Vegas Golden Knights center Nicolas Roy was one of the team’s few bright spots in what was a difficult 2021-22 campaign, a season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The 25-year-old flew past his career highs in production, playing 78 games and scoring 15 goals and 39 points. Roy is a big center who still has room to grow, and the Golden Knights are understandably bullish on his future. He’s a restricted free agent who did not elect arbitration, and he is currently in the negotiation process with the Golden Knights for an extension.
According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, “contract talks are further along with Roy” than with the other two restricted free agents, Keegan Kolesar and Nicolas Hague. (subscription link) Kolesar has an arbitration date later this month. It’s easy to see why the Golden Knights would want to retain Roy, possibly even on a long-term deal, as Granger speculates they could prefer. Roy is currently slotted in as Vegas’ third-line center behind Jack Eichel and William Karlsson, although he could even move up in the lineup along either of the wings if new coach Bruce Cassidy prefers to use Chandler Stephanson in that slot. Granger writes that a long-term pact for Roy could come at around a $3MM cap hit, which would be a strong deal for Vegas, especially in the coming years if Roy continues his trajectory and the salary cap eventually rises.
Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Western Conference teams:
- Recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Lowe has operated in many roles for the Edmonton Oilers. He’s been a coach, a GM, a Stanley Cup-winning defenseman, and most recently an important executive. Now, his role is set to change. Per a team announcement, Lowe is retiring from his role as Vice Chair and Alternate Governor of the Oilers. The Oilers state that moving forward, Lowe will “stay connected” to the organization and community as an ambassador, but not in the more senior role he has occupied for many years.
- The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they have named a new development and goalie coach for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Marko Torenius has been named to that role. The Sakyla, Finland native has worked as the goalie coach for SKA St. Petersburg since the 2014-15 season. Torenius has experience working with many talented goaltenders, including Igor Shesterkin, Mikko Koskinen, Magnus Hellberg, Yaroslav Askarov, and Pyotr Kochetkov.
Sorry, we must disagree on labeling Koskinen a “talented” goaltender – weak-glove-hand-itis, and the uncanny ability to often let in the first shot of the game, apparently just for funsies. Igor IS very talented and Askarov has promise. Hellberg has 5 games in 4 years. Kochetkov must have some talent, but more impressive is the degree of sandpaper in his game. He’ll get in anybody’s grill, anytime. And, of course, last but not least, is the VGK definition of “long-term” deal. As long as we like you, or until the next shiny toy comes along. Will it ever be possible to see a VGK player make it to 1000 games there?
Possible? Of course. Likely? Not under current ownership.
@Nha Trang – Exactly. Mr. Foley seems to want to run the ship like it’s an NFL team, thinking the little people only want to see “the shield”, i.e., nameless, faceless players participating in a VR-type game. Kind of like humans playing large-scale bubble hockey. It’s really just another version of an over-the-top Vegas show, right?
Of course we can nitpick on how Koskinen is “only” a world top 50 goalie. But if there’s a single guy who worked with 2 of the top 5 goalie prospects their age (Kochetkov, Askarov), plus the most recent Vezina winner, plus a couple of other goalies that turned out to be rather good: then you DEFINITELY want him to train your youngsters! Good addition for the Canucks.
Well earned retirement for Lowe, who has two more rings than Gretzky