Maybe Nick Robertson Just Needed to Get Out of Toronto

Some hockey players you just keep rooting for, even when you know the numbers don't quite make the argument. Nick Robertson has always been one of those players for me.

Maybe it was the way he played. Maybe it was how badly he seemed to want it. Robertson never lacked effort in Toronto. He wanted to score, wanted to stay in the lineup, wanted to establish himself and, more than anything, seemed to want to prove that he belonged. It just never quite happened.

Now Robertson is in Pittsburgh, and maybe—just maybe—he has found the place where it can.

Sometimes a Change of Scenery Really Is a Change.

Robertson was traded to the Penguins on July 1 for a 2028 fourth-round pick. Kyle Dubas, who knew Robertson well from his Toronto days, then signed him to a two-year, $6.5 million contract. That's a pretty good vote of confidence.

Robertson is now 25, and he has already played 234 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring 48 goals and 88 points. Those numbers aren't terrible, but they never really tell the whole story.

The problem in Toronto was that you could see the player he might become, but he couldn't find the ice consistently enough. There were flashes. There were stretches where the shot looked dangerous, and the compete level was obvious. Then something would happen. A quiet stretch. A missed opportunity. A trip out of the lineup.

And the whole thing would start over again. That's a difficult way for a young player to develop.

Maybe Pittsburgh Is Where It Clicks for Robertson.

Robertson scored his first goal as a Penguin in a 7-4 loss to Detroit this week. It was only one preseason goal, so nobody should be building a statue just yet. But it was nice to see. And maybe that's the real story here.

Sometimes players don't need another lecture, another adjustment or another opportunity to prove themselves in exactly the same circumstances. Sometimes they need a different coach, different teammates, a different role—or simply a place where they aren't constantly being compared with what they were supposed to become.

Robertson was always a favourite around here because the effort was so easy to appreciate. He wanted a place in Toronto so badly that you sometimes wished you could will the puck into the net for him.

Now Robertson has a new team. Maybe this is his place.

Here's hoping he finds his game there. And if Nick Robertson finally puts everything together in Pittsburgh, there won't be much satisfaction in saying, “See, the Maple Leafs should have kept him.”

There will just be something satisfying about seeing a player who worked that hard finally get the breakthrough he was chasing.