The Toronto Maple Leafs and winger Nick Robertson expectedly avoided salary arbitration, as all of the other players and clubs who were scheduled by the NHL and NHLPA this summer agreed to a one-year, $1.825 million deal on Saturday.
The two sides were one of only two arbitration cases that got to the point where they provided perspective numbers, with the Leafs offer at $1.2 million, and the Robertson camp coming in at $2.25 million. The settlement leaned slightly towards the player’s amount, but it was not an absurd amount for a young winger with a scoring touch.
The 23-year-old forward reached career-highs in games played (69) and goals (15) last season, which was seventh on the club in scoring, while averaging just 12 minutes per game. It marks the second straight season that Robertson has reached double figures in goals, something that the Leafs may be depending on with the departure of Mitch Marner to Vegas.
There continues to be speculation that Robertson may get moved after his salary for 2025-26 is locked in. That chatter was relayed briefly by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his mid-summer 32 Thoughts podcast, where he indicated he was being asked about Robertson in connection to the Pittsburgh Penguins and former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, who drafted him in 2019, or in connection with Columbus in a deal for big forward Yegor Chinakhov, who requested a trade last month.
A trade to the Penguins makes the most sense if the Leafs are looking to move Robertson, since Pittsburgh has 10 picks in the second and third rounds over the next two drafts compared to Toronto’s two picks. It is also possible that Robertson could be a piece in a much larger deal for a veteran like Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, but that would necessitate the inclusion of top prospect Easton Cowan, which is unlikely.
