Heading into the pre-season, there were countless questions surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, not least of which was whether Nick Robertson would stick around.
Given his waiver-exempt status, the glut of forwards on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster and his smaller stature, nobody was quite sure he was going to make it stick.
However, following a three-point night against the Montreal Canadiens, he is now sitting on 7 points in 4 pre-season games. Even against mismatched opposition, that’s still a decent haul.
What’s more; he’s starting to demonstrate that his game is becoming a little more well-rounded and isn’t primarily focused on having an elite shot (as his 55-goal 2019-20 junior season attested to).
Toronto Maple Leafs Might Struggle To Demote Him
All of this is speaking with the obvious caveat that he is waiver-exempt and that always makes him an option for demotion, especially if the Toronto Maple Leafs decide not to risk someone to waivers.
Robertson has shown himself to be quite the impressive fit alongside Alex Kerfoot and William Nylander, with that line out-chancing opponents, combining for 2 goals and three-times as many shots for than against (per Dobber Sports).
Assuming that ultimately John Tavares returns in place of Alex Kerfoot and that Robertson can find the same sort of chemistry, it’s hard to discount the idea of running him on the Toronto Maple Leafs second line.
Doing so would really amplify the offensive talents of the top-six, meaning teams would have to prepare for two groups that can really push a game in the opposing team’s zone.
In fact, that has been an impressive development for Nick Robertson this pre-season; his play in the offensive zone. Given his smaller size, he needs to rely a little more on puck smarts and positioning than body size and puck battles.
In fairness to him, he’s done so – he is winning the puck by showing a certain relentless nature on the forecheck, which makes up for not being able to physically shake players off the puck.
You only need look at the Toronto Maple Leafs third goal against the Canadiens to see how he’s developing in terms of being NHL-ready on the forecheck.
Now of course, there’s still a few more pre-season fixtures to go and there are possibly still a few questions around how ready the team is for a second-line that will be great in the offensive zone but could be a risky proposition elsewhere, but that isn’t necessarily on Robertson wholly.
Perhaps the only slight against Robertson right now is actually, ironically, his effort. Sometimes he overdoes it, as if trying to prove he’s ready for the big-time; putting too much effort in when really a simple play will do.
However, if he lands a spot on the opening night roster, which might still require some shuffling, you’d have to imagine that need to assert himself and try to stand out would eventually be stifled, in a positive manner.
Nick Robertson right about now is making it really challenging for Kyle Dubas to send him back to the Toronto Marlies. He’s out there to make the most of his training camp and pre-season opportunities and it might ultimately lead to tough decisions for the Leafs General Manager.