Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 World Junior Championship Preview

The Lone Wolf

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be heavily represented on the Russian and the Finnish front, but there’s also a lone wolf on team USA who could be a vital part of their team. That’s right, you probably, guessed it – it’s the 2019-20 CHL Sportsman of the year, 2019-20 OHL Most Sportsmanlike Player, and the 2019-20 OHL Leader in Goals, 19-year-old Nick Robertson.

By this time, we all know who he is though. He’s a player who with what he lacks in size, he will make up for in hockey smarts and offensive ability. He’s hard on the forecheck, agile with and without the puck, and always hungry for an opportunity to score.

Last year Robertson played on an underperforming US team where he scored 2 goals and 5 points in 5 games. This year with the hopeful re-additions of Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, and Spencer Knight, the team will have a better finish than 6th.

However, the question of if Robertson will join the US is the main question. NHL Clubs are still waiting to find out the resuming date for next season. Most clubs want their top young prospects to be able to go through a full training camp to be ready for the NHL season.

If training camp begins during the World Juniors, then a lot of NHL clubs will pull players similar to Robertson so they can compete at the NHL level fully prepared. If it’s announced that training camps will begin following the conclusion of the World Juniors, then there’s the possibility that the top tier NHL prospects who are still eligible for World Juniors will be Loaned out to represent their countries.

Alexis Lafreniere, Jack Hughes, Bowen Byram, and Nicholas Robertson are just a couple of the big names who would still be eligible to compete in the World Juniors.