I’ll preface this by saying that I like Robertson as a player. That’s not to say that I think he’s what they need in the lineup, because another small, skilled winger isn’t what’s missing from the organization. He’s a little feisty though and has an NHL caliber shot. He’s also very young at 22 years old and with 6 goals and 12pts in 25 games, he’d be on pace for about 19 goals and 39 points over a full 82 game season if he was able to stick in the lineup. For a player his age that should be a sign of encouragement, especially when you compare him to the guy that is currently occupying his spot on the 3rd line, Pontus Holmberg, who is older and hasn’t proven to be as effective offensively, but it appears that patience has worn thin in Leafs Nation and many believe it’s time to move on.
At the end of the day it’s tough to disagree with those that want to move on from Robertson, but my reasoning is likely much different than most.
At the moment the Leafs aren’t a contender for The Stanley Cup. They are firmly entrenched in the pretender category and anybody that would disagree can feel free to discuss it in the comment section. I’m happy to hear differing opinions, but mine is that they are a minimum of two top 4 defenders, a 3rd line centre and a starting goaltender away from being anything close to a contender. Meanwhile, at least 2-3 of forwards Noah Gregor, Pontus Holmberg, Nicholas Robertson, Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Ryan Reaves should be shipped out and replaced with players that can kill a penalty. You need scoring from your bottom 6, so it can’t be filled with nothing but David Kampf type forwards, but contenders don’t possess a 76% success rate while short handed. While I’m not against star players being on the penalty kill, it’s smart to get your bottom 6 forwards involved in that aspect of the game, as it keeps them engaged and makes a team a team, instead of 4 overpaid forwards amongst a cobbled scrap heap of spare parts. It’s time to change some of the personnel (or the system, but the coaching discussion is far too long for me to include here) there.
The thing is, the bottom 6 as constructed doesn’t even produce enough secondary scoring to justify having it built this way and if you’re not scoring and you’re not defensively sound, you’re simply taking up space.
It gets tiring writing the same thing over and over again, year after year, but I’ll say again that the bottom 6 forward group is without purpose, direction or identity. Be tough. Be defensive. Be offensive. Be two-way. Be pests. I honestly don’t care anymore, just be something!!
It’s this lack of something in the bottom 6 that Robertson can’t contribute to, lack of being a contender and the simple fact that two of the Leafs top prospects are forwards (Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten), while they have a very serious lack of defensive prospect’s in the system, that would make me consider moving on from an NHL ready 22 year old.
This also sets up the exact type of trade I’d like the Leafs to make with Robertson.
I saw this clip a few days ago and it got me thinking about it:
“Make it make sense” is what I thought about after seeing this and the thing that would make the most sense to me is a positional swap with a team that wants to add scoring to their lineup, while also being willing to move a defensive prospect out.
It’s a tall order to find any player that would make sense in a 1-for-1 swap, so it may require one team or the other to add a sweetener in any of the following deals, but these are a few moves that I believe would make sense for Robertson:
To WSH: Nicholas Robertson
To TOR: Vincent Iorio
Iorio is a 6’4″, 200lb defender that shoots right, is 21 years old and has 3 NHL games under his belt. He’s labeled as a 2-way defender, with good reach, skating ability and defensive ability. The Capitals traded a 1st round pick to the Leafs for Rasmus Sandin last year, so they may be willing to make a similar move to add an NHL ready Robertson to the mix in exchange for a prospect that’s still working his way up the ranks.
To NYI: Nicholas Robertson
To TOR: Samuel Bolduc
Bolduc is a 6’4″, 220lb defender and you’re about to see a trend when it comes to the size of all the defenders I’d trade Robertson for. It’s long been rumoured that the Isles would like to add more scoring and they have the defensive depth to swap for it. Not only do they have top 4 defenders Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield locked in for years, they also have young(ish) defender Alex Romanov on the roster, so they may be willing to trade out the 23 year old Bolduc. Maybe the deal gets bigger here, with a capable depth defender, such as William Lagesson, going to the Isles so they don’t lose their defensive depth, but considering Bolduc isn’t waiver exempt and is playing less than 13 minutes a night, it’s not as if his value is exceptionally high, but he’s still a worthwhile young player.
To DAL: Nicholas Robertson
To TOR: Artem Grushnikov
I’ll admit that there are enough reasons for the Dallas Stars to walk away from this one, but some teams do consider the idea of adding brother duo’s to the organization to be a good idea and that’s what this would accomplish. With brother Jason Robertson already in Dallas, a defensive group that includes young star Miro Heiskanen, backed up by Esa Lindell, Nils Lundqvist and Tomas Harley, the Stars might take a shot at adding the 22 year old Robertson to the mix. As for Grushnikov, he’s a 20 year old former 2nd round pick of the Stars that stands at 6’1″, 200lbs. He’s a defense first defender that is strong on his skates and the Leafs should be happy to have him.
I’m not going to push out too many fantasy trades, but instead re-state the idea that moving Robertson out, while keeping the prospect coffers full, would definitely make a lot of sense. Targeting players that should be in the NHL and playing well at around the same time as Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan project to be is likely a good idea as well, because it’s that type of cheap and effective depth that helps teams win the Cup. Besides all of that, with just 1 defender picked by the Leafs in the past 3 drafts COMBINED, it would be a very good idea to add more prospects to the blueline.