3 Players Leafs Should Re-Sign This Offseason
No. 1: Nick Robertson
I know that his production isn't at the level that his brother Jason's is, but Nick is a fantastic player and the Leafs would be dumb if they didn't re-sign the 22-year-old to a long-term contract while he's an RFA.
Robertson finished the 2023-24 campaign with 14 goals and 27 points, but played way better than his stats would suggest. On a per minute basis, he was only behind Auston Matthews, while scoring at a similar rate to William Nylander and Bobby McMann.
If he was given a full-year of minutes in the top-six, there's no reason to believe that Robertson won't be a 30-goal scorer and potentially 70-point player.
His shot is the second best on the team, next to Auston Matthews, and he finds himself in the right situations offensively, but has been snake-bitten.
Robertson finished the playoffs with zero points in six games, but it wasn't because of his lack of effort. Instead, it was because of his ice-time. In seven games, his most TOI was 10:55, which is crazy, since the Leafs had such a hard time scoring.
You would think it would be a good idea to put one of your best offensively skilled players on the ice if you want to generate offense, but Sheldon Keefe continued to sit Robertson when he could have helped.
Speaking of Keefe, now that he's no longer here, it's quite possible that a new coach will see what Keefe was missing.
Hopefully that new coach is an offensively-minded one because Robertson will shine with a coach who allows him the freedom to be himself and generate chances. Robertson is not a player who's suited in the bottom-six but instead needs top-six minutes to do his work, so the Leafs need to re-sign him, not only because he'll be impactful, but because he'll be a cheap addition to the team's top-six.