17 hours Ago
BOSTON — Nick Robertson smiled because he had every reason to. Notching three goals over his last two games while playing with fire and tenacity that hasn’t always been present in past seasons will bring a smile out of the left winger. Especially after a middling stretch through January and early February when he wasn’t finding the back of the net and his ice time dipped, too.
Advertisement But the Robertson that emerged in Tuesday night’s 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins left old versions of his game in its wake. He lifted David Pastrnak’s stick with enough voracity to send it into the crowd. After trying to dig at the puck from under Jeremy Swayman, Robertson mixed it up with Bruins defenceman Parker Wotherspoon.
And of course, he tied the game in the third period by trying to bring the puck closer to goal. NICK ROBERTSON 🚨 HE DOES IT AGAIN! TIE GAME! pic.twitter.
com/mqeCgiNIto — Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 26, 2025 And frankly, Robertson looked like he enjoyed his game more than, well, ever in Toronto. “This year as a player, I think I’m better than I was last year,” Robertson boasted on Wednesday. “I’m more well-rounded and playing more, not like a rat, but being hard (to play against).
” Robertson’s positivity is all the more notable considering the trade deadline is just over a week away. It’s the annual time of the year when Robertson’s future as a Leaf will be questioned. He did request a trade out of Toronto before the season, after all.
That’s old news for Robertson. “I want to be here,” he said of playing in Toronto with the trade deadline approaching. And if Craig Berube and the Leafs can get this version of Robertson more and more, they would have no problem with that equation.
This version of the player looks better suited for the playoffs than the player who was scratched in Game 7 against the Bruins last season. “Last year, the most I played was like 20 games, then I’d get scratched. I’d be in and out.
I hate that,” Robertson said. “I made a decision that I want to play every single game. I want to be in the lineup every game.
I want to be an impactful player and so far it’s working.” Robertson’s name has never been far away from trade talk. His skill and shot were evident from the moment he leaped from the Peterborough Petes straight into the playoffs in 2020, but he’s never looked completely settled or safe with the Leafs.
A lack of opportunities with the Leafs led to him asking out of Toronto. Advertisement It would make sense that with Robertson starting to score and looking like an impactful NHL player, the next few days would be the right time to move him, right? Wrong. Robertson’s renewed focus in Toronto has him looking differently at his future as a Leaf.
A recent conversation between Berube and Robertson changed the course of the winger’s season. The coach’s message was uniform to what he’s told a number of Leafs forwards: get to the inside of the ice, don’t shy away from contact to disrupt play and don’t stop moving your feet. “I think (I’ve) just learned to score close to the net.
I think it’s more of the grittier goals, more of like getting to the net type goals and using my feet instead of maybe setting up plays and shooting from one time or fanning out for a shot more and drive the net and shooting,” Robertson said. He is on his way to adapting to Berube’s style and deserves credit for doing so. Given how often Robertson played on the perimeter, it felt like he might not thrive, or even survive, under Berube.
Instead, his goals-per-game (0.22) is closing in on what it was last year (0.25).
Robertson’s 11 goals have seen him creep up to seventh in Leafs goal scoring, ahead of higher-priced Leafs forwards such as Max Domi. “I thought his game’s got better,” Berube said of the result of that conversation with Robertson. “He’s more involved and he’s being a tenacious player.
I’m not talking about running around and trying to hit everything in sight. It’s just getting contact on pucks, get in there with your speed, create contact and get those loose puck battles.” Robertson himself came away from that meeting feeling emboldened about his role within the Leafs.
“I don’t shy away from being gritty,” he said. He knows he’s on the smaller side. But he’s still trying to find any advantage he can.
Advertisement “My cross-check to someone might be in their ribs,” he said knowingly. “I can’t powerhouse a guy and hit him, but little things like trying to get in his hands, it could help.” Robertson said he treated the meeting as a “blessing in disguise.
” Midway through this season he wasn’t playing poorly, per se. Nor was he scoring or being engaged in the way he probably hoped for coming into the season on a one-year, show-me contract. “You’ve got to have desperation,” Robertson said of what had to change in his game.
“When I’m desperate, I’m physical. I want to get into the game and be impactful. The more I’m physical, the more I’m in the game.
The more I’m in the game, the more shots come. I adapted more of that identity of playing hard.” That was never Robertson’s style, of course.
It didn’t have to be. His shot was enough of a weapon for a Sheldon Keefe-led team that liked to play back-and-forth hockey and generate off the rush. Yet Robertson didn’t always stick in that team.
It became easy to pigeonhole Robertson as a shooter and a shooter alone. His shot has been on display over the last two games as he’s scored three goals. But shift by shift, he’s trying to not be put in a box with only the word “shooter” on it.
“Maybe in junior, I was just that,” Robertson acknowledged. “But desperate times call for desperate measures. When it’s fight or flight, you want to survive, you want to play your game, so you have to elevate your game.
” The changes in his game mean he’s stayed healthy, spent less time in the press box and is on pace to blow by his career high of 56 games played in a season. “Different times call for different types of players,” Robertson said. There’s a good chance Robertson’s eagerness for physicality could lead to a more prominent role.
It’s the kind of NHL role he likely wanted when he asked for a trade. To the surprise of many, that role could come within the Leafs. Advertisement “If (Robertson) just keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s going to get more ice time,” Berube said.
So even with the trade deadline approaching, Robertson has instead accepted his place, and future opportunities, in Toronto. “ I think I’ve evolved into a role,” Robertson said. “Last year I was trying to stay (in the NHL) and I stayed up.
Now it’s about finding what my identity is within the team to be successful. Through the ups and downs of the season, I’ve found what works for me. It sounds corny, but buying the system, buying into (the idea that) if I’m not creating plays, not shooting the puck, I could get a bump on someone, I could get a stick up, I could clear the puck.
I take pride (in that).” Over the next week, Robertson’s name will undoubtedly stay in trade talks. In years past, A day off close this close to the deadline might have seen Robertson’s mind wander to his long-term future.
Not anymore. “Any day off, it’s the same process for me. I try to find a sauna or whatever it is I need for recovery, get some treatment and play a little video games,” Robertson said with a grin.
It all means Robertson is not thinking about the deadline in a way he might have in past seasons. The Leafs probably shouldn’t be thinking about moving on from him, either. He’ll remain an RFA at the end of his one-year deal.
Even with arbitration rights, he’ll be a relatively cheap piece for the Leafs to keep. His willingness to buy into Berube’s style of hockey means he should fit in a third-line role beyond this season. But next season is far away for Robertson.
He’s thinking about a different time of the year: the point of the season the Leafs desperately need to conquer. “I want to be in the lineup every (playoff) game,” Robertson said. For Robertson, he’s not just thinking differently.
He’s acting like a different — better — player, too. “I’ve started to see how I can be impactful regardless of my shot and playmaking (compared to) last year,” Robertson said. “It’s brought something in me that I didn’t know I had.
” (Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images).
