An Even Better Time to Trade Nick Robertson Is Never

Oct 20, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Nicholas Robertson (89) scores the winning goal and celebrates with Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) against the Dallas Stars during the overtime period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Nicholas Robertson (89) scores the winning goal and celebrates with Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) against the Dallas Stars during the overtime period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a home-grown prospect, a local kid, who may already have one of the best shots in the NHL, who plays with a tenacity otherwise unseen on the Leafs top lines, and he does it  for a league-minimum salary cap hit.  All of which begs the question:

When could there be a better time to trade Nick Robertson than now?

He’s got everything you look for in a player for another team: he’s talented, cheap, and oozes potential.

Its honestly crazy he’s still here.

Thankfully, the Toronto Maple Leafs no longer take notes on how to run their team from the media. Their long running campaign to get the Leafs to trade William Nylander has been a failure, and so it seems they’ve turned their attention to another player it would be downright idiotic to trade.

If there is one thing we know the Leafs won’t do, it’s trade a potential superstar who currently contributes with the smallest possible salary cap hit.

Especially for an injury prone defenseman whose best career season is unrepeatable (if a defenseman like him scores 18 goals, like Rielly once scored 20, it’s just a lucky season and not an indication they are an annual 20 goal threat).

This (trading Nick Robertson for Chychrun) is a bad idea, and here is why:

May 14, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44)   Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
May 14, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44)   Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

Trading Nick Robertson Is a Horrible Idea

I know that it always seems cool to get a potential game changing defenseman.

But Jacob Chychrun does not have that potential.

In fact, his career potential is way lower than Nick Robertson’s.

The Leafs best strength – scoring goals – has failed them frequently in the playoffs.  So much so that I think it is preposterous to trade Robertson under the reasoning that their forwards are already “good enough.”

The Leafs defense might not have a version of Auston Matthews on it.  That is OK, since most teams don’t have that.  It would be nice to have Victor Hedman or  Cale Makar, or even Dougie Hamilton.

But Chychrun isn’t on that level and the odds are he never will be.

Nick Robertson is one day going to score 40 goals.  It should not be in front of 2300 fans for the world’s worst professional sports organization. 

Chychrun is an excellent player, but he isn’t going to come here and be the kind of Victor Hedman-esque pillar that you should be targeting if you are going to pay an exorbitant price in a trade.

The trade that the Toronto Sun proposes would be good if the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting Moritz Seider.  But It’s just really stupid to pay that much for Jacob Chychrun.

If there was a chance to add a Chara, Hedman, Makar type player in his prime, you almost couldn’t overpay to acquire that.

If I thought it was even 50% that Chychrun was capable of that, I’d deal Robertson, and much much more.

But he isn’t. He is just a good offensive player who shoots left and likely wouldn’t even be the Leafs best defenseman.

With Sandin and Liljegren combining for a lower cap hit, why are we even having this conversation?

HAMILTON, ON -MARCH 12: General Manager Kyle Dubas of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
HAMILTON, ON -MARCH 12: General Manager Kyle Dubas of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Where Does Chychrun Even Fit?

The Leafs have Giordano, Sandin and Rielly on the left side.  To go from any one of those player to Chychrun is not a very big upgrade, even under a best case scenario where Chychrun reaches his max potential.

Sandin is three million dollars cheaper, negating any upgrade outside of Chychrun unless he was to somehow turn into an absolute best-in-the-league kind of player.

Which he won’t.

Giordano is so cheap, he stays.

That leaves Rielly.

He’s the heart and soul of a team that, for all its other flaws, has exhibited quite a few examples of never giving up.  The fact that this team even stayed together shows to me the kind of never-quit attitude the Toronto Maple Leafs fans tend to value in their players.

Theoretically, this is the only way a Leafs/Chychrun  trade even makes any sense.

Going from Rielly’s eight million for the next seven years after this one, to four million for a three year commitment of a younger player, with more upside, does make sense on a number of levels.

But even then, Rielly’s leadership, place on the team, and superior offensive ability make such a swap a complete waste of time.

The Leafs would pay some kind of ridiculous premium in order to make the swap[, then the Coyotes would eat half of Rielly’s salary and get a king’s ransom for half price 70 point defenseman in his prime.

The Leafs would save $3 million and be perhaps slightly better.  In the long run it’s a win for them because of the contracts, but a major loss in terms of team chemistry, the community etc.

Morgan Rielly was signed because he IS the Toronto Maple Leafs.  This is his team, his dressing room, his boys.

The cost of that upgrade, small as it is,  is to rip the heart out of the team one week into the season when you had all summer to do whatever you wanted.   The Leafs were under no pressure to sign Morgan Rielly and could easily have let him walk like they do with all of their other RFAs.

They signed him because he is the de facto captain of the team, a genuinely decent person and valued member of the team and community.

Morgan Rielly is one of the longest serving Leafs of all-time.  He also brings with him all the experience and knowledge gained from all their recent attempts to get over the first round hump.

The upgrade from Rielly to Chychrun is small at best and is therefore not worth pursuing. The Leafs don’t need  the cap space that badly.  There are other ways to get it if they want. 

Muzzin makes $5.5

Murray makes $4.5

There is ten million big ones on the LTIR (technically Muzzin might return, but all signs point to an eventual LTIR placement).

Kerfoot and Holl make another $5.5.

This gives the Leafs  a lot of flexibility to make moves, and why would they trade such an integral part of their team for an oft injured question mark who plays the position in which they are the deepest.

Jacob Chychrun is not worth Nick Robertson in a straight up, one for one trade.  The best time to trade Nick Robertson is never.

The most important thing the Leafs have done in the last year is break Sandin, Liljegren and Robertson into the NHL.  Patiently waiting for them to become core players is going to help this team a hell of a lot more than a panicky trade for an overrated, injury prone player they don’t need.

Chychrun plays the position the Leafs are deepest at (left defense) and if Muzzin is done for the season, that means they finally have enough room to play their six best defenseman.  Pretending that they lost the All-Star version of Muzzin  and therefore have the need to make a panic trade for a guy who might not even be better than Rasmus Sandin is non existent.

I have been saying for a year that if they could waive Muzzin and lose him for nothing, it would make room for better, more reliable players.  I feel sorry he is hurt, but he isn’t any kind of loss to the Leafs. He was their worst defenseman, and it was made worse because the coach can’t/won’t play him as if he is.

If Muzzin can go to the LTIR for the rest of the season, it sucks for him personally, but is a huge break for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  It isn’t something they need to respond to with a trade. Let alone one of the worst ones ever proposed by any member of the media, ever.

Nick Robertson is untouchable.  Trading him to Phoenix after he finally establishes himself in the NHL is about the worst idea I’ve ever heard.  Or at least it was until I read further and noted that “keeping Alex Kerfoot” was one of the benefits of trading Robertson.

OK then.

Let me be very clear: No signs are pointing to the desert.

Next. Leafs Prospect on a Tear. dark

The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t trading Nick Robertson any more than they are going to fire their coach or trade William Nylander.  This is a very bad, very desperate idea.  It ain’t happening.

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