According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has assured Nick Robertson an opportunity to play a role with the team heading into the 2024-25 season, despite Robertson’s trade demands earlier this offseason.
Dreger was a guest on TSN’s First Up and laid out the very latest on the Robertson saga. “I believe that they’re going to get something done, that Nick Robertson’s likely going to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was a process, and that’s a word we always use around free agents at certain times of the year related to contracts,” explained Dreger.
“I know that he had conversations with Craig Berube, the new coach of the Leafs, and Berube assured him that, look, ‘Take a look at our left side, man.’ Like there’s nothing but opportunity in this lineup with the holes that they have there. And I know that Berube assured Nick Robertson that he’d be given a chance. They like the skillset, as long as the hockey gods smile down on him and he can stay healthy, why wouldn’t you want to fight for a spot in the top-six, top-nine?”
The Maple Leafs are thin on the left-side of their forward group, especially if Max Domi is going to play centre next season. Toronto has Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann, who will battle it out with Robertson for top-six minutes. Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten, Pontus Holmberg, and Connor Dewar will be looking to secure their spot among the bottom six.
Robertson dealt with a lack of trust from former head coach Sheldon Keefe and despite the fact Berube took over, the young forward reportedly preferred a change of scenery. He submitted a trade request to Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, who according to Dreger, has been busy trying to grant Robertson’s wish.
“I’m sure that Treliving, because he’s involved in every trade-related conversation, has explored what sort of interest there is in Nick Robertson across the league, and frankly, I don’t think there is a ton of interest,” Dreger said.
“That’s not to say he’s not a good player, or won’t be a really good player. But it sounds like he’s leaning more to recognizing what he has in Toronto and making the best of the situation. That’s probably going to sort itself out in the days ahead here.”
Robertson, a restricted free agent, remains unsigned as training camps open next week. The soon-to-be 23-year-old winger scored 14 goals in 56 games last season.
