Robertson earns promotion at camp after statement game, appears to have an edge in competition for a spot

Friday night's pre season tilt against the Ottawa Senators was eye opening for several reasons. The Leafs only dressed 5 NHL regulars in Zach Aston-Reese, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, David Kampf, Wayne Simmonds and Justin Holl. Clearly Sheldon Keefe was looking for someone to step up in the absence of the Leafs stars against a Sens roster that included their entire top PP unit. In the end, the Leafs B team spanked the Sens stars, putting together a solid 6-3 victory.

Nick Robertson took the opportunity to grab the coach's attention and ran with it. The 21-year-old winger scored 2 goals and settled for an assist after Aube-Kubel buried a rebound on a shot Robertson sent off the crossbar. He was fast, tenacious and, when given the opportunity, he buried his chances. Robertson truly looked NHL ready on Friday night.

Today at practice, Robertson was slotted onto the Leafs' makeshift 2nd line, skating on the wing alongside William Nylander and Alex Kerfoot, who is filling in for the injured John Tavares at 2C. It's a clear indication that his game Friday impressed Sheldon Keefe. It appears as though he may have lept past Denis Malgin for that 2LW spot.

For Robertson to be an effective player, he needs skilled players around him. Playing in the top 6 should give Robertson the best chance to succeed at the NHL level. If he continues to play as well as he has recently, Keefe will have no choice but to keep Robertson in that 2nd line slot when the regular season starts.


The one thing that Robertson may have to contend with is the fact that he's waivers exempt, so if he and another player end up very close in their camp battle, the Leafs could elect to send Robertson down simply to avoid losing another player for nothing. So, now it's on Robertson to give the coaching staff no choice but to commit a roster spot to him. So far, he's done just that.