Leafs make roster changes ahead of Wednesday's game in New Jersey; Robertson back in, but a surprising scratch is announced
It appears Nick Robertson's stint in the press box is over. The 21-year-old has sat out the last 4 games after failing to make a big enough impact over his last few games. As a developing NHLer, it's important to get him into as many games as possible. For the Leafs, it's imperative they find some secondary scoring as their defens corps has been decimated by injury.
Coming out of the lineup for Robertson will be Denis Malgin. Malgin has been noticeably dangerous for the Leafs in the offensive zone, but to this point has just 2 goals and 4 points in 16 games. With Robertson set to join Tavares and Marner on the Leafs 2nd line, Keefe is electing to utilize a more defensively minded bottom 6 - an understandable decision considering the aforementioned injury issues on defense.
With the effort we've seen from Malgin, I don't like this move. If anything, he deserves to be promoted. His lack of production, in my opinion, is a result of playing with the poor finishing talent in the Leafs' bottom 6. Unfortunately, there are only 2 LW slots in the top 6 and Robertson deserves to play and has out-paced Malgin offensively.
Having said that, I would still rather see Malgin in the bottom 6 and Pierre Engvall or Alex Kerfoot eating popcorn in the press box. The Leafs will have another chance to break the New Jersey Devils' win streak on Wednesday. They will be hard pressed to end the Devils' 13 game run, especially with their top 3 defensemen out of the lineup. If Robertson can make an impact in a Leafs win, it will go a long way towards securing his spot in the lineup.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 22 | 363 ANSWERS Leafs make roster changes ahead of Wednesday's game in New Jersey; Robertson back in, but a surprising scratch is announced Should the Leafs give Nick Robertson a crack on the top line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander? | ||
| No, JT and Marner are good linemates for him | 82 | 22.6 % |
| Sure - it's worth a shot! | 206 | 56.7 % |
| Don't care, just win | 75 | 20.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
