Nick Robertson forcing the Leafs' hand, scoring another huge goal; The Leafs need to call this kid up
Don't look now, but Nicholas Robertson is quickly proving that he doesn't belong in the American Hockey League - and it may result in someone from the active roster losing their job, sooner than later.
Robertson has been playing like a man possessed in the early stages of the 2023-24 season in hopes of showing the big club that he is a capable NHLer. Through 8 games to begin the season, Robertson has amassed 9 points, including this absolute big league snipe against the Laval Rocket.
The Leafs are currently in the midst of a 3-game losing streak and appear very disjointed up front. Tyler Bertuzzi has not yielded the type of results that the Leafs were hoping for when handing him the golden ticket to begin the season on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The same can be said about Max Domi, though he and Matthew Knies have shown some signs of obvious chemistry.
The Leafs have struggled to score goals over the last 3 games, which is exactly what Robertson is showing that he can do with regularity in the American Hockey League. Robertson has 4 goals in his first 8 games this season - all of them absolute snipes.
Robertson is on a mission to make it back to the NHL and the only thing that has been able to slow him down in the previous few seasons has been his durability concerns. He has shown in the early going that his injury issues are behind him. He has taken plenty of contact early on this season and seems to be holding up very well. The problem is, once you earn the label of being "injury prone", people are always waiting for that seemingly inevitable injury instead of focusing on what else is happening on the ice. In Robertson's case, utter dominance right now.
The Leafs are all out of excuses. In the Core 4 era, they've changed the coach, they've changed the GM, they've changed the defense, they've changed the goalies... something's gotta give. This year has to be the year and they're not doing themselves any favours by treading water here early while Nick Robertson lights the AHL on fire just down the road at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Call this kid up. Let him prove that he belongs and maybe solve some roster issues at the NHL level in the process.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 4 | 312 ANSWERS Nick Robertson forcing the Leafs' hand, scoring another huge goal; The Leafs need to call this kid up Does Robertson deserve to be recalled by the Leafs after scoring 4 goals and 9 points in 8 games? | ||
| Yes, I don't know what they're doing | 242 | 77.6 % |
| No, he needs to show that he can stay healthy | 70 | 22.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
