Colorado Avalanche can only mean one thing and that is not what anybody expected for the 2025-26 NHL season in Hogtown.
The Maple Leafs‘ struggles in the season have now led to another departure. Roy, who had arrived in Toronto in the Mitch Marner trade prior to the campaign, has now been sent to the Avalanche. Not only does the move indicate Matthews and the Buds were on the losing end of that blockbuster trade, but it proves the Leafs are waving the white flag early.
As confirmed by the Maple Leafs through an official statement, Roy has been sent to Colorado, where he will join MacKinnon and the best team in the standings. In return, Matthews’ Maple Leafs will receive a conditional first-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft and a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Roy’s numbers with Matthews and Maple Leafs
Although Toronto traded Marner for Roy in a player-for-player exchange, everybody knew it wasn’t an even deal. The Leafs simply had no other choice. If they didn’t accept it, they would lose Marner to free agency with nothing to show for it. Thus, comparing Marner and Roy’s numbers would be like comparing apples and oranges.
So far in the 2025-26 season, Roy has recorded 20 points (5 goals and 15 assists) in 59 appearances. He is under contract at a $3 million cap hit through the 2026-27 campaign. As he joins the Avalanche (currently in first place in the league), Roy could re-connect with his best hockey and help another Western team hoist a Stanley Cup, like he helped the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.
Conditional picks in Toronto-Colorado trade
“In the event Colorado’s 2027 first-round selection is in the top-10 of the 2027 NHL Draft, Colorado will send its unprotected 2028 first-round pick to Toronto. Colorado currently holds three fifth-round selections in the 2026 NHL Draft; the lowest of those three picks will be transferred to Toronto as part of the transaction,” the Maple Leafs confirmed about the conditional picks involved in Nicolas Roy’s trade.
With MacKinnon’s team set to have Makar, Necas, Landeskog, and others under contract for the 2026-27 season, it is unlikely the Avalanche will finish with a top-10 pick in 2027.
Therefore, all signs suggest Toronto will wind up with Colorado’s first-round selection in 2028. Matthews, whose current deal expires after the 2027-28 campaign, may not even be in “The Six” when that draft selection is made. After a former Maple Leaf put Toronto on high alert over Matthews’ future, concerns about the captain’s departure only grew larger.