Obsession with defensive play from this franchise (and evidently some fans) is what has f***ed this team in the playoffs for at least 5 years running. Can’t have anyone with any actual scoring talent on the ice, if it ain’t the Core 4 it’s gotta be a Kampf clone. FFS this team took out a talented young goal scorer for yet another run of the mill “safe” defensive player who turned out to be not-so-safe and also failed to score. “Robertson had 0 points” yeah while playing 10 minutes a game, most of that with Kampf clones #2 and #3.
Regardless, I find it odd how many consider Robertson to be a finished project at this stage and talk about him in such definitive terms. Most people here would still consider Knies a work in progress with more room to develop and he and Robertson are only separated by one year and have a similar number of games played and points. Granted Knies has more playoff points, but that's in four more games, most of which where he's had the privilege of playing in the top six alongside the Core Four.
Robertson has obvious weaknesses, sure. But the guy is only 23 (in 2 days), you're telling me his defensive warts can't be fixed? He's done developing that side of his game now? He can't get stronger? He did not get blown up this last season nearly as much as he did in years past. 2022-23 was a brutal year for him in that regard, I can't think of too many instances where it happened this past year. And besides it's not like he's the only NHL player ever to occasionally take a big hit. As for the defensive side, again this is still a young player and we've just brought in a coach who has shown an aptitude at getting the most out of his players and helping guys develop strong two-way play.
Like if we're going to accept Max Domi on this team with all his defensive warts we can accept Robertson who's still got a shot at escaping those bad habits. We want secondary scoring, well we've got it right here if this kid realizes he's got no leverage. A likely 20 goal, 40 point guy who's going to be dirt cheap is exactly what the doctor ordered for a team that can't score it's way out of a paper bag in the postseason. At the very least he could give opposing teams something else to think about instead of giving our opponents the luxury of keying in on the same four choke-artists and strangling our offence to death in the playoffs.
End of the day, none of this matters until he signs. Which he damn well better because if he misses even a second of training camp he's royally f***ing himself. He not only won't get traded, he'll miss out on developing important relationships with the coaching staff and he'll get lapped by someone like Cowan or Minten or Steeves or Quillan or whomever. Right now he's barely penciled in to the top 12 forwards.
