Nick Robertson draws line in the sand with Maple Leafs

“I mean, obviously it’s a lot thinking about where I stand with the team next season and whatnot, but I don’t really think about it too much,” Nick Robertson said when he spoke to the media this week about his future in Toronto. 

The Maple Leafs forward, who has had an up-and-down relationship with the team throughout his tenure there, is finally in a position to call his shot.

Luke Fox of Sportsnet reports, “He won’t sign his $1.825 million qualifying offer, assuming the Leafs’ next GM gives him one.” 

Instead, if he’s looking to continue his run with the and under new management, it sounds like he intends to use his improved play and additional experience to get a longer-term deal, finally putting the uncertainty of short-term deals behind him.

This was a better season for Robertson personally, even though the team struggled. 

“Really happy with how many games I played and trying to be healthy as well,” he said. “Every year, I wanna play 82 games. But I guess when you get scratched once, it’s, ‘OK, I wanna play 81 games.’ It has really come more in my mind. You kind of think about it. Every year you want to get scratched less and less and less until you play 82 games every year.”

In other words, if the Leafs and whoever is running their show don’t have a plan for him and he’s not going to be involved in the strategy moving forward, maybe it’s time to try something else. 

“I’ve become more comfortable, which is important. And we’ll see how things go in the future.”