One of the Golden Knights’ top up-and-comers is sticking around for a while.
If you were worried about Nicolas Roy’s status as a restricted free agent, you can exhale now. The 25-year-old center won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
Monday afternoon, the Vegas Golden Knights announced Roy signed a five-year contract extension to remain in Sin City. His contract carries an average annual value of $3 million.
Roy is coming off the best statistical campaign of his career. Last season, the Amos, Quebec native logged career highs in goals (15), assists (24) and points (39) while earning big minutes as one of the Golden Knights’ top centers. Of the 23 forwards to suit up in a regular-season game for the Golden Knights last season, only Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault saw more overall ice time than Roy.
The Golden Knights originally acquired Roy from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Erik Haula in June of 2019. Prior to the 2021-22 season, Roy had logged a grand total of just 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 85 career games.
With Roy inked to a new deal, the Golden Knights are $5,794,643 over the salary cap ceiling, per CapFriendly. However, that number also accounts for the contract of injured defenseman Shea Weber, who is likely to be placed on long-term injured reserve. With Weber on LTIR, the Golden Knights will open up more cap space to sign their two remaining restricted free agents — Nicolas Hague, who could potentially be eyeing a not-insignificant raise, and Jake Leschyshyn.