Toronto Maple Leafs:Nick Robertson’s Historic Season Ranks Him with 5 Hall of Famers

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson posted the highest scoring season the Canadian Hockey League has seen in decades.

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Nick Robertson 53rd overall in the 2019 draft.

At that time, Robertson was coming off an encouraging season with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, with 27 goals and 55 points in 54 games.

Nobody could have predicted the explosiveness of Robertson’s progression in 2019-20.

Nick Robertson’s Historic Season

His 55 goals and 86 points in 46 games led the OHL in goals despite missing over a month due to injury and the World Junior Championships.

Robertson also led the OHL in shots/game, suggesting that his goal scoring rate could be sustainable based on his equally large shot volume. Robertson’s 5.54 shots/game was the highest by a player since the OHL began tracking shots on goal in 2015-16.

A deeper dive into his goal scoring rates show just how historically special Robertson’s season was. His 1.20 goals/game was the highest scoring rate of any player in the OHL, WHL or QMJHL since the 1992-93 season.

In the past 38 years, only three Canadian Junior players under 19 years old have been able to match Robertson’s mark of 1.20 goals/game: Eric Lindros (OHL, 1990-91), Mario Lemieux (QMJHL, 1983-84) and Joe Sakic (WHL, 1987-88).

Over the past twenty years, only two OHL players under 19 have posted a scoring rate above 1.00 goals/game: John Tavares (1.08 goals/game) and Patrick Kane (1.07 goals/game). All five of these player comparisons are current or future hall-of-famers.

If Robertson had been born only 5 days later, he would have become a 2020 NHL draft prospect rather than being drafted in 2019. Based on his incredible scoring rate, Robertson would have been a lock as a top-5 pick in the coming draft, especially considering his grit and competitiveness.

An interesting by-product of Robertson’s extraordinary season is how it has fast-tracked his estimated NHL arrival time. When asked by TSN’s Mark Masters about the prospect of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs next season, Robertson had this to say:

"“Mentally, I t​hink I’m ready, Physically, honestly, I think I have the skill and the talent, but there’s so much more than that. I’m definitely focused on getting bigger, faster and stronger. I can have the shot, I can have the hands, but you got to find the endurance in your game – you know, more leg strength. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘I’m playing in the NHL next season,’ but I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘I’m going to play in the OHL next season.’ I’m putting my head down and grinding every day. I’ll work hard, get better and see what happens.”"

The most likely progression for Robertson appears to be that  the Leafs will give him every opportunity to make the NHL next season for two reasons.

One: his entry-level contract could provide great value to a team that has spent most of it’s salary cap already.

Two: because of his age he won’t, if he is not in the NHL, he won’t be eligible to play in the AHL and will thus have to repeat in the OHL, a league he is clearly too good to play in.

Robertson is eligible to have his entry-level contract slide one more year to begin in 2021-22, but much like Rasmus Sandin, his talent could be too evident for the Leafs to ignore with a strong start in the AHL next season.

If he can continue to stay committed and grow his game, the sky is the limit for Robertson’s scoring potential at the NHL level.