Nick Robertson is entering his fourth straight summer of uncertainty, but this time he has leverage
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Nick Robertson is going into his fourth season with no answer on his future place in the lineup, but this time he may hold all the cards given his career season.
There's going to be many changes coming for the Toronto Maple Leafs this upcoming summer and right now there's no real clue as to who is sticking around and who is leaving town considering the team is waiting for Mats Sundin before they seem to do anything.
They have a few contracts to work out though the free agents coming up aren't exactly the biggest names to focus on, and with a wealth of fringe NHL talent available; they are expendable.
But there is one player who is facing uncertainty for the fourth year in a row and it's Nick Robertson. After threatening arbitration last summer, the team signed him to a one-year deal to see what he can do yet again in 2025-26.
Robertson just had his best NHL season and four straight summers of uncertainty is no longer acceptable for either side
He put up a career year, and though the numbers themselves weren't mind-boggling, he did what he could given he was mainly stuck in a bottom-six role. He posted 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) and he's still young enough to grow and hasn't even reached his prime.
But this is the same story as we've seen for years prior. Robertson does alright, asks for more money, gets it, improves slightly, and gets a bit more money. There's nothing that shows that he is jumping to that next level, and it's a vicious cycle of slight progression and a minor bump in pay.
No doubt he is going to look for a bigger pay raise this summer, and the team has to make a decision about whether they actually believe in him and his ability or if they are still going to be cautious and not commit 100% — something that Robertson is well aware of:
I want to be somewhere where I’m wanted. That’s up to the team, whether they want me or not. Whether that’s here, or somewhere else, I know a team will want me.
That sounds like the words of a player who has no idea whether he's suiting up for the team or not next year, but you can tell that Robertson is betting on himself regardless of whether that's with Toronto or not.
Robertson is a restricted free agent with real leverage for the first time and the Maple Leafs cannot lowball him again
But as an RFA , there's a chance that another team could steal him via an offer sheet and as we've seen time and time again in Toronto — they can't afford to let young players leave.
Right now, Robertson is being paid $1.825-million and that's going to go up. Why not throw your confidence behind him and give Robertson a three-year deal at $3-million? That's really not that much especially with a growing cap, and proves to him that you're serious about giving him a chance.
At that point, you then need to bring in the right coach who can end up utilizing him to the best of his ability and not shove him into the bottom of the lineup with no chance to move up. How can he earn it when he's playing 10 minutes a night?
He can use his youth and career year as a bargaining chip; and also threaten to move wherever his brother ends up as part of the negotiations. Toronto lost Alex Steeves, Pontus Holmberg, and Fraser Minten through free agency and trades.
If they don't learn their lesson, Robertson is going to be the next casualty.
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