Confirmed with Link: Nick Robertson asks for trade (Update signs 1 year/875k deal with leafs)

[Stringer Bell]

 

[Nineteen67]

I am going to lean more to reality.

I mean you could take a lot of PP points away from players. So what? The power play is part of the game of hockey.

So isnt actually being good enough to be in the lineup.

 

[leafsfan2point0]

He’s always struck me as someone who’s thinks he’s better than he actually is ever since he skipped out on the States Gold World Junior team. He thought he was an NHLer at 19 and wanted to make the team during the shortened season.

 

[Nineteen67]

Okay, we can stick with stats and not bring context into things.

Robertson: 1.34 G/60, 2.36 P/60
Caufield: 0.80 G/60, 1.90 P/60

Those are the stats from each player last year at 5v5.

Robertson produces at a much higher rate than Caufield and a much better offensive weapon at 5v5.

Do stats without context still look good to you?

Except for the reality and the fact Robertson hasnt score as much Caufield.

 

[ToneDog]

Except for the reality and the fact Robertson hasnt score as much Caufield.

Habs laugh at a Robertson for Caufield trade. Robertson built up his value but no way he gets you Caufield.

 

[notbias]

Except for the reality and the fact Robertson hasnt score as much Caufield.

I gave you real stats, they are reality, what are you talking about?

My stats just account for ice time, they are still stats.

 

[Nineteen67]

They're probably offer sheeting because you can get a b prospect for nothing if the leafs don't match.

That doesn't mean that we can trade him for any value

He’s worth a shot, imo. Someone could take a chance, offer 2x2 million and then lock him long term if he pans out. I don’t know why more teams with cap space don’t take flyers on players.
Robertson may not want to jam up the Leafs, but he’d get a decent contract.

 

[Nineteen67]

Habs laugh at a Robertson for Caufield trade. Robertson built up his value but no way he gets you Caufield.

He may end up the better player at the end of their careers, but right now, Caufield has scored more goals and if played 800 games he’d score ~ 400 goals. Not too bad.

 

[ponder]

I get him asking for a trade - NHL careers are short, he's been in and out of our lineup a lot, and it's unclear how many games/how much ice time he'll get with us this year. He's making what he thinks is the best decision for his career, and I'm fine with that, no grudge/hate from me.

With that being said, I hope he changes his mind and stays. He's got plenty of talent, and his main weakness, losing puck battles, improved a lot last year. I think he’s close to having a solid, significant role on the team. We've got strong forwards, but mostly centres and RWs, we're pretty weak at LW. If he keeps improving, I think he has a realistic path to locking down a top 6 LW spot with us (longer term it's mostly between him, Knies and McMann). I could see the Robertson/Leafs fit working well longterm for both parties, if he continues to work on his game, and has the patience to grind it out and earn his place a bit longer.

 

[ULF_55]

I get him asking for a trade - NHL careers are short, he's been in and out of our lineup a lot, and it's unclear how many games/how much ice time he'll get with us this year. He's making what he thinks is the best decision for his career, and I'm fine with that, no grudge/hate from me.

With that being said, I hope he changes his mind and stays. He's got plenty of talent, and his main weakness, losing puck battles, improved a lot last year. We've got strong forwards, but mostly centres and RWs, we're pretty weak at LW. If he keeps improving, I think he has a realistic path to locking down a top 6 LW spot with us (longer term it's mostly between him, Knies and McMann). I could see the Robertson/Leafs fit working well longterm for both parties, if he continues to work on his game, and has the patience to grind it out and earn his place a bit longer.

He'll be making $1mm a year and has to pass through waivers.

If he's worth the money he'd get picked off waivers if they tried to demote him.

Just sounds like he's using the one tool he has ... not signing.

Still lots of time for him to sign, or be traded, or sign overseas.

Of course Leafs will have options on LW, whether it is a Marlie, Alex Nylander, or some other PTO that shows better, but still Robertson would have to be waived and available to anyone in the league. Leafs will be up against the ceiling, but I suppose they could demote Knies so that Robertson could play?

The ball is in his court.

 

[Squiffy]

He’s worth a shot, imo. Someone could take a chance, offer 2x2 million and then lock him long term if he pans out. I don’t know why more teams with cap space don’t take flyers on players.
Robertson may not want to jam up the Leafs, but he’d get a decent contract.

If he's really dead set against being on the Leafs he'd have to be worried about signing an offer sheet that the Leafs can match, then he's stuck.

 

[Stringer Bell]

I think there is a chance we get the most inspired version of Alex Nylander there is. Not sure what that amounts to though. Effort level in Robertson is innately higher, but they're both flawed players at the NHL level.

