Nick Robertson Joins Toronto Maple Leafs for Game 81

The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Nick Robertson from the AHL.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be in Detroit tonight for the second-to-last game of the 2021-22 NHL Regular Season, and Nick Robertson will be in the lineup.

According to Mark Master’s practice lines, Robertson will skate with John  Tavares and Ilya Mikheyev tonight.

The move is likely due to the fact that Michael Bunting remains out of the lineup, however, Robertson is a quality player who adds to the Leafs depth and could be a weapon in the playoffs.

At the very least, Robertson’s elite shot makes him a weapon on the second power-play, not to mention that he’s been red-hot of late.  Since last playing with the Leafs he has been on fire in the AHL, and is up to 27 points and 15 goals in 26 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Detroit Red Wings

Jack Campbell will get his last start (presumably) of the regular season tonight, while it appears that Jake Muzzin will also get in a game before the end of the season.

Sandin and Holl will be healthy scratches, while Clifford, Kase and Simmonds also take a rest.

It will be interesting to see how Nick Robertson plays tonight. He’s over a point-per-game in the AHL, which is a huge indication of being NHL ready.  Additionally, don’t forget, that he played in an NHL playoff game just months after being the youngest player in his draft class.

Had Robertson been born just a couple days later, he’d have been a likely top ten pick in the draft class where he was among the older players.   Additionally, every single players since the 1990s who has scored goals at the rate he did in the OHL became a 40 goal NHL scorer.

The Leafs will have him permanently in the lineup next season, and he’ll give them two more years at the league minimum.  It’s going to be fun watching the Leafs integrate a nice group of prospects into their team over the next couple of seasons.

A single point tonight will clinch home ice advantage in round one for the Leafs.  A Tampa win coupled with a Boston loss will guarantee that the Leafs play Tampa. Boston could win their final games and finish with 109 points, but Tampa currently has three games left as well and has 106.

Of course, the main attraction to tonight’s game will  be to see if Auston Matthews can score twice and hit 60 on the season.  Weirdly, Matthews hasn’t scored in five straight games and when coupled with the games he sat out, it’s actually been over two weeks since he scored.

This is maybe a good thing, as maybe he needed to cool off a little before the playoffs so he could heat up again.