Nick Robertson needs to stay consistent this year to prove his spot on the Leafs and to avoid another season of being an on-again, off-again healthy scratch.
The winger re-signed with the Leafs this offseason to a one-year, $1.82 million deal. The deal was met just in time to avoid arbitration. Robertson filed for an arbitration hearing on July 5 and was set to be held on August 3, just one day after the deal was announced.
He was drafted in 2019 and had an impressive last year in the OHL, putting up 55 goals in 46 games for the Peterborough Petes. His first season with Toronto was underwhelming; he played just six games with no goals and one assist. In his five seasons in Toronto, he has played 156 games, scoring 32 goals and 42 assists.
It seems like the organization likes Roberston and doesn't want to give up on him. Despite scratching him on multiple occasions, and at times for consecutive games, they see his potential. He has a good wrist shot but tends to fire too soon. At five-foot-nine, he doesn’t fit into the categories of ‘big guys’ on the team, and doesn’t play a physical game. New additions to the forwards, Nicholas Roy and Dakota Joshua, each offer a larger on-ice presence.
So where does Roberston fit in the lineup? I think he needs to be paired with talent, find some chemistry, and we will see him hit a hot run. We know he can shoot and score; he just needs to play a consistent game. The 23-year-old has played well with Matthew Knies, and incorporating some shifts early in the season on the same line could be beneficial for his confidence and game. Of course, Robertson won’t constantly be in the Matthews-Knies line, but playing him with a proven successful pairing is key. The two got in some time together last season in the Knies-Domi-Roberston line while Matthews was out on injury.
It could be interesting to see how a Roberston-Roy pairing would work. This also depends on Roy’s performance early in the season. It’s most likely that he will remain a bottom-six player. This is all assuming that he doesn’t get traded, which seems to be a speculation amongst Leaf fans.
As training camp and pre-season games approach, hopefully, Robertson’s spot in the lineup becomes clearer. It will be interesting to see how his game develops in the coming weeks and who he proves to work well with.