There is maybe no other forward on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster that needs to perform well these next couple of weeks than Nick Robertson. The 24-year-old winger hit some career highs last season but to maintain his spot, he is going to need to level up and show that he will do anything needed for this team.
Robertson did kick off the preseason on a good note. During the very first exhibition game Sunday afternoon, he scored the Leafs' second goal of the game in the first period and it was an absolute laser from distance.
Nick Robertson rips one home 🚀 pic.twitter.com/KmbKT9MYv4
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 21, 2025
That was beautiful. To hit that while entering the zone and as a one-timer takes such an immense level of skill that we don't even truly get to recognize in Robertson that often. He has so many of the tools that makes him a viable candidate to be a top-nine winger, at the very least. His shot is his calling card, but there is another gear to his game that he has been able to craft throughout the last couple of years.
A play like that is something we dream of most prospects being able to do in the preseason and here the Leafs have someone who might not even get to have a full-time lineup spot -- or even be traded before the regular season starts. Something that would go viral all throughout the online portion of Leafs Nation and have us be over-the-moon excited about some young talent, and here Robertson is, with all that skill.
It isn't anything new or some thought from high hockey philosophy that if Robertson is able to continue scoring some very good and timely goals for the Leafs this preseason, then he should be able to earn a spot in the lineup when Toronto opens its season against the Montreal Canadiens on October 8.
Robertson should be getting lots of opportunity if he was already one of the few players with NHL experience that went to Ottawa to play the Senators on Sunday. With the Leafs hosting the Senators on Tuesday and four more preseason games after that, Robertson should be getting in at least three of the remaining exhibition matches. From there? He needs to perform and not just on one of the top lines either.
The opportunities will be limited once we get into the season. Even if Robertson overwhelms the coaching staff with displays of skill and all-around impact, with Max Domi and Matias Maccelli already being penciled in to fill out the top six, the best Robertson can hope for is that Dakota Joshua underwhelms and is on the fourth line with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz -- for then his expected spot alongside Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy, to be up for the taking. That's the series of fortunate events that need to happen for Robertson to get the biggest opportunity possible.
All of that starts with one thing: Putting the puck in the net often.