The never-ending Nick Robertson trade speculation
It’s another offseason speculation surrounding Toronto Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson. He’s a restricted free agent with a salary arbitration date early next month. He’s asked for a trade in the past, but the Maple Leafs have held on to him.
Is this the summer that they finally move him, or do they determine that they need his scoring ability and likely, lower-end salary?
Tyler Yaremchuk and Matt Larkin on Daily FaceOff Live discuss Nick Robertson’s future, and the Maple Leafs do look to move, would there be a fit with the Columbus Blue Jackets and disgruntled forward Yegor Chinakhov?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Yaremchuk: “We were joking before the show, every summer for the last three summers it feels like, it honestly feels like longer than that, we’ve had to talk about Nick Robertson. And again, his arbitration hearing is coming up. Who knows if they’ll find a deal?
NHL Rumors: Is Marco Rossi a Bill Guerin Guy?
Who knows if they’ll find a trade? This is a guy who’s been on every trade board for the last three seasons, Matt. His numbers, his box score always look fine. What do you make of Nick Robertson in the Leafs? Are we finally going to get a final, a finale to this saga?
Larkin: “Well, the irony is, this is the first summer where I think I’m not predicting a trade, and then, of course, the trades going to happen because of that.
But I do wonder if the Leafs actually need him right now, because they are crunched against the cap. I assume whatever the number is going to be in arbitration, you can fit him under the him under the cap. There’s still about, I think it’s $2.8 million, give or take. And right now, just after losing Mitch Marner, you have to find depth scoring for cheap wherever you can get it. And he can give you 15 goals in the bottom six.
That said, I know if you trade (Nick Robertson) somewhere else, to a weaker team that could play him on the second line, he’s going to get 20 to 25 goals because he can shoot the puck. Just on a contending team, he doesn’t fit in the bottom six. He’s miscast.
I don’t think he’s a particularly intelligent player. I’m not trying to be rude. I just don’t think it’s his strength. He has good raw tools. Doesn’t have the size, doesn’t have the hockey sense to play in a checking role. Hasn’t really been a good hockey fit.
So I do wonder, is there a change of scenery type of trade partner out there for the Leafs? I think you got to look at the Columbus Blue Jackets with Igor Chinakhov. I can’t take credit for the idea, I’ve seen it out there. But I think that makes a lot of sense. It would be a good bet for the Leafs on a player with upside, and it gives Robertson a change of scenery, which I think he badly needs. He needs a team that has more confidence in him, that won’t keep yanking him in and out of the lineup, and he just never knows where his place is going to be any given day, week or month.
NHL Rumors: Don’t Expect the Calgary Flames to Trade Nazem Kadri
Yaremchuk: “Yeah, and you talked about the Leafs being tight to the cap, not quite as tight, though, as they’ve been in past years. So if there is a deal like having to afford a you know, what is it, $2.1 million for Chinakhov? You can absolutely make that happen if you’re Toronto and you believe enough in the player.
Chinakhov, also 24 years old. One of those stories from the last week asking for a trade out, all of that stuff. There’s always the little veiled threat to and it was in the tweet, I believe from his agent, where it was like, could go to Russia, I could go to Russia if you don’t give me what I want. Then who knows about that?”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.