Maple Leafs' young star at high risk of shocking offer sheet from conference rival per source

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Graham Montgomery
September 8, 2024 (8:56 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs situation with Nick Robertson remains unresolved, opening the possibility to an offer sheet.

The 22-year-old forward publicly requested a trade from the Leafs earlier this summer after he was dissatisfied with the way Sheldon Keefe and the organization handled him last season. He had previously threatened to request a trade if the team did not give him NHL ice-time and appears to be sticking with his guns.

He did get into 56 games last season for Toronto but averaged just over 11 minutes of ice time per game and was clearly not satisfied with the way things were playing out. Recently, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed that Robertson is still hoping for a change of scenery heading into next season, but Brad Treliving appears to have made little, if any progress towards moving the young forward.

With the regular season now just four weeks away, it is starting to get to crunch time for Robertson and the Leafs. At this stage, it is not certain whether or not his relationship with the team can be salvaged or not. If not, Robertson could very well end up sitting out part of the season or even getting sent to the AHL. An even worse outcome for the Leafs however, would be him signing an offer sheet with another club.

After we saw the St. Louis Blues successfully offer sheet two Oilers players, it would not be surprising to see another one happen this offseason. The Hockey Writers reporter Zach Martin argues that the Carolina Hurricanes could be a team interested in signing the 22-year-old, especially if Jesper Fast is going to miss the entire season, which has already been reported after he had neck surgery this summer.

"It seems that the Maple Leafs are not willing to trade or pay him after Robertson made $796,667 last season. This is where the Hurricanes come into play with an offer sheet. As of right now, the Maple Leafs have $1.275 million left in their cap space while the Canes have $79,913. Carolina would have to move Jesper Fast to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) status to give them $2.479 million of cap flexibility.

As things stand with the current RFA compensation for the 2024-25 season, anything under $1,511,701 requires no compensation if the opposing team doesn't match the offer sheet. As long as the Hurricanes stay at $1,511,700 or less, they won't owe the Maple Leafs anything."

Part of what makes an offer sheet so enticing in this case is that the Hurricanes, or any other team for that matter, likely would not own the Leafs anything in compensation. As long as he is signed for 1,511,700 or less, no draft picks will be going back to Toronto in the deal. Will this finally be enough pressure to force Treliving to make a move with Robertson? That much is hard to say at this point, but it should only be a matter of time before something dramatic happens.