Nick Robertson's Emotional Reaction to Locking Down a Spot on the Leafs' Opening Night Lineup

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Tyler Ball
October 6, 2024 (11:43)

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With the Toronto Maple Leafs now set to begin the regular season Nick Robertson has officially made the roster and now spoke about the opportunity.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been searching for several seasons hoping to find young players who can contribute on cheap contracts. This season Nick Robertson will get an opportunity to fill this role replacing Tyler Bertuzzi who left for the Chicago Blackhawks. Even though Nick Robertson has played in parts of several seasons with the Maple Leafs this will be the first season he is on the opening night roster.

Earlier in the preseason the media spoke to Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving about Nick Robertson. Even then the Maple Leafs front office was impressed with Nick Robertson and the case he was making to be on the roster.

We want to give him his deserved opportunity. It goes both ways, he has to pull his end of the bargain as well very proud of him and, like to me, he's muscled his way right into a position here. So we'll get through tomorrow and see where everything ends up for Wednesday.

This is a big step for Nick Robertson who has spent the majority of his professional career on the Toronto Marlies in the AHL fighting for an NHL opportunity. The lack of opportunities provided by the Maple Leafs even led to a trade request from Nick Robertson.

The preseason was a major contributing factor for Nick Robertson making the NHL roster.Throughout the preseason Nick Robertson was the Maple Leafs leading goal scorer and point scorer. Now with the roster spot essentially secured for Nick Robertson he finally spoke to the media about the opportunity in front of him and some special plans for his first game.

Nick Robertson shares his heartwarming plans for opening night with the Maple Leafs

In a new interview with the media, Nick Robertson got a chance to speak about the upcoming season. He admitted that making the opening night roster was a primary goal for him this season. Now to celebrate his parents will be in attendance for his first game of the season.

Making the roster as a depth player in the NHL is only the beginning of a long grind. This is something that Nick Robertson is well aware of and he is ready to continue proving he belongs at the NHL level.

It's my job to carry that into the season.

Coming into the NHL season Nick Robertson will likely get an opportunity to play on the third line alongside Max Pacioretty and Bobby McMann. This would be a great opportunity for him to learn from Max Pacioretty a respected veteran who was one of the premier forwards in the NHL during his prime

How Nick Robertson plays to begin this season could have a major impact on his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. If he is successful he could become part of the core of the team. If he struggles a trade could be coming to find him a new home sooner rather than later.

As the season begins a lot of eyes and scrutiny will be on Nick Robertson. It will be his responsibility to succeed in the face of all of the noise regardless of his role.