The Toronto Maple Leafs will begin the regular season in just a little over a week.
That means that the Toronto Maple Leafs will start cutting down the number of players in camp. One player they won’t be cutting – unless they’ve gone and lost their damn minds – is Nick Robertson.
Originally, there were not many jobs available to be won in training camp. A healthy Leafs roster was going to have to sit a very good defenseman, and though there is some jockeying for position (say second line left wing) there is really only Clifford and Simmond’s spots on the roster which are available to be won.
A betting man would probably see those jobs going to Nick Robertson and Denis Malgin at this point, but we won’t know for sure for another week.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Nick Robertson
Nick Robertson makes less than the league minimum (he’s on an entry-level deal) and he has scored three times so far in the pre-season.
Even better for Robertson’s chances is the injury to Engvall, which means Kerfoot will move down to fill in on the defensive third line.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs are at home, and the Kampf line is skating against their opponents #1 line, and Matthews is taking on their second best line, the Robertson-Tavares-Nylander is going to be facing the kinds of players they dream about getting to face.
Each player on that line is a sniper capable of 35+, and with Marner scoring at a 55 goal pace during his post-January MVP turn, and Matthews scoring a goal-per-game, the Leafs scoring options are ridiculous.
And that also means the don’t need Robertson, who does not have to clear waivers. If the Leafs want to keep Zach Aston Reece, Adam Gaudette, Wayne Simmonds or Kyle Clifford, they might have to wait on Robertson to avoid losing one of them.
That would be idiotic. All of those guys are decent enough depth pieces, but the Leafs need to develop their youth, which they haven’t been doing at the NHL level.
It’s OK to let guys get a bit ripe in the minors, but you also have to avoid destroying their spirt and confidence/ There is hardly a person in the world more worthy of being an NHL player who isn’t currently guaranteed a roster spot than Nick Robertson.
In his ten game audition last year, he was snake-bitten, but otherwise played well and put up decent numbers. He’s been a bright spot in training camp, and he’s earned a job.
Nick Robertson is 100% NHL ready. He belongs in the NHL. Now it’s up to the Toronto Maple Leafs to make the correct decision.