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Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Injured…Again

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 5: Nick Robertson #89 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 5, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canucks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-4. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 5: Nick Robertson #89 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 5, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canucks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-4. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him out significant time on Thursday night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Nick Robertson in the 2nd round of the 2019 NHL Draft, and while he looked like a steal when he dressed for a playoff game right after being drafted, he’s dealt with one injury after another ever since and can no longer be counted on as part of the Leafs future.

In 15 games this year, Robertson has two goals (both in the same game) and five total points, as he attempts to become a regular on what might be the best team in the NHL.

Robertson has proved that he’s too good for the AHL, as shown by his play last year, scoring 16 points and registering 28 points in 28 games, and if he was trying to break into the league on any other team, he’d likely be getting regular minutes.

So far this season he’s played the majority of his time with John Tavares where they have won their minutes and skated to a 54% expected goals rating. 

Toronto Maple Leafs and Nick Robertson

Nobody was expecting Robertson to be a point-per-game player in the NHL yet but we were hoping that he’d be on a similar path as his brother, Jason.

Jason Robertson has 81 points and 166 points in 155 career NHL games thus far, including a 41-goal campaign last year and has 23 goals in 27 games this year. He’s currently a Hart Trophy favorite and is only two years older than his brother Nick.

Although they share the same last name and have similar offensive skills, they’re both very different sizes.

Jason Robertson is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds. He’s only missed a handful of games thus far in his young career.

It’s possible that Nick Robertson will never live up to his potential because of injuries.  His size and the way he plays could contribute to his injuries, or it could just be a coincidence.

Players of every size and shape deal with a multitude of injuries.  It’s unfortunate for Robertson because he’s so clearly what the Toronto Maple Leafs need right now – depth scoring from a player on an entry-level contract.

Nobody ever wants to see a player get hurt, but that injury last night could have been avoided if Robertson was stronger on the puck. Before you get mad at me, I know Matt Roy interfered with Robertson hitting him before he could reach the puck, but it’s not like the puck was 20 feet away from them and he didn’t do Roy was on the ice.

It was clearly a penalty but the puck was a stick-length away when Robertson got hurt. What do you expect is going to happen when you go into the corner? Do you think Roy is just going to let you get the puck easily in the offensive zone?

Absolutely not.

Roy, although he was a little early to it, was doing what every NHL defenseman does and used his body to try to get the puck out of the zone. I hate that Robertson got hurt but that’s unfortunately going to continue to happen when he goes into the corners if he can’t get stronger and protect himself.

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This is going to be the third serious injury in Robertson’s young career and he probably won’t be back for another few months, which is another blow in his development. He’s young enough to prove us wrong but at this rate, but at this point it’s hard to picture him living up to his previous billing.

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