Kyle Dubas suggests that Nick Robertson could earn a call-up due to his strong play
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas met with the media in Toronto on Sunday following the Leafs' morning skate and had a variety of things to say. During his availability, he touched on the Lyubushkin trade, the Dmitri Ovchinnikov ELC and announcement that he'd be heading to Toronto to work with the Marlies, but the one thing about his scrum that stood out above all else was his talk of top prospect Nick Robertson and how he's rebounded from a tough early-season injury in the AHL.
Robertson, 20, suffered a broken fibula in his 2nd game of the season with the Marlies, which took him out of action for approximately 3 months. Since coming back, Robertson has tallied 3 goals and 5 points in 5 games, including this beauty the other night.
Dubas addressed the Robertson situation towards the end of his availability, giving him a lot of credit for the work that he's put in and he also made a very interesting comment before ending the session, stating that Robertson is a player who could very well come in and steal a roster spot before the end of the season if his strong play continues.
Nick [Robertson] has come back to the Marlies after a long injury and he's been outstanding. It's probably the best I've seen him play at that level. He's only 20 years old - I think that sometimes gets forgotten because of the strange way his development has gone. Drafted in the second round, a great season with Peterborough, and then comes into our team and plays in the bubble. Then last season, as a 19-year-old, in the third game of the year he was injured. Injured late in the Marlies season, and then a bad injury in the second game of this season.
Since he's come back, it's the best I've seen him play at that level. Not only on the puck, but off the puck and on the penalty kill. [He's] much more dangerous with the puck and his skating looks a lot better, which is a credit to him and the work he put in with the staff during his injury to continue to become more explosive and improve his acceleration to be able to get open and use his shot.
I'm very happy with [Nick], the key for us is for him to continue to build momentum. One of the things that we've learned in the past with him is, last year with the taxi squad it was up and down, it tends to stunt momentum. I just see him continuing to build momentum, continuing to take on a huge role with the penalty kill and defensively for [the Marlies] while also producing offensively. It'll be a matter of time before he forces our hand.
Since he's come back, it's the best I've seen him play at that level. Not only on the puck, but off the puck and on the penalty kill. [He's] much more dangerous with the puck and his skating looks a lot better, which is a credit to him and the work he put in with the staff during his injury to continue to become more explosive and improve his acceleration to be able to get open and use his shot.
I'm very happy with [Nick], the key for us is for him to continue to build momentum. One of the things that we've learned in the past with him is, last year with the taxi squad it was up and down, it tends to stunt momentum. I just see him continuing to build momentum, continuing to take on a huge role with the penalty kill and defensively for [the Marlies] while also producing offensively. It'll be a matter of time before he forces our hand.
-Dubas on the play of Nick Robertson since returning to the lineup for the Marlies.
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