Patrick Roy Seems Patient for Next NHL Job After Reportedly Declining Two Offers

After a QMJHL announcer said Patrick Roy declined two job offers from Western Conference NHL clubs, Adam Proteau discusses which teams could be a better fit.

Legendary goaltender Patrick Roy has already crafted a legacy as one of hockey’s all-time great competitors, both as a player and as a coach. And recent rumors have suggested Roy is waiting for the right job offer to return to the NHL as a bench boss.

QMJHL play-by-play announcer Ray Cloutier said on Quebec City French radio show Dupont Le Matin that Roy had already rejected two different coaching offers from Western Conference teams. Cloutier added he thinks the increased travel that goes along with being a team in the West had a factor as well as potentially taking a sabbatical year. But perhaps Roy knows something the hockey world at large doesn’t know. Maybe he wants to be focused and ready when the perfect opportunity becomes available.

For most people in Roy’s position, that perfect job is probably coaching the Montreal Canadiens. But given that Martin St-Louis has a firm hold on that position, the Habs aren’t going to be employing Roy anytime soon. 

The next-closest potential opportunity will come in Ottawa, where the Senators are currently struggling through another underwhelming year. Sens GM Steve Staios is patiently biding his time as his team figures out which players to build around for the long term and which players will be traded for draft picks and prospects. 

Where does Roy fit in? Well, perhaps he doesn’t want to be front and center in the second half of a season that’s lost its importance to the Senators. Maybe Roy wants a fresh start at the beginning of a season, with a full training camp and a new commitment to Ottawa’s core talents.

Or, perhaps Roy is looking at a team like the Buffalo Sabres, who may choose to part ways with current bench boss Don Granato at season’s end. Again, he may want an entire season to lay out his message and his systems to a new group of players, so time isn’t of the essence for him right now. Roy isn’t in desperate need of the riches that come with being an NHL coach, and he can simply wait until the right situation presents itself.

As a player, Roy was a fiery force, and that dynamic energy followed him into retirement and the coaching scene, recently winning the 2023 Memorial Cup with the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts before stepping back. Any team that does choose to employ him has to know there’s some degree of ego involved with Roy’s decisions, but if he can motivate a team to get to new heights, his ego will be not only tolerated but catered to. The NHL is a zero-sum operation, and so long as Roy delivers positive results for a team, he’ll be welcomed back to the coaching fraternity.

Who knows – maybe Roy does decide the Western Conference is the place he wants to coach. Stranger things have happened. However, it’s more likely Roy chooses a new team based on a number of factors – proximity to his Quebec home, with a roster that is still trying to raise its collective game to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. If he has to wait another half-year to land that opportunity and go about his business in the style that best suits him, so be it.