Player Discussion Nicholas Robertson vs. Ryan Reaves

[SprDaVE]

Why Robertson when you have a proven scorer in Steeves. Reaves is a zero for playoffs, Robertson has had time to be something, but has not shown growth while Steeves sets records. Hmmm

"proven scorer" Steeves has 0 NHL goals. Wouldn't be the first AHL scorer that can't carve it in the NHL. If Robertson was in the AHL since 2021, he'd probably have broken that record too.

Steeves should be playing in the NHL over Reaves 1000% though.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Reaves in a fight

So Robertson then.

 

[Maple Leaf]

So Robertson then.

Both are useless you need difference makers in this game

 

[thewave]

Both are useless you need difference makers in this game

They make a difference. They make us worse

 

[LeafEgo]

Robo is awesome, great kid and don't mind seeing him out there, but the harsh truth is he hasn't been valuable to the Leafs from the very beginning. He has a hard shot and it can be electric at times, but he's nowhere close to leveraging this skill reliably in the NHL. In recent times out of desperation he has added some crazy stuff to his approach but it doesn't work. Not a strong top 9 option but we probably can't get around to fixing it so whatever, maybe he lands some timely goals in the playoffs. Dude hustles.

Anybody bashing Reavo as the 12/13th forward has lost the plot. Just hope he can bring this year what he did last year in the playoffs. That would be great.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Those two goals last night really helped pad Robertson's stats.

They drafted him for his offense but he has a whopping ten goals and four assists. Quite simply he can't score, defend, or make a play. And if you can't do any of those things then you're not a very good hockey player.

Nobody wants to see him fail.

Robertson being successful would help the Leafs tremendously. The problem is there's no signs pointing towards him being good. Robertson looks the exact same under Berube as he did under Keefe.

The only difference is he's managed to stay healthy.

Otherwise he's shown no improvement since his sophomore year. If they replaced him with Steeves the results would be the same or even better. Steeves at least looks like he can score as many goals as Robertson while still being useful in other ways.

If Robertson isn't scoring he's useless.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Those two goals last night really helped pad Robertson's stats.

They drafted him for his offense but he has a whopping ten goals and four assists. Quite simply he can't score, defend, or make a play.

11 now. Incidentally, that puts him 1G/60 at 5v5, ahead of Matthews at 0.98 and behind only Knies, Nylander and McMann. Technically Reavo has a slight edge with 0.47 assist/60 (for a grand total of 2 this season), and a marginally lower G/60 of 0.00. Also Reavo has an impressive 33.3% GF%.

Now of course people have argued this thread's ridiculous premise on the basis that Reaves might have a goal this season if he were given third line minutes like Robertson has, but if you're seriously entertaining the notion that Reaves should get more ice time, there's not much hope in convincing you of anything.

Anyway none of this is meant to boost Robertson - his flaws are numerous - but for a 53rd overall pick he's done better than expected and frankly we don't have many better options in the bottom 6. Would Steeves have a more impressive statline given the same opportunity? Perhaps, but oh well. Maybe Tre should have never signed Reaves in the first place and given Steeves a shot instead and then this thread never would have been made.

 

[WilliamInLondon]

11 now. Incidentally, that puts him 1G/60 at 5v5, ahead of Matthews at 0.98 and behind only Knies, Nylander and McMann. Technically Reavo has a slight edge with 0.47 assist/60 (for a grand total of 2 this season), and a marginally lower G/60 of 0.00. Also Reavo has an impressive 33.3% GF%.

Now of course people have argued this thread's ridiculous premise on the basis that Reaves might have a goal this season if he were given third line minutes like Robertson has, but if you're seriously entertaining the notion that Reaves should get more ice time, there's not much hope in convincing you of anything.

Anyway none of this is meant to boost Robertson - his flaws are numerous - but for a 53rd overall pick he's done better than expected and frankly we don't have many better options in the bottom 6. Would Steeves have a more impressive statline given the same opportunity? Perhaps, but oh well. Maybe Tre should have never signed Reaves in the first place and given Steeves a shot instead and then this thread never would have been made.

I'd still keep him. He's young, still has upside left, and cheap (because he's had a somewhat disappointing season). The glimpses of potential are there though. Unless something good comes along over the next week or so, I'd even try to bridge him on 2-3 years at a reasonable AAV.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

11 now. Incidentally, that puts him 1G/60 at 5v5, ahead of Matthews at 0.98 and behind only Knies, Nylander and McMann. Technically Reavo has a slight edge with 0.47 assist/60 (for a grand total of 2 this season), and a marginally lower G/60 of 0.00. Also Reavo has an impressive 33.3% GF%.

Now of course people have argued this thread's ridiculous premise on the basis that Reaves might have a goal this season if he were given third line minutes like Robertson has, but if you're seriously entertaining the notion that Reaves should get more ice time, there's not much hope in convincing you of anything.

Anyway none of this is meant to boost Robertson - his flaws are numerous - but for a 53rd overall pick he's done better than expected and frankly we don't have many better options in the bottom 6. Would Steeves have a more impressive statline given the same opportunity? Perhaps, but oh well. Maybe Tre should have never signed Reaves in the first place and given Steeves a shot instead and then this thread never would have been made.

Using g/60 is skewed because once you amp up Robertson's minutes his production would go down significantly.

I wouldn't say he's lived up to expectations really. I don't know how the average 53rd overall tends to perform but the expectations on Robertson were sky high. Especially after his D+1 year Robertson was overhyped for his draft spot.

He's trade bait or waiver fodder and I'd be very surprised if he's back next year.

 

[thewave]

I don't like Berube at all. Of the guys start showing anything he limits their minutes. There isn't any really accountability system in place with Berube at all. Reaves should be gone, he is old and useless. Robertson when playing well should be given opportunity, none. Steeves got 5mins last night. Grebenkin showed good hustle when up and nothing and on and on. Not liking the guy.

 

[kevsh]

Robertson can provide some depth scoring that this team still desperately needs (Holmberg's offensive explosion won't last), but in the playoffs I see him as too much of a liability.

He seems to have very low hockey IQ, making really bad decisions with the puck and without, and he is way too easy to knock off the puck. Love that he plays with heart and he's got a great release but I still stick with what I said at the start of the season: If he's still on our 3rd line come April we're in trouble.

Now if being asked as the Leafs' GM the only option I have is to either keep him or Reaves, then Nick all day every day. In limited, sheltered minutes he can score a goal or two which is way more than Reaves can offer at this point.

 

[Fogelhund]

The question of Reaves vs. Robertson is pretty easy. You pick Robertson every day, all day. Reaves doesn't really do anything positive at all anymore. Robertson... unless all of the sudden he continues his two game streak, you'd have to think he isn't part of the future. It's great he's performed well the past two games, but it's too little, and not often enough.

 

[thewave]

The question of Reaves vs. Robertson is pretty easy. You pick Robertson every day, all day. Reaves doesn't really do anything positive at all anymore. Robertson... unless all of the sudden he continues his two game streak, you'd have to think he isn't part of the future. It's great he's performed well the past two games, but it's too little, and not often enough.

I would be shocked if Reaves contributes in the POs