Nick Robertson Is Going to Become a Star for the Toronto Maple Leafs

The impatient and/or ignorant Toronto Maple Leafs supporters are eager to let go of Nick Robertson, but the astute and patient ones understand the situation. What’s more, Nick Robertson is destined for stardom.

You fail because you lack his motor and shot. It simply does not occur. Furthermore, since 1990, every player save for Nick Robertson who has scored as many goals in the OHL at his age has scored 40 goals in the NHL.

Oh, and he’s already producing at a first line rate.

The Leafs would be idiots to move on from a 22 year-old making almost no money who can score like he can at the NHL level.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Re-Sign Nick Robertson

Robertson is a penda RFA and the Leafs would be smart to try to go with a higher salary than he has currently earned, but give it to him for a long enough term that would it potentially give them some team-frindly years.

Robertson has made a name for himself in the NHL this season, and he was

informed that his demotion to the minors was a result of his stats rather

than his play. The conventional wisdom holds that for him to be effective, he

must be among the top six, but that is absurd given that he has never achieved

that in the NHL. In the bottom half of the lineup, scoring is essential, and the days

of needing to be a grinder to succeed there are long gone—more than 20 years.

Although Robertson isn’t a key player for the time being, he will eventually

establish himself as a star by earning a top-six berth on an NHL team.squad,

even if teams leverage their potential into Stanley Cup Championships by

having non-core players with his kind of talent.

Robertson’s nine goals and 20 points don’t look that impressive on first glance, but they are actually extremely impressive.

Eight of Robertson’s nine goals have all come at 5v5 – Mitch Marner has 16 5v5 goals in just less than double the ice-time and playing with way better players.

Robertson has 8 5v5 goals, Bertuzzi has 10, Tavares has 11, Knies has 12 and all have played way more than Robertson.

Robertson’s goals-per-minute of ice-time is better than all these players, and it’s

tied with Marner and McMann. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

On the Leafs, only Matthews and Nylander score significantly more goals at 5v5 than Robertson does. Robertson is

over 2 points per 60 at 5v5 which is a 1st line scoring rate. He ranks sixth on the

Leafs and is ahead of Tavares, Knies and Bertuzzi.

Also, Roebrtson’s on-ice numbers are solid. When he’s been on the ice, the Leafs have won his minutes 22-18. They

have a 50% expected goals rating, and they get more shots, scoring chances and

dangerous scoring chances than the opposition.

Notably, whenever he’s paired with his most common linemate, Max Domi, the

Leafs get 54% of Expected Goals, which is absolutely fantastic.

In the end, we have a 22-year-old rookie who is trying to make his way in the NHL on one of the top teams; he has been one of the team’s most prolific scorers and is earning his minutes at a rate that is around the league minimum. Why then do many wish to remove him? “Getting something for him while he still has value” and “fresh starts” are terms I keep hearing. Why is that? Since it doesn’t align with what I am seeing or what the statistics (i.e., evidence) indicate, I sincerely want to know.

Nick Robertson has a bright future ahead of him. All that remains to be seen is

whether it will occur in Toronto or if he will be the latest in an apparently never-

ending succession of players the Leafs gave up on before another team

capitalized on a late-blooming star. He’ll be a tremendous spring for you.