 

[trellaine201]

Leafs mishandled him for sure. There is always a couple of players on each team that get shafted for whatever reason. Happened to teams I played in minor hockey and other sports. For whatever reason a grudge is held against a few players.

 

[ULF_55]

Leafs mishandled him for sure. There is always a couple of players on each team that get shafted for whatever reason. Happened to teams I played in minor hockey and other sports. For whatever reason a grudge is held against a few players.

Yes, in this case he gets his $1mm and development time, and opportunities to play due to roster / cap limitations.

In minor sports there are always those who are part of the "in gang" and those who aren't and from my experience ability had little to do with it. Worst part in minor sports, you're paying thousands per year for the privilege, not getting millions.

 

[leafan11]

My understanding is Nick doesn’t want to be a Leaf anymore. The issue isn’t money, it’s how he was handled by the previous coach. Maybe he doesn’t like his teammates, i don’t know.

But if he doesn’t want to sign, that’s where we are.

I forgot who hinted at it in the media but I believe he has issues with the development staff

 

[Stephen]

You must hate Robertson for irrational reasons if you are impressed with Caufield's numbers.

The difference in their goals is PPGs, they have the same G/GP (Robertson is slightly ahead) when you remove that.

Now if you start looking into who they play with and TOI, you may find Robertson's numbers more impressive.

I knew Caufield wasn't living up to the hype but didn't know it was this bad.

Weird to try to defend other players who have similar stats and then hate on Robertson.

It's good to update your intel from time to time.

Caufield …..81 G 68 A 149 Pts in 205 games
Average 82 games 32 G 27 A 60 Pts

Robertson ..17 G 17 A 34 Pts in 87 games
Average 82 games 16 G 16 A 32 Pts.

Thanks for posting the numbers. I rest my case.

 

[Stephen]

I forgot who hinted at it in the media but I believe he has issues with the development staff

I wouldn’t be surprised, Haley Wickenheiser commented on Nick Robertson’s game maybe two Septembers ago and basically said he needed to calm it down and let the game come to him or something. Which made perfectly reasonable constructive criticism since he played like he was being chased by bees as Overdrive was saying. Which is a riff on what people used to say about Nail Yakupov.

 

[notbias]

Thanks for posting the numbers. I rest my case.

I wish you could judge a player just by career stats and ignore context, would make these convos very easy, too bad the argument presented was terrible.

Crosby is the 2nd best scorer in the league currently because his PPG is 2nd highest amongst active players, this is your logic.

 

[I am Canadian]

I do get why he wants to leave. If he couldn't get time under Keefe, Berube is going to be even more difficult.

Still think its a loser attitude however.

 

[ULF_55]

I do get why he wants to leave. If he couldn't get time under Keefe, Berube is going to be even more difficult.

Still think its a loser attitude however.

Would like to see him have an open mind and accept the challenge, but not everyone reacts to criticism the same way.

Perhaps somewhere like San Jose would be better for him.

Trading will be based on the perception of him in the market.

 

[oldwpgjet]

Keep the guy. It is always good to have a negative vibe of someone that does not want to be there. It really helps the dressing room , lol. OR just trade him for whatever you can get, a 10th round draft pick if that is all you can get , hell , maybe get a bag of pucks for him , he has been screwed over by the leafs, and will probably never want to play for them.. Get whatever, get rid of him, let's end this soap opera, this drama has gone on way to long , give the kid a chance somewhere else where he might get a fair shake.

 

[Gilmour1996]

Nick looks pretty muscular in the video above, with a low sense of gravity. You would think with those attributes he might just need some tweaking to become less likely to fall on his ass. Dino Ciccarelli was a nightmare to handle in front of the net and was a similar size but fearless.

​

 

[Squiffy]

I hope he gets over himself and signs personally. He fits a need for the team and who doesn’t want to see a guy you drafted succeed?

That said, if he doesn’t want to be here, don’t let the door hit you, right? He’s hardly been hard done by, injuries and CBA related roster constraints are what they are. Force your way in. They didn’t send Knies down right?

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Life after Robertson (working thread title)

I never liked him using Mogilny's number 89. Who does he think he is?

 

[LaPlante94]

Just move on from him if he wants out that bad. Guy can score goals but he wasn't ready for the NHL and just looked lost/scared on the ice so much. Guy was a 2nd round draft pick and thought he was too good for the AHL when he barely played down there, even after suffering those injuries and derailing his development. Trade him to the Stars so he can be with his brother and because our new head scout knows their prospect pool better than anyone.