Nick Robertson and the Leafs Reportedly Once Again at Odds Over His Future in Toronto

On Tuesday night, we saw the pre-season debut of many of the Leafs' regulars, including Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and William Nylander.

It was also the second pre-season game for the likes of Nicholas Robertson, Easton Cowan and Ben Danford.

With a host of regulars in the lineup, both Cowan and Robertson saw their ice-time decrease as expected, but it was the five-minute drop for Robertson that raised some eyebrows, given his excellent overall performance in camp thus far.

Robertson went from playing just over 17 minutes on Sunday, scoring in the contest, to playing just over 12 minutes on Tuesday, with Cowan even seeing more ice-time than him.

Robertson and the Leafs have had a difficult time finding a role and consistent fit for the 23-year-old over the past three seasons, and it led to a trade request from the former second-round pick in June of last year.

After a summer of being in trade rumours, Robertson and the Leafs avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year deal. However, TSN's Chris Johnston revealed during an appearance on 'The Leaf Report' podcast on Tuesday afternoon that the two sides are not on the same page in terms of his future.

Under head coach Craig Berube last season, Robertson got the fresh start he was hoping for, playing most of a full season, but ultimately found himself in the press-box for the majority of the Leafs' post-season run.

Berube and GM Brad Treliving believe Robertson has the potential to be an everyday player, but with an abundance of forwards, and Cowan putting pressure on him for one of the final roster spots, it is difficult to see where the undersized forward fits into the Leafs' lineup.

As the regular season quickly approaches, his future with the Leafs will be watched closely as Treliving continues to try to acquire a top-six forward and move out a couple of bottom-six forwards.