Roy is one of several Maple Leafs, including Matthews and Knies, making a return to the lineup in Columbus.
Nicolas Roy will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup on Wednesday evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, bolstering the team's center depth.
Roy was one of several players dealing with an injury at the quarter mark of the NHL season. The 28-year-old has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. His last game was on Nov. 15 against the Chicago Blackhawks, where he registered a season-high 19:45 of ice time.
Roy, Auston Matthews, and Matthew Knies — all of whom practiced in grey jerseys (usually designated for scratches) on Tuesday morning — will return to the lineup on Wednesday night against the Blue Jackets.
Roy revealed on Wednesday morning that he picked up the injury in his last game, against the Blackhawks. As for how he suffered the ailment: "I don't want to get too much into details. What did they call it? Roy said, before reporters responded with upper-body injury.
"I think I was trying to find my game, try to help the team as much as I can. It's unfortunate, but it happens. It's a long season."
In the 19 games he's played with Toronto, Roy has one goal and three assists, while averaging 14:55 of ice time. He has just one assist in his last 11 games.
It's unconfirmed where the center will play in the lineup, but with the Maple Leafs getting Matthews back, too, it's likely Roy is in the middle of a line in the Maple Leafs' bottom six. What does Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube hope to see from Roy in his return?
"Well, a lot of the same getting back, but he's been out for a bit here," Berube said.
"But just what he was doing [before the injury]. I thought he exited our zone really well. He’s good in the middle of the ice, taking pucks, then get through the neutral zone, and then he did a real good job of hanging on to pucks in the offensive zone just being heavy. And again, defensive responsibilities and penalty kill. So he was playing well for us."
No doubt the return of Matthews and Roy will support the forward depth again. While both players were out (and Scott Laughton in October), Steven Lorentz and Max Domi shifted to the middle at times, which wasn't necessarily a problem, but the two are better suited for the wing.
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Toronto is set to practice on Tuesday morning before heading out for a five-game road trip.
Toronto also recalled Jacob Quillan to play two games at center before he was sent down on Wednesday to make room for the returnees.
Despite not registering very many points in his last stretch of games before going down with an injury, Roy said his game was trending in the right direction. He added that he's not a player that just puts points on the board.
"Can play in different situations, obviously. Can help a little bit on the power play playing that net front there. I can take some important draws," he said on Wednesday morning.
"Obviously, at this point of season, wanted to have probably a little more points than that. Always want to help your team offensively as well, but I think I can help in different situations, like I said, like face-off, play a good defensive game, so just gonna try to keep bringing that."
Puck drop between the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets is set for shortly after 7:00 p.m. ET.
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