The Writing May Be on the Wall for Nick Robertson After Latest Development

On Friday in the Leafs' loss to the Washington Capitals, Robertson spent the majority of the third period stapled to the bench.

Following the game, head coach Craig Berube was was highly critical of Robertson's poor performance, saying that he "didn't have much going on."

That seems pretty telling as to where he stands right now.

On Saturday, Max Pacioretty returned from a lower-body injury and many expected that Robertson was going to be scratched in favour of the NHL veteran. That, however, was not the case as Pacioretty drew in for rookie Nikita Grebenkin.

While it originally appeared as though Robertson would receive another opportunity, he was instead made a late scratch in favour of Alex Nylander, who returned to the lineup after also being a scratch Friday.

Nylander had come out of the lineup on Friday to make room for the return of Ryan Reaves, and at the time, Berube called his play "just okay."

Given that Nylander had not been impressing Berube, it appears that he has been less impressed by Robertson, who has just 2 goals in 23 games for the Leafs this season.

Robertson was expected to replace some of the secondary scoring the Leafs lost when Tyler Bertuzzi signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, but so far, he has failed to replicate his 14-goal performance from last season.

As the Leafs continue to get bodies back up front, Robertson has now fallen behind Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin on the depth chart and is battling with Nylander for what is the final forward spot currently.

It will be interesting to see just how much leeway Berube gives the former second-round pick over the next few games as the Leafs will need to make some roster moves to create space with Domi and Jake McCabe expected to return over the next week.