Nick Robertson taken out of the lineup for the final Leafs prospects game in Traverse City
With the Traverse City Prospects Tournament wrapping up today, the Leafs have one significant omission from their lineup. 2019 2nd round pick Nick Robertson will not play today.
As The Score's Kyle Cushman points out, it's likely due to the team wanting to place a brighter spotlight on some of the other prospects and put them in positions higher up in the lineup to give them a chance to show what they can do in a more prominent role. But, having said that, many had expected that Robertson would dominate in this tournament and that simply didn't happen.
Now, does that mean we should press the panic button and starting viewing Robertson as a potential bust? Absolutely not. The decision was also likely made with Robertson's health status in mind. The last thing the Leafs need at this point is to have Robertson suffer an injury during a pointless rookie tournament game with training camp opening up this week.
Robertson is looking ahead at a potential make or break season. Now 21, Robertson isn't another inexperienced 18-year-old who isn't quite ready yet. He's quickly approaching the point where the Leafs really do need to find out what they have, which means they'll need Robertson to take a step and prove that he can handle playing more than a handful of NHL games.
The fact that he was injured for the majority of last season might grant him one more year of grace should he fail to make the team out of camp and begin the season in the AHL, but if Robertson does want to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Jason (DAL), he'll need to put his best foot forward and excel this year, regardless of which league he plays in.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 19 | 223 ANSWERS Nick Robertson taken out of the lineup for the final Leafs prospects game in Traverse City Will Robertson prove that he is NHL-ready this season? | ||
| Yes | 137 | 61.4 % |
| No | 86 | 38.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
