Important Date Coming Up For Maple Leafs and Nicholas Robertson

Late last week, 11 players filed for arbitration, including Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson.

Robertson requested a trade last off-season, but he and the Leafs ultimately settled on a one-year deal ahead of training camp.

The 23-year-old skated in a career-high 69 games last season where he registered 15 goals and 22 points and added a goal and an assist in three post-season games.

The Leafs issued the former second-round pick a qualifying offer of $919K to retain his rights, and as previously mentioned, Robertson elected for arbitration.

Arbitration hearings are scheduled to take place between July 20th and August 4th. Robertson's hearing is reportedly scheduled for August 3rd, meaning the Leafs and Robertson will have to wait a little bit longer for a resolution for his immediate future.

The Leafs and Robertson can continue to negotiate up to the time of the hearing where an arbitrator will award Robertson a cap hit. At that point, the Leafs will only be able to 'walk away' from the contract if the salary awarded is $4.85M per season --which is highly unlikely.

What the Leafs do with Robertson remains to be seen, but many suspect that they will try to move him once he has a new contract. A once promising goal-scorer, since turning pro, the California native has battled multiple severe injuries early on, which hindered his development and ultimately led to this point.