Another season but the same story, what does the future hold for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson?
The Chris Johnston Show: Chris Johnston and Julian McKenzie talking about Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson and what his future may be with the Maple Leafs, and what they could be looking for if they move him this year.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
McKenzie: “Nick Robertson, future being up in the air again just feels like a here we go again scenario with that.
Johnston: “Yeah, it’ll be a trade if it ever happens that everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s that’s been in the works for a long, long time.’
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And look, I’ll say this, Nick Robertson only has so many rights under the CBA. But even after wanting a trade in summer 2024, he ended up signing last September. You know, had a reasonably good year. The problem for him was when it mattered most, when the Leafs were in the playoffs, he didn’t dress too often.
And I think ultimately, he’s a very driven kid, a very competitive guy. You know, and he’s on a team that’s been deep at the forward position, you know, that that has definitely limited his opportunities to some degree in the NHL. He’s actually scored at a reasonable rate, given that he’s not really playing power play time, you know, he’s done a lot of you look at, you know, seasons of 13,14, goals. A lot of those goals were scored at even strength.
You know, I think it’s, it’s plausible that he goes somewhere else, plays a little higher in the lineup, and kind of meets some of the expectations that have been there for him. So, you know, we’ll see what happens.
The Leafs, obviously, aren’t just giving away for nothing. I think they see him as an asset. He’s still a pretty young player. It feels like he’s been around forever, but part of that is he made his debut in the NHL at age 18 or 19 in that covid year, coming back in the 2020 playoff bubble. And so he has been around the fringes of the Leafs roster for quite some time.
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But it feels like the time might be writing a little bit short for him and the Leafs organization, but we’ll have to see how things go. We haven’t exactly seen a bushel of trades around the league here the last eight weeks. It’s been pretty quiet on the, on the transaction front and not been, not been an easy time to move players.
McKenzie: “One more hypothetical, if it gets to that point, is Brad Treliving more likely to want another young player in return for Nicholas Robertson, or is he more likely to say, just give me a draft pick as an asset?
Johnston: “Well, I think the Leafs need assets themselves for future trade deadlines. I mean, one thing in Toronto is the cupboards relatively bare because they’ve, they’ve been a trade deadline buyer for season after season after season.
So, you know, I think they’re in a position to be open-minded about the return. It’s about getting what they deem to be fair value. But you know, if it’s another young player, if it’s a draft pick, you know, presumably it’s something that they can they can use to potentially make future trades as well.
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Because, you know, the other side of a Mitch Marner, you know, life without Mitch Marner is the Leafs actually have more cap flexibility than normal too. So you know, they might actually be in the market for different kinds of trades as this season goes along themselves, if those opportunities arise.
But, but they really, the one thing they’re missing is that the capital to make those, those types of moves. They’ve already traded away their 2026, first round pick, and so, you know, I don’t know that it has to be one thing or another, other than they can always use a little bit more value for for future moves.
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