The shortened preseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the entire NHL, is both underway and almost finished. With the Leafs, among other teams, just itching to see who they could add to the full-time roster, a couple of ex-Leafs are starting to make their names heard with their new clubs. Those players are Nick Robertson of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Matias Maccelli of the New York Islanders.
Robertson was dealt to the Penguins in a trade on July 1, in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick. Not long after that, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas inked the now 25-year-old to a two-year deal worth $6.5 million ($3.25 million AAV). Last night, Robertson scored his first goal with his new club in a 7-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Nick Robertson's got his first in new colors! 💛 pic.twitter.com/ZLVzwm4pFm
— NHL (@NHL) September 22, 2026
While this is a straight gut punch for the Leafs and fans, you can't help but just sit back and have a laugh at how Robertson has already made an impact for the Penguins. During his time in Toronto, Robertson played 234 games and recorded 88 points (48 goals, 40 assists). There was a lot of hype around him when he was taken 53rd overall by the Leafs in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. Unfortunately,
Maccelli signed a one-year contract with the Isles on July 1, which now hurts the Leafs more as he went off for a three-point preseason debut in a 4-3 Islanders win.
Matias Maccelli had a three-point night in his preseason debut for the Islanders 👀 pic.twitter.com/WlACiXDdN7
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 23, 2026
Prior to the goal above, where he gave the Isles the lead (his second goal of the night), he tied the game and managed to get an assist on a powerplay goal by Matthew Schaefer. Not to mention, both of his goals came on the powerplay as well.
Last season for the Leafs, Maccelli suited up for 71 games and tallied 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists). Not the absolute worst season, mainly because Toronto in general were not that good. However, there were times when Maccelli would go on a points streak, only to have it end with zeros for a few games. This scenario might just be even funnier than Robertson in the sense that Maccelli has three points, all on the powerplay, in just one game played this preseason.
This could very well be a sign that these two players will add to a bunch of players to prove the Leafs wrong and succeed elsewhere on new teams.
Robertson and Maccelli aren't the first players to make Toronto regret
As mentioned before, having both Robertson and Maccelli start their preseasons off on the right path could add to the misery for the Leafs having players to thrive in new environments. As many know, the list could basically go on forever. But to shorten it, Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak all won Stanley Cups at some point after leaving Toronto.
While both Maccelli and Robertson, respectively, are not likely to win a Stanley Cup with their teams this year, it's not crazy to think that at some point in the future it will happen.
Despite it only being preseason, we won't get ahead of ourselves as these games are only worth a grain of sand. However, it is still funny to acknowledge that both Maccelli and Robertson, right now, have made the Leafs look foolish for not bringing them back.
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