Toronto Maple Leafs back Nick Robertson into a corner as he runs out of options

"I think, obviously, at this stage of the summer, the Leafs are still working through what happens with Nick Robertson, but there's a pretty clear path for him to be part of the mix at left wing, to potentially have a role that exceeds what he's had in the past.

But at this stage, Nick Robertson doesn't seem inclined to sign in Toronto and is sticking to the idea that he'd like to play somewhere else. And so I think they have to kind of sort that out first or as part of this."

"He still would prefer a change of address, but it's been slow going on that file. You know, he's got a pretty powerful agent in Pat Brisson, but checking with a couple of different people involved today, he's training back home and waiting for a resolution, but the process certainly hasn't moved along as his camp would like, so we'll see where that goes[...]

It's still early. Deadlines tend to spur signings but... he doesn't have a lot of leverage.

I don't know that nothing can be done. We've seen elsewhere this offseason where players who were asking for a change of scenery and then ended up signing. Martin Necas is example number one. When you're an RFA there's only so much you can do. But checking in yesterday, moving on is his top desire."