The Toronto Maple Leafs have done a lot to try and replace Mitch Marner. Nicolas Roy, Matias Macelli, and Dakota Joshua all came in to try and recreate Marner in the aggregate. They are also returning a solid depth forward group that includes Scott Laughton and Max Domi. The Maple Leafs just agreed to a contract with Nicholas Robertson, another depth forward, but Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says he could be on the trade market.
“I’ve had a couple people ask me about the possibility of Nick Robertson in Pittsburgh. They got the arbitration settled on Saturday, but the Maple Leafs need to clear some bodies there. They have a lot of them,” he said. “I think that the Maple Leafs have work to do. I don’t know what their timeline is, but they need to do some things before puck drop,” Friedman reported.
The Maple Leafs have 14 forwards on one-way deals on their roster. If they go into training camp with all of those players, they may have to sneak one through waivers to make the final roster. That could lead to losing someone like Robertson for free. With former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas running the Penguins, he is familiar with Robertson.
The Penguins should be looking to add any NHL-caliber players at this point in the offseason. They are one of the few teams tearing it down, but have not sold a ton of pieces yet. They will be big players at the trade deadline, and could use Robertson to fill holes they create with those deals.
The Maple Leafs have traded a lot of draft picks in recent years, and getting one back for Robertson could be wise. But could trading someone like David Kampf or Calle Jarnkrok help them more? Freeing up the cap space could help at the deadline or make a late-summer deal.
