1) What are the strengths and weakness in Roy? Is he more suited as a number 1 or 2 center?
Roy is a #2 center. Period. Don’t let anyone else tell you other wise. Roy is a gifted playmaker. He can See the ice well and can rack up impressive point totals. Problem is he tended to tune out the coach and tries too hard to do everything himself. He can be a lazy turnover machine and he’s not going to win battles along the corners. He’s a good transition player on the offensive end of the ice. He also happens to be a whiner and a diver on the ice. Overall, I think he just had to get out of Buffalo. Lindy Ruff and he hated each other for years now. Ruff wants guys to play well in their own zone and is kind of a dick to his players, and that just doesn’t jive well with Roy. Let him be an offensive #2 center and I think he’ll get you 70 points.
2) Dallas lost their two best face-off guys this offseason. How good was Roy in that part of the game? Was he counted on in late game situations?
Eh. I’d say average in that department. NHL.com has him at about 50%. A lot of times we’d have Gaustad (Before he got dealt) taking draws in crunch time.
3) Roy struggled last season after returning from a pretty serious injury. Was there a notable difference in his game or was last year just a struggle for the team as a whole?
Roy has always been an enigma in my book. He makes plays that you’ll say “That’s our guy!” and then the next minute, you wanna kill him and trade him for hockey pucks. Did his injury have an effect on him? Probably, but fans didn’t care because they had grown so tired of him. He’s been here since 2004 and just has a knack for being inconsistent. Last year, the whole team struggled offensively, and he got a lot of blame mainly because fans can’t stand him. Again, I think he can get you 60-70 points, but just don’t rely on him to be your 2nd or 3rd best player. He also wasn’t exactly a clutch playoff performer, scoring 7 goals in 41 playoff games.
4) Is Roy a good two-way player? Dallas has been trying to really target those types of guys this offseason.
Eh. Not really. He can kill penalties, but I wouldn’t exactly want him back there. He’s an offensive guy. That’s what should be his forte. Lindy tried making him into a 2-way guy and that’s not his game.
5) He only had one year on his contract. Was that a mutual decision between him and the team or did he not want to come back? Should Stars fans worry that he’s a one-year guy that won’t re-sign (which I’m not sure why we traded for him if he won’t)?
Roy has been on the block as long as hookers in Las Vegas have been. Every year we’ve tried dealing him. Problem was that Darcy Regier (GM) overvalues his own guys. He wants to rip you off. Like I said, he didn’t get along with his coach. He also opened up his mouth at the end of the year in regards to Ruff’s treatment of players and I’m sure that didn’t do him any favors. I will say this, if anyone would want to put up numbers because it is his contract year, I’d put Roy up. He just seems to be a guy who likes his toys. Google NHL Cribs and Derek Roy.
6) Will he be a leader on the team? Is he a vocal guy and how did Sabres fans view him?
No. Roy isn’t a leader. He’s not a rah-rah guy, but again, maybe he will change in a new city. Sabres fans hated him for the most part. There were also rumors about his party habits that didn’t sit well with some folks. He was a punching bag for most fans and his coach. However, we are a very bitter fan base.